More “Large Ensembles,” Outdoor Song Services, Open Choir, Singing and Making Melody
It’s still nothing like our full choir loft of just a few months ago. But on August 16, we got to listen to 23 singers present “All I Have Is Christ.” Placing everyone presented a good challenge.
Next week we plan to present the choir’s beloved arrangement of Charles Wesley’s great hymn “And Can It Be?” We hope to have a group of similar size. A few spots are left. Would you like to join us?
While it’s great to see the involvement grow, we still have to exclude most of our choir and orchestra members each week. So after the morning services on August 23rd and 30th, we plan to practice “Our God Is Mighty” in preparation for a 9/2 outdoor song service like the ones we had this spring. We’d love to see you there!
To allow social distancing for 23 singers during “All I Have Is Christ” on August 16, we used the platform and steps.
Last week: “Filling the Loft Again”
Join the OPEN CHOIR
We’ve had a few open choir sessions before (see 2019), but you could say it’s a little different right now…
Still, we would love to have you join us—at several feet of distance, of course! Just sign up below and we’ll send you more info right away.
JOIN THE CHOIR
This fall will look very different from most years, but we still welcome new “regular” members in all sections and for all ability levels. Child care and transportation assistance are available. For more information or to get involved, please begin the process now or contact our music pastor Todd Jones.
UPDATED: August 12
Over a dozen singers lead the congregation in “The Perfect Wisdom of Our God,” August 9, 2020.
11 singers in 8 family groups spread throughout the Morningside choir loft on August 2, 2020 to sing “What a Day That Will Be.”
It was overwhelming to have the choir loft so full last week.
Yes, the 11 singers we had August 2 was by far the largest choral group we've had in the auditorium in months! We sang outdoors in July, but our full choir and orchestra haven’t been together since presenting “Psalm 23: A Psalm of Hope” March 15.
When we first came back in person on May 17, the humming and signing was nothing like singing. And in many ways, this is still nothing like a choir. But we pray that the Lord continues to grant us safety, and we look forward to involving many more from our church family in the weeks to come.
We hadn’t sung as a choir in months. March 15 was a long time ago in so many ways.
But at our July 8 ice cream social, we got to sing—not only for those would have come to hear us in the auditorium, but also those who attend our Spanish services and even many from a sister church.
There were a few dozen of us. Certainly we missed many of our regular members whose health or schedule didn’t allow them to participate, but how sweet it was to make music together again! We weren’t quite “kids from one to ninety-two,” but we were actually close! We enjoyed getting to have several fellow church members join us for the occasion too.
And what a song for a multicultural, multigenerational, multi-church event: “In God We Trust, in God Alone.” Every human will one day fall, but the One who sits on heaven’s throne certainly deserves our trust.
Thanks to Jennifer Davisson and Jonathan E Harper for great photos!
During this year’s social distancing, one of the biggest losses for me personally has been the loss of our church choir. Several large-group singing events this year have resulted in multiple deaths each (see more), and even our social distancing measures (see here) are far from sufficient to make us comfortable filling the choir loft once again with passionate singers—many of us super-spreaders.
But just as the congregation got to start singing outside (read) before we began singing in our June 7 service, we have a chance to sing outside as a choir, and we’d love for you to join us.
Wednesday, July 8 our midweek service will be an ice cream social. We had one last year and had a great time. This year will be a lot different in an attempt to stop the spread—and weather permitting we’ll be outside.
Enter the choir.
June 28 and July 5 we’ll practice outside after our morning service. Many of our choir members aren’t ready to return yet, so if you’d like to join us we’ll have plenty of music for you too. We’ll sing “In God We Trust, In God Alone” written by our own Adam & Megan Morgan. Meet us behind the gym a few minutes after the service ends. We’d love to see you!
Todd Jones
Music Pastor
As you may have heard already, we plan to resume congregational singing in the 10:30 service this Sunday, June 7.
We are very thankful that our state and even county seem to have been spared the much higher infection rates of many other areas, and we feel it's best to allow one of the most important parts of worship to begin again.
Congregational singing always involves a certain amount of risk, and COVID-19 may have made it riskier than it’s ever been. Here are some of our precautions and recommendations.
We will be encouraging cloth face coverings during singing times especially.
We do not plan to sing nearly as long as we otherwise might.
