HOW SHALL WE SING THE LORD’S SONG?

John Wigal, Director of Music

Over the last 7 months or so, I have often wondered about this verse from Psalm 137. We certainly are on “alien soil” when it comes to so many things in our daily lives, at church, and in music and the arts. Much of the spread of the Coronavirus is attributed to aerosols, tiny droplets of water that are produced as we breathe and even more so when we create sound using our voice. This has made music making, and particularly singing, a great challenge. We have, however, learned that there are several ways to help mitigate this spread – masking, limited time of exposure, and social distancing being the big three.

Beginning in October, we will be using small ensembles of singers to present the musical portions of our Sunday morning 10 am service. These singers will be masked, will be distanced 6 feet apart in the balcony and will offer only the opening hymn and an anthem. Rehearsals will have no more than eight people and will be conducted in 45 minutes in our two largest spaces to allow for better air flow.

The Good Shepherd musicians have done some marvelous work over these past months and I am deeply grateful to those who have served in this role: Delores Beery, Rachael Henderson, EJ and Cathy Laird, Hal Miller, Janelle and Trevor Wagoner and Cecelia Wigal. If you go to our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/GoodShepherdLookoutMountain, and click on “Videos,” the “Music at Good Shepherd” playlist has nearly 100 videos of our musical offerings since the suspension of public worship.

We are looking forward to making music and helping to lead our worship as we move into a new Liturgical year this coming Advent. Watch for some new offerings and for some of our treasured offerings in new ways in the coming weeks and months!