When the Congregation Is Not Singing

I have noticed a concern among many worship leaders, team members and pastors as to whether or not the congregation is singing during worship time.  To me, this is a good sign as it shows that the person is focused on what is important.  However, I would argue that the concern should not be on the congregation merely singing.  While it is true that singing is one sign that the congregation is engaged in the service, it is not the only one.  Some other signs are people raising their hands, clapping, having their heads down in prayer and crying.

But it is entirely possible that the congregation is not doing *any* of those things but is in fact fully engaged.

One Sunday I was playing bass for my church and knew that a good friend brought his parents from out of state to the service for the first time.  I was dismayed when they looked like they weren’t enjoying the music while I was performing- they weren’t singing and they looked distracted and bored.  That in of itself distracted me as I felt I was failing in my role as a worship team member (not that they needed to like the music to feed my ego, but I wanted to know that at least they were connecting to the lyrical content).  It wasn’t until speaking with my friend after the service that he revealed just how naive I was.  It turned out his parents had just heard the sermon and the pastor had shared a personal story that they connected with regarding needing a kidney donor.  My friend’s parents had recently gone through a traumatic time where they too were waiting on a kidney donor.  The message hit them so hard they were stunned. They were trying to comprehend how of all Sundays, they came to the one time that the pastor shared this message.  They were trying to digest this spiritual moment.  They *were* having a spiritual moment, possibly more than anyone else in the congregation and the music really didn’t matter.  It only mattered in that it gave them time to digest what had happened.

And there I was worrying that my friend’s parents weren’t singing!  God humbled and taught me a lesson that day.  My perspective of the purpose of the service changed as well.

To me, the goal of a worship service is to provide an environment  that makes it easy for the congregation member to commune spiritually with God.   I look at it like this: most of the congregation had a rough week at work and/or with family and is struggling to get their mind off of those things during the service.  Anything that can be done to facilitate that and get them focused on scripture is a good thing.  This can be accomplished with things like having a comfortable environment, nice lighting, good sound, good musicianship, good sermon, etc.

Next time you are frustrated that the congregation isn’t singing, just remember that you cannot read their minds – you aren’t God.  The congregation may very well be having an epiphany based on meditating silently.  Just do your best to facilitate the spiritual moments and let God do the rest.