Though it breaks our hearts, we do not plan to resume the full choir's ministry yet. We are making plans to add more vocal music as soon as safely possible.
We will have the singing after the morning sermon, and we plan to allow anyone who wishes to do so to exit privately just beforehand.
We also want to encourage anyone uncomfortable with attending the 10:30 auditorium service to consider joining the 9:15 session in the chapel that will also start on June 7.
Chapel
Stained glass windows in the Morningside Baptist Church chapel, west side. The chapel was completed in May 1988 and served as Morningside’s main auditorium for over a decade. In addition to its function as venue for weddings, funerals, and other special events, the chapel is also home to Morningside’s Spanish-language ministry, Iglesia Bautista Nuevo Amanecer.
The two classes meeting in the chapel will have plenty of room for many extra attendees. And their environment will have a much lower risk than the auditorium service. We plan to include some elements like special music that will help attendees appreciate the events as church services, even while giving the teachers room to build fellowship and discipleship among their combined classes.
Singing and COVID-19
The science of COVID-19 transmission is not quite exact, but authoritative witness to the risk of transmission during singing is very easy to find. That leads us to treat the act of communal singing as a wisdom issue, not only with precautions but also with deference. In the spirit of Romans 15:1, we who believe that singing may resume want to bear with anyone whose conscience doesn't allow participation.
Sunday morning worship Opportunities as of june 7
Last Sunday, our auditorium filled to just over 30% capacity. A few days before our first in-person service, restaurants began operating at 50% capacity. We actually have five options for different levels of risk tolerance:
High: Come to 10:30 service and stay for singing
Medium High: Come to the 10:30 auditorium and exit (to overflow or offsite) before singing begins
Medium: Come to a 10:30 overflow room
Medium Low: Come to the 9:15 session only
Low: Watch online
As far as we know, our first three Sundays of in-person services have not resulted in any COVID-19 cases. We pray that our church family, especially anyone at high risk, will continue in safety from this sometimes deadly virus.
We also pray that each week, more and more of our church family will feel the liberty to enjoy corporate gathering—and that Levels 2-4 can help those for whom Level 1 seems very daunting.
We hope you can join us this Sunday.
Sunday morning worship service options at Morningside as of June 7, 2020, sorted from highest to lowest by level of risk.
Last night around 60 of us gathered near the tree for our first time of singing together in person for over two months. After early afternoon showers, our weather cleared and gave us a breezy comfortable time. We sang a mixture of classic and modern hymns, all of them requested in recent weeks by you, our church family.
Many of you joined us online as well. What a sweet time it was!
Pastor Crockett broadcasts live video of “Sing to the Lord,” our May 27 outdoor song service.
MBC church family and guests at “Sing to the Lord,” our May 27 outdoor song service.
Pastor Jones leads congregational singing during “Sing to the Lord,” our May 27 outdoor song service.
Pastor Crockett broadcasts live video of “Sing to the Lord,” our May 27 outdoor song service.
Thanks to many who made it possible:
Rich Streeter and Mitch Summerlin, technical setup
Jeanette Miller (piano) and John Cofer (tuba), instrumental support
Chris Williams, logistics
Pastor Crockett, livestream (and secondary solo:-)
What we sang on May 27, 2020, our first churchwide in-person song service since March 15: “Victory in Jesus,” “His Robes for Mine,” “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” “Bow the Knee,” “Blessed Assurance,” “Before the Throne of God Above,” and “It Is Well with My Soul.”
We’re prayerfully considering having another song service next Wednesday, June 3.
Sing to the Lord
Outdoor Song Service
Wednesday, May 27 7:00 PM
Morningside Baptist Church
Weather permitting
Bring seating if desired
Updated May 27, 4:30 PM
Tonight at 7:00 we sing together again. If the weather doesn’t worsen, we’re doing it outdoors.
We’ll do our best to make sure everyone keeps a wide physical distance. We encourage you to wear a mask, especially when gathering and dispersing. We won’t use printed lyrics either.
But while the teens continue their Wednesday group meeting, this will be our first opportunity to sing together as a church family since March 15. In case of inclement weather, you can still join us online—just like “old times” (in other words, May 10). If your schedule permits, we hope you can sing along.
