One of the greatest joys of being a Choir Director is to watch your singers grow and learn together. Music has a way of bringing us together. In order to really effectively communicate using music, a person has to connect with the music emotionally and spiritually. Doing this together as a group naturally draws us together and creates a bond between the members of choir.

There are studies that show how singing in a choir can help a person emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. In a post from Cmuse (www.cmuse.org) they site 6 psychological and physical benefits of choral singing. The first benefit listed is “Strengthen Feelings of Togetherness.” Imagine how much more powerful that becomes when you factor in the Holy Spirit. I believe there is a reason that the largest book in the Bible is Psalms. God has given us music not only as a way to communicate His truth and bring people into His presence, but also as a way to bring us closer to one another.

I had the privilege of seeing this occur first hand. I served in a church for 27 years as a Worship Pastor, and some of the people in my choir starting singing with me the very first Sunday I came to the church. They remained in the choir for my entire tenure at the church. I watched as they welcomed new people and “adopted” them into our family. We cried together, prayed together, and generally did life together. When members needed help or assistance there was rarely a time it did not happen. We were a family. Does that mean everything was perfect? Certainly not! But if things got hard we did not walk away from one another.

The body of Christ is made up of all who believe. The choir has an opportunity to be an example of how the body of Christ can work together to serve Him. To lead the way for our congregations to not only worship on Sunday morning, but to live out our calling each and everyday. Our jobs as Choir Directors is to encourage the musicians God has given us. We become a church within the church.

How does a choir become a family? We recognize God has put us together to be a family. We open up and share our lives with the other members in our choir. We pray for one another. We purpose to be a family. It does not happen overnight, and it will take some time. We are already spending rehearsal time together so we sometimes avoid doing more, or suggesting more, because we don’t want to impose more time on our singers. However, in order to become a family, we need quantity of time as well as quality. If you want to speed up the process, take a trip together. Nothing will create a bond more than living together, even if it is for a few days.

Sing on, friend!

Kevin Boesiger

IN HIS STEPS