barnhart wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2026 9:10 pm
How convinced are we that God needs people to stand very still when they sing.
Well this assumes that the moving is for the worship and enjoyment of God, and not for the impression on, and the entertainment of, the audience.
Man looks on the outward appearance. And if I may be a little bit inflammatory, it was the false prophets of Baal who danced around in worship to get their god's attention, not Elijah. Yes, I think that there is room somewhere for dance or swaying or whatever in true worship. When a person as myself is already suspicious of performative worship in song, the dancing in addition it pushing even further out of acceptability.
Last edited by R7ehr on Mon Jul 13, 2026 9:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
barnhart wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2026 9:10 pm
How convinced are we that God needs people to stand very still when they sing.
Well this assumes that the moving is for the worship and enjoyment of God, and not for the impression on, and the entertainment of, the audience.
Maybe God enjoys both.
Some people really do need to move to sing. I'm a little that way but I can force myself to stand still if necessary. I have one child who is even better/worse in that movement is essential.
barnhart wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2026 9:10 pm
How convinced are we that God needs people to stand very still when they sing.
Well this assumes that the moving is for the worship and enjoyment of God, and not for the impression on, and the entertainment of, the audience.
Maybe God enjoys both.
Maybe not everything God enjoys is both edifying and expedient?
0 x
A wee little man can’t say, I’m sorry. A big man owns his mistakes and apologizes.
A wee little man trusts himself and his own discernment. A big man is humble enough to know that he needs the counsel and input of others.
barnhart wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2026 9:10 pm
How convinced are we that God needs people to stand very still when they sing.
Well this assumes that the moving is for the worship and enjoyment of God, and not for the impression on, and the entertainment of, the audience.
Maybe God enjoys both.
Some people really do need to move to sing. I'm a little that way but I can force myself to stand still if necessary. I have one child who is even better/worse in that movement is essential.
I edited and added to my post while you were replying. Sure, I think some moving is fine and natural.
I would draw a distinction between enthusiastic worship with movement (and, yes, even dancing, like David did) and programmed, choreographed movement done as part of a professional performance.
JohnH wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2026 10:13 pm
I would draw a distinction between enthusiastic worship with movement (and, yes, even dancing, like David did) and programmed, choreographed movement done as part of a professional performance.
JohnH wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2026 7:53 pm
I was recently made aware that Oasis Chorale performances now involve dancing.
Produce a link to a video of this and then we can discuss this intelligently.
I was at the service last evening. It doesn't seem that there is video of it. Their style of classical chorale music is not really my thing, it wouldn't be my first choice of what I'd like to listen to normally. But it was not just a "performance." It was deeply worshipful and meaningful. If one went to it and failed to worship or was distracted by something he didn't like, that would be entirely one's own fault.
A couple of the songs had some choreographed movements; if one wants to call it "dance" that would be a quite broad definition of dancing. The movements were sort of similar to the motions some of the singers are making here in this video (not these exact motions, but a similar idea, similar types of movements with the arms and upper body), although in Oasis's case the whole choir is doing the motions.
Honestly to say that they are a source of liberal/progressive influence is one of the more absurd things I've seen recently.
MattY wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2026 11:04 pm
Honestly to say that they are a source of liberal/progressive influence is one of the more absurd things I've seen recently.
How would you stack up the rest of the overall message of the performance Sunday night? Unfortunately, I picked up on a rather significant progressive undercurrent.
Wesleyb wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2026 2:09 pm
Do you feel the same way about a black choir singing a hymn from Isaac Watts or Fannie Crosby?
I used to feel the way you do, but now I find it interesting to hear music done in a different style than it was written for. A rock song done acapella or bluegrass style, a traditional hymn in country music or contemporary style, etc. It may or may not be as good as the original, but at least it's interesting.
No, I don't. Is that ethnic prejudice?
My feeling is that the hymns are much more culturally broad, the lyrics not being so tied to the specific struggles of a certain people group. In fact, very many hymns, such as those that use sea going illustrations, are not at all "culturally relevant" to any experiences I have had. (However, it is true that while my people have never been sailors, they DID sail across the ocean in ships that depended on wind for power. But it was also a short time experience in terms of their entire lives.)
So maybe it would fall in the same category if a Lutheran choir sang a hymn from the Ausbund? What if a Mennonite choir sang a recently composed black gospel song that did not have roots in slavery, and sang it "Mennonite style", would you have any objections there?
I think what we're talking about here is "cultural appropriation". It's a concept that I think might have some validity but can be taken too far.
Wesleyb wrote:
I think what we're talking about here is "cultural appropriation". It's a concept that I think might have some validity but can be taken too far.
I agree. Most all music is a recombining of elements from other traditions. The genre we consider classical has a long tradition of dressing up peasant tunes and playing around with them in sophisticated ways. I have a Christmas album of black gospel artists remaking Handel's Messiah in their genre and I find it quite nice. I offer them 606 in the Mennonite hymnal to see what they can do with it.