We also look forward to singing together in person again soon! Listen for an announcement in tonight's service about how we'll start incorporating congregational singing on Sundays. Thanks to several medical professionals in our church family for their assistance in helping us make plans as safe as possible.
We hope to see you tonight!
This Sunday many of us returned to church after our longest time away since . . . ever.
Along with just a handful of others, I had gotten to come every Sunday. Although this week was totally different from those weeks, it also felt very much the same—
mixed emotions.
It was so overwhelmingly great to see everyone.
It was so heartbreaking to go through the service without singing together.
Singing together—as a congregation—is the best way to fulfill the command in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16. Nowhere does the Bible ever command us to listen to others sing, though we certainly enjoy doing so. Those two passages, though, do command us to sing. (For more on this topic, see “Five Balances in Our Church’s Music.”)
And yet not singing was the best way we could take care of the health of our church family and guests.
As our online services progressed, we began paring down the amount of live singing even further than we had at first. Sometimes I was the only singer.
This week, even though there were over 100 people in the 9:15 high-risk service and over 200 in the low-risk one, we kept it that way.
Some churches have already had to re-close after re-opening, and group singing has proven to be one of the fastest ways to spread COVID-19. Multiple group singing events (including choir practices and concerts in Washington and Amsterdam) have resulted in the majority of attendees contracting the coronavirus and multiple deaths each.
So we considered our options. Some chose to stay home and continue singing, and I certainly respect that. Others chose to meditate silently or mouth the words while the instrumentalists played. Others hummed along, and that enabled us to share some of the joy of making music together without spreading contagious particles or aerosols.
In the 10:30 service, we also got some help from Doug Young, the teacher for our deaf class.
Doug started the service by teaching us how to sign the chorus of “Trust and Obey."
Doug Young teaching the sign for “trust” in ASL on May 17, 2020.
That really took away a lot of the awkwardness for me. And it was great to see many join along in person and hear about others joining in online. Doug signed for all the songs and taught us several signs along the way.
At the end, my heart was still full. ODBM assistant director Paul Fields called it
triumph with a tear.
With Paul, choir members I’ve spoken to, and others, I too long for the day we can join our voices together around the throne--with no more death or sickness to restrain us. And before then, I long for ways to resume singing as soon as it is safely possible. We're considering singing together online and/or outside at some point soon. In the meantime, we can all work on our congregational signing!
Todd Jones
Music Pastor
(In case you haven’t heard, the COVID-19 pandemic has started to affect our plans...)
I’m thankful for our video volunteers under Rich Streeter, and I’m especially thankful that they’ve been livestreaming for several years (here’s the sermon from May 29, 2016). But this past Sunday was the first time we’ve streamed an online-only service.
We definitely had a learning curve on the technology side. The team did a great job expanding our streaming capabilities so that our stream is available not only on our YouTube channel but also on our Facebook page and even Roku-enabled devices. We also streamed to a free platform that had trouble keeping up with the traffic--it was, after all, America’s first day of social-distance church--but offers onscreen options like giving or pulling up an electronic Bible. We had staff members chatting live on several of these channels, and it was great to hear from lots of you by email and text as well.
But technology wasn’t the only learning curve. What to stream was also a huge question. Some large churches regularly lead their worship services with a group of less than 10, so some of them just held a regular service Sunday and pretended their auditoriums weren’t empty. If we wanted to abide by the CDC’s recommendations, though, we couldn’t even request our full orchestra--much less our choir.
So we decided to keep our group of leaders under 10. Counting our pastor and pastor emeritus, that left us eight musicians. Our church has a mixed quartet that sings from time to time, and the others in the quartet agreed to join me. But one of the five musical balances we hold very dearly is the balance of participating and presenting. How in the world could we help our congregation sing at all… when we weren’t even congregating?
“Reformation Hymn”
A mixed quartet sings at Morningside Baptist Church, March 22, 2020.
One option we tried on our first online-only service was to replay prerecorded congregational singing (here’s the link for those who missed it). That allowed our viewers to hear the singing that the congregation had done--at least beforehand. We also got some people tuning in during that time who wondered if they had opened an archived video instead of the livestream.
