The Masked Singers

We’re doing it! The choirs are going to sing in person again in our worship, and we’re going to try it with masks on. As much as I’ve enjoyed putting our choirs’ videos together and play them during worship for everyone to watch, nothing compares to the experience of seeing and hearing our choirs live. I had to consider some concerns before finally coming to this compromise. Will our singers be comfortable? Will the sound we’ll be creating beautiful and clear enough to effectively deliver the message the music is trying to convey? And, more importantly, will it be safe to both our singers and congregation? After talking to some of our choir members and hearing their thoughts, and doing a number of research from different choir directors’ groups and forums I check regularly, I think it’s time for us to at least try. Considering that there’s really no clear end in sight of this pandemic, as ministers of our church, we just learn to cope, adjust, and sometimes make uncomfortable changes to continue our ministry of delivering God’s message and edifying our church through our music. As a verse of one of my all-time favorite hymns goes:
Through all the tumult and the strife,
I hear that music ringing
It finds an echo in my soul
How can I keep from singing?
One of these following Sundays in worship, you’ll see and hear our choir singers standing together in front, blending voices in harmony, making music to fulfill the ministry that God commissioned us, and wearing masks. Even a pandemic shouldn’t and wouldn’t stop us to proclaim, welcome, and serve.
 

~ Rey Lambatin, Choir Director