I'm of that era that loves choirs too, but we don't have one at this new church. We have praise singers - several of them that rotate in shifts - but no choir. I miss it! We used to do some awesome Choir numbers at our former church, and the choir was over 60 people at one time. I loved singing in it!
It's hard enough to get all the praise singers to practice let alone a large choir
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We still have a choir. I have a wonderful black lady who can SING and she loves to lead the choir. They don't sing every Sunday, but when they do, folks love it!! So do I!
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"Those who go after the "Sauls" among us often slay the Davids among us." Gene Edwards
I think choirs are a great way to get lots of people involved in church worship and activities. We now have rotating praise teams- which is OK- But I love choir numbers and specials sung in church. I love different styles of praise and worship songs, also. My favorite is southern gospel, but I enjoy other styles of worship music. As I look around our church during the song service- the participation rate is about 50%. Half of the congregation is singing and half is not- There is lots of praise and worship- don't get me wrong, but many are not comfortable singing along.
Let me start this thread by saying I know I am an old fogey! I got the Holy Ghost in 1970 at the age of 19 years old. One of the first places I was used in church was the choir. I enjoyed singing in our church choir for about 25 years. I really loved singing in choir and being used in this capacity. I have not sung in choir for about 10 years or more. I dropped out when my work demands became such that I could not devote the time to it I needed to.
Anyway - The church I attend now for the past 3 years, has had a thriving choir of about 75 to 100 members. Last year our music director left to pastor a church in another state. After he left, - he was replaced by a part time music person- the choir sang less often, and our music went more and more to the "new style" of church music. We were sad not to sing the old songs occasionally, and missed "specials" being sung in church.
Our church always does a Christmas musical- in early November, I went to church and the platform was under construction for the musical. Part of that construction was to remove the choir platform and all of the chairs. I thought - its just part of the musical- ----- Well because of a family illness - I did not get to attend church but once during December- the platform was still under construction. Yesterday we attended church for the first time after the holidays- the platform is finished- there is no platform for the choir and the choir chairs are gone- I am assuming that the choir in our church has died and been given a proper burial. It makes me sad- I think the choir is a wonderful place for people to be used in the work of God. Is this typical of other churches? Is this a trend sweeping churchdom?
Ok Sista...Come on over to my church and take notes!!!!!!!!!!
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Rom.8:38,39-For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither heigth nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to seperate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Since everyone is contributing to what they think about chiors, I'll join in.
In my assembly we had a small choir for a short time. The thing is is that choirs aren't mentioned in NT worship, which really does it for me. I think ALL the songs should be sung with FULL involvement from the congregation, without separate attention given to choirs or solos or small groups. A leader is often necessary, but their goal should be to get the song started and for the congregation's voice to be what is heard! Praise GOD- it's GREAT!
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