6
'Let all the world in every corner sing…' 1
The case for the whole assembly's active participation
in sung worship
All the churches observed for this study showed that they recognise the significance of sacred song way by of its very inclusion in their worship. A large number of young people attending these churches, however, fail to participate in the song of the assembly. On average, for every song observed where all or the majority of the young people in the congregation were present (rather than in Sunday School), only 34.7% of the young people sang. Of the 130 children interviewed, forty-two percent (fifty-five children) said they did not know any of the songs sung in church that day. The schools that took part in the study, with very few exceptions, do not sing songs that readily transfer into normal Sunday worship. The same is true of the Sunday Schools studied. This demonstrable lack of familiarity with the sung worship of the church is a large contributory factor as to why these young people are not singing.
The failure of these young people to participate is a problem that must be addressed. As '…a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God' (1 Peter 2:9) active participation in sung worship is the right of the whole assembly: '…bishops and other pastors of souls must be at pains to ensure that whenever a liturgical service is to be celebrated with song, the whole assembly of the faithful is enabled… to contribute the active participation that rightly belongs to it' (Sacrosanctum Concilium 114) 2 [my italics].
The 'whole assembly' has to include young people. Active participation in congregational song is meant for everyone. 'In the manifold ministries of Divine Worship, song is specifically the people's part, and in Methodism, in particular, the whole congregation has always been called to sing the hymns' (The Methodist Hymnbook 1933 p.iv). The whole congregation is called to sing - not just the adults. Indeed, article 16 of Musicam Sacram says,
'A liturgical celebration can have no more solemn or pleasing feature than the whole assembly's expressing its faith and devotions in song' (Musicam Sacram 16) 3.
This is not to say that every sung item within the service must be a congregational one - there is of course a place for a soloist or choir to lead the assembly in prayer, whereupon the individual worshipper's attentive listening and subsequent engagement with the music can be considered as full participation 4. Nonetheless, it does mean that congregational song must live up to its name.
Gerard Pottebaum makes the link between familiarity with the rite and the quality of the rite: 'The quality of the rite is proportionate to the level, frequency and quality of the participation of those present' (Pottebaum 1992 p88). Conversely, the quality of the rite is diminished in the absence of such participation. Joining in matters; the active participation of the whole assembly improves the celebration. The fact remains, however, that in seventy percent of the churches observed 5, the young people spend the majority of the service in Sunday School and therefore never get the chance to become sufficiently familiar with the sung worship of their congregation to be able to confidently participate during the short time they are in church.
Of the young people interviewed by the research team, twenty-five percent actually said they had not joined in the singing in church that day. Of these thirty-three children that said they had not sung, thirty-nine percent said that they would like to participate. From this one can deduce that the majority of young people have a desire to participate in sung worship, even if they have not been enabled to do so.
Throughout the fieldwork were conversations with numerous adults 6. The disturbingly recurrent theme emerging from some of these suggested that many of them simply do not expect the children to join in, or even to want to. It is this misjudgement that leads so many churches to a place where young people are not taught one of the basic tools of their rite - the songs. Instead, where Sunday Schools sing at all, it is invariably using repertoire that bears no relevance to the normal Sunday worship of the adult congregation. Little wonder then that when the young people do rejoin the adult congregation they are largely unable to participate.
This is a deeply regrettable situation, particularly as 'the principles of active and conscious participation are in a sense even more significant for Masses celebrated with children' (Directory for Masses with Children 22) 7, for it is through actively engaging with the rite that children are best able to worship.
'…religious experience occurs in advance of cognitive, intellectual ways of thinking and knowing. Through the intuitive ways of thinking and knowing available to children as they participate in nature, the arts and ritual, children enter the sacred dimension and experience the divine' (Westerhoff in Pritchard 1992 p.xiii) [my italics].
Conversely, children who are not participating are less able to access and experience the divine. This lack of participation in younger years could be part of the reason why so many young people fall away from the church. Unable to participate in song or sacrament, there is a strong, if unintentional, message going out to young people that the church is not really for them.
'Children who are kept from the liturgy are learning that the parish is not an inclusive community but an adult club; that its sacred space is for grown-ups only; that its normative rituals need to be mediated through adult patterns of understanding before they can be experienced, or else must be watered down into kiddie versions; that the gospel message is somehow different for children and adults' (Pritchard 1992 p142-143).
Churches serious about answering the gospel call must take the necessary steps to fully include and enable their young people to participate in the worship of the church; for not only is it their right through baptism 8 (Kavanagh 1982 p67), but 'as we welcome the children so we welcome Christ' (Hyson 2006 p10).
'The challenge now is to work…week by week in our churches and wider lives, looking for ways of integrating children into the heart of church mission and strategy, seeking opportunities for establishing good links with local schools, and creatively exploring ways of bringing children into the heart of our worshipping communities…' (Hyson 2006 p10).
In their study, 'Taking a Part - Young People's Participation in the Church,' 9 David and Maxine Green found that the young people that remain involved with the church were those who had 'a role and responsibilities' (Green & Green 2000 p3). The Roman Catholic Church similarly advocates opportunities for young people to be involved in the worship: the Directory for Masses with Children recommends that, '…as many children as possible should have special parts in the celebration: for example…acting as cantor…, singing in a choir, playing musical instruments…,' (Directory for Masses with Children 22) as a way of fostering their full, conscious and active participation. Encouraging young people in such roles is a laudable example of best practice 10, but it remains something which should be leading on from, rather taking place instead of, the deliberate efforts of the adult congregation to enable the young people in the song of the assembly, for it has been shown that through sacred song we are made holy. People will not sing that which they do not know or feel comfortable with; therefore, teaching children the songs that will allow them to participate fully in the main Sunday service is eminently valuable.
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Chapter 7
- Herbert, George (d.1632) Let all the world in every corner sing in The English Hymnal Company Ltd. (compiler) (1986) The New English Hymnal. Norwich: Canterbury Press, no 394, p842 Back to text
- in Hayburn (1979) p384 Back to text
- in Joncas 1997 p84. Back to text
- 'It should not be forgotten however, that performance by smaller number of people is a valid means of participation, which brings its own advantages. It encourages the employment of special musical skills, whilst allowing those who cannot or do not wish to sing to enjoy and meditate upon what is being done by others. Both are part of the worshipping congregation. The word 'performance' is not necessarily a pejorative one. Full participation does not, properly understood, demand speaking or singing by everybody all the time'(Archbishops' Commission on Church Music 1992 p50). Back to text
- It should be noted that whilst the young people remained present for the majority of the service at Holmer Green Methodist Church, this is not standard practice there. The young people remained in church instead of going out to Sunday School only because it was Harvest Festival. They are not present for the majority of the singing during normal Sunday worship. Back to text
- These people included clergy, Sunday School leaders, parents and other members of the congregation. Back to text
- in Joncas 1997 p72.Back to text
- I am aware that this particular argument does not apply to the Anabaptist churches. Back to text
- This was a specifically Anglican study. Back to text
- 'In all this, it should be kept in mind that external activities will be fruitless, even harmful, if they do not serve the internal participation of the children' (Directory for Masses With Children 22 in Joncas 1997 p72). Back to text
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