REL discussion 4(1)

2

WORSHIP MUSIC

1. For also to be considered for liturgy, it has to have passed the different tests and evaluations which are meant to decide where the song is going to be used and whether it is appropriate to be used as a worship song. Worship songs are derived from the bible and they are meant to be in line with the people's expectation for them to be able to relate with what is going on in the church. The evaluation tests which are conducted on a song are meant to ensure that it is able to meet the threshold meant for liturgy processions and themes.

When leading people into prayer, music is considered important to set the mood that the priests desires when conducting prayers. This informs the choice of music while other factors such as the venue, age of the congregation will be factored in to lead the people in prayer. One important aspect which is in most cases ignored is the qualifications of an individual to lead people in worship before prayer and who they understand the people who are in the congregation and how they will affect the music. For this to be effective, practice and specificity needs to be achieved which will ensure that during the actual session the people will be led into music and prayer with the right mindset.

Early bibles teachings inform us that songs can be prayers and people are supposed to be creative with the songs that they develop. Rather than just relying on Psalms, other sources of worship include other scriptures and what is happening in our day to day life as this can offer testament to what God has done and in so doing be a song and a prayer at the same time. Developing a hymn should be easy and it should be easy for the congregation to follow the hymn which will lead to harmonized signing.

2.Often times in my life, as well as other people's lives, we experience profound emotions we cannot atrribute to any known language. I enjoy these feelings greatly and find that they are often some of the greatest moments of my life personally. To have the wind knocked out of me, or be completely bewildered by a situation are moments I always remember. These mature emotions are impossible however to portray to others through any sense of the spoken language. In Christianity these types of moments are very common in our experiences that we share with God and often times we use sacred music to enhance or portray these experiences. Our relationship is very complicated with God and the music that we use to communicate with Him has very specific requirements according to Haas. The three requirements that need to be met are praise, prayer, and proclemation and the song must find its themes in scripture. In a lot of the reading I was quite surprised to see how much of the Christian music in our modern world is actually considered bad. Specifically music can even be bad just because it is a certain genre like rock and roll because it is associated with sex. Those facts aside I do find it very relatable and interesting that music is so important to Christianity. In our reading "Why do we sing, and who sings?" Haas explains that we sing to become the body of Christ. When you sing with honesty and vulnerability like the author suggests I think this is what actually allows people to express those complex emotions that they couldn't explain otherwise. Overall I think music in general is extremely important when reflecting and trying to express your complex emotions.