In the end, we decided to keep our music live during the service. We displayed the projected lyrics instead of faces during the singing, and our quartet was accompanied by piano and a small strings group (thanks to Josiah, Naomi, and Micah Wright for joining in). We heard from several of our church family that they were able to join in the singing, and we definitely want to improve that ability for others this week as well. After the service officially ended, we played recordings first of the choir and then of the congregation.
Was this anything like being together in person? Yes and no. David de Bruyn laments the losses, and they are real. Certainly most of our broadcasts’ views didn’t happen live, and we lament that as well. But during the time of social distancing, any contact--and especially knowing that so many of you have been able to participate--is something we think is well worth celebrating.
Todd Jones
Music Pastor
Morningside Baptist Church
Amazing grace,
how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me…
Are you humming yet? Maybe humming inside?
One of our musical goals is to help you learn songs so well that they’re in your heart the rest of your life. We try to plan many songs often enough so that over time you can learn them by memory. For some songs we want to make sure that happens even if you don’t hear them anywhere else.
Memorizing worship songs—from simple choruses to gospel songs to rich hymns—has amazing benefits:
Focus
When you’re singing by heart, you can focus better—as long as you don’t zone out. But memory removes the need to process information like printed or projected text. At our services we always plan to give text. Actually, for the benefit of all those with basic music literacy, we include notation for any songs that aren’t in our hymnal. (Getting your own copy of our hymnal is very easy and can help reinforce the learning you get at church.) We want you to have help understanding our songs from your very first visit. But while we want to help you learn, we also hope you can eventually get past the aids we give you. Once you can focus on the meaning instead of the medium, you can meditate so much better!
Availability
Memorized songs are always available. There’s no data plan as universal, no smart speaker as responsive, as your own memory. It’s everywhere you go and always ready to start up without even a moment’s notice. When you know a song by heart, you are ready to access its message whenever or wherever you need it. And the usefulness of “Amazing Grace” shouldn’t be limited to cell service, battery life, or wifi. You should be ready to be amazed at God’s grace literally anywhere.
Longevity
Songs combine poetry, music, and life connections. Because of that combination, songs can stir memories even when many other memories —and reading abilities—fade out. When loved ones slide into dementia, hymns can be one of the last ways to connect with them.
There’s an amazing video of an unbeliever (it’s true!) connecting with a dementia patient because she took the time to learn some hymns. The State of New York even recognizes the benefits of connecting to dementia patients through hymns.
So we look forward to seeing you this Sunday! We’ll plan to sing some newer songs as well—that’s one of the balances that’s very important to us. But we definitely plan to include some songs that many of us have memorized over the years. We look forward to sharing them with you.
Todd Jones
Music Pastor
These songbooks also include many of the songs we get from outside our hymnal:
Just before Dr. Jim Tillotson closes our 2020 missions conference, we’ll hear from guest musicians Forever Be Sure.
Based in Ankeny, Iowa, FBS developed out of a 2006 family gathering and has been recording studio albums since 2008. They’ll be in the Upstate as part of their Carolina tour.
As our church family seeks to live Cross-centered lives in 2020, two hymns have already been helpful for us to consider and are serving as our theme songs throughout the year. One is a beloved classic hymn, and another has already become deeply loved by many in less than two decades.
Elizabeth C. Clephane (1830-1869) wrote the classic hymn “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” at age 38, just a year before her untimely homegoing. Her text is an intensely personal account of standing beneath the cross, at times beholding Christ’s “dying form,” asking only “His face” for sunshine. Clephane ends by proclaiming her willingness to glory in what the Romans had meant to signify cruel, ignominious death: “my glory all the Cross.”
First published in 2006, Keith & Kristyn Getty’s modern hymn “Beneath the Cross” is also introspective. Each stanza takes a different theme. The first stanza glories in the atonement found at the Cross, and the second in the community of believers we join there. The third reminds us that the Cross is only “the path before the Crown.”
We pray you live beneath the Cross this year. Perhaps these hymns can help.
Christmas Program (12/15 AM).
The Christmas story provides a unique display of the glory of God.
Sign up here for our annual Children’s Christmas Recital.
Sunday night we enjoyed a concert promising hope during cancer treatment.
Meredith Keen, a musician who attends Pursue and joined MBC a few months ago, has been fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma and wanted to send the gospel to the many people she had met during her treatments.
Several of Meredith’s friends joined her to give a sacred concert including “It Is Well,” “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” and hope-filled pieces like “You Are God” and Dan Forrest’s “Come to Me.”
