We Believe: Faith, Community, and the Holy Act of Singing

A recent, major survey on worship created by the presenter and distributed to Presbyterian and Reformed denominations over the last year promises to shed new light on practices of congregational singing in those traditions. This sectional will use the data from that survey to ask an important question: “Is Reformed and Presbyterian congregational singing still denominationally distinctive?” That is, can we look at current practices of congregational singing among these denominations and recognize those practices’ connection to the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition’s theology and practice?

It is a gift to the Church that, in this age of ecumenism, Christians across denominations share a significant body of congregational song. However, recognizing that denominations also rightfully cherish their individual theological and musical identities, it can be a good thing to magnify the particularities of various denominations. Asking the question “is Reformed and Presbyterian congregational singing denominationally distinctive” provides an opportunity to explore not only the textual and musical idioms of Presbyterian/Reformed congregational singing, but also to explore what implications the aesthetics inherent to these idioms have on their ethos.

Participants will be presented with real data from the survey, will sing through various examples of congregational song represented in that survey, and then will be led in a guided discussion on whether/how these examples reflect or challenge the history, theology and traditional musical ethos of the Reformed/Presbyterian family of churches. In other words, is North American Presbyterian/Reformed congregational singing still denominationally distinctive, or not?