(E)pistle: Choir Practice

Let’s hear it for choirs! 

They might not always sound that great, but in many ways they are the backbone of any parish.  As I write this, I am sitting in a church library on Sunday morning after having brought my wife to church an hour and a half early so she can be in time for choir practice before the service begins. 

She does this in addition to singing two services on some Sundays and a 2 hour practice on Wednesday night!  Now that is dedication!

It’s no wonder that the choir forms one of the most closely knit groups in any parish, bound together in their mission of praising God.  I recommend to any seminarian that they spend some time in a choir, even if they don’t possess any musical ability, if they want to experience a “church within a church.”  Local choirs may not be a match for the choristers of King’s College Cambridge, but they are usually unsurpassed when it comes to loyalty, collegiality, hard work, and pastoral care of one another.

With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that we read in the Book of Revelation that heaven is one big choir practice, where the souls of the righteous sing praises to God eternally.

Kirk