Rand Hummel presented the gospel clearly between songs, finishing with a powerful invitation leading into “The Power of the Cross.”
Watch or share the full video below.
Full Video: “The Hope That Lieth Within,” 11/3/19 PM
On October 18-19, about 75 of our choir and orchestra enjoyed great fellowship and several hours of extra rehearsal, including music for our Christmas program, Gloria in Excelsis (see post coming soon).
Last Sunday, around 100 of our church family enjoyed a sacred recital before the evening service. Our choir previewed “I Am Not My Own", and we also heard the Teen Men’s Quartet and several other musicians. In addition to leading the ladies ensemble pictured, Dave Hibbard also premiered “It Was for Me” by Don Orthner.
A ladies ensemble sings “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” at the fall recital at Morningside Baptist Church, October 27, 2019. Photo: Roger Frederick.
In addition to this coming Sunday’s concert, further major music events this year include
12/15 AM (9:15 & 10:30 AM): Gloria in Excelsis
12/22 (9:15 AM): Children’s Christmas Recital
Cancer can come to anyone. This year it came to a recent BJU graduate teaching music in Greenville. Meredith Keen was hardly expecting the diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As her treatment progressed, however, she determined to use her musical gifts to keep from wasting the experience.
Through my cancer journey I have met so many people: oncologists, nurses, nurse practitioners, office staff, other patients, nutritionists, phlebotomists, etc. as well as the director of the Cancer Society of Greenville, the communications director for the Young Adult Cancer Patients society, and many more.
It hit me that 70% (and that's being generous) are unsaved—Christian in southern cultural name. All these individuals know I am a musician and are in all honesty really curious as to what that looks like exactly.
Rand Hummel, Abby Chetta, and Jason Hamilton are all on board for a sacred concert. Our vision is for Rand to present the clear Gospel woven in and out between sacred music.
“The Hope That Lieth Within” (see 1 Peter 3:15) is November 3 at 5:30 PM. Invitations for your own use are available at the Welcome Center. Please pray that the Lord will use this gospel presentation.
12/2/21: This post is our 2019 testimony
thanking the Lord for Majesty Music
and the ministry their team had here that fall.
For information about Shelly Hamilton’s 2021 book, Always, Only Good, click or tap here.
Sunday was a special one for many reasons. You can read the overall report from the day here. The ministry of the Majesty Music team, however, had several factors especially worth noting.
In the days leading up to our Homecoming, many of us knew that the day would be a very difficult one for the team. Flora Jean Garlock, beloved wife of Majesty's founder, had just died. The team's ministry to us came literally the day after her funeral service. We did not immediately realize, however, what depth that would add to the team's ministry.
Because members of the Garlock and Hamilton families traveled to Greenville for the funeral, we got to hear from Majesty's founder, Frank Garlock himself. Dr. Garlock led us in singing "Hallelujah, What a Savior." Before we sang, he told the story of how Philip P. Bliss, the song's composer, died trying to save his wife from a burning train he had already escaped. Dr. Garlock was under obvious pressure as he told the story, but he led the singing with gusto nevertheless… or was it "therefore"?
Frank Garlock leading congregational singing, October 6, 2019. Photo: Rich Streeter.
A few minutes before Dr. Garlock’s ministry was another deeply moving moment. Majesty had agreed to extend their rehearsal schedule so that one of their numbers could incorporate our choir and orchestra. We settled on the song "You Are Always Good," and Ben Farrell and our own Megan Morgan provided vocals. We did not know when we chose the song that it would come right after a funeral. Majesty chose that song to close the service, and we sang the chorus as a congregation.
"You Are Always Good" appeared in 2013, soon after the tragic death of Jonathan Hamilton. Jonathan had struggled with mental illness for much of his life and died at age 34. Jonathan was also a gifted composer, and after his death his parents found this music in his belongings. They sent the tune to hymn writer Chris Anderson, who then wrote "You Are Always Good" as Jonathan's testimony. Since then it has brought hope to many during dark times, including many in our church family. Having our own musicians present it along with Jonathan’s own family members—the day after they held another family member’s funeral—was indeed a rich blessing.
We look forward to singing “You Are Always Good” again this week. Take a few minutes to watch and listen if you can.