A Tale of Two Christmases
Gary “GB” Burgin
On a normal Sunday twenty-five to thirty-five members are in attendance. We have, on average, twelve people in the choir, six people in the band, and seven on the rotating pianist team. Do the math (12+6+7=25), and that sounds like the entire congregation! In reality, many people are members of all three groups. On any given Sunday, we have around fourteen people participating in some part of the music program, still a large percentage of those attending.
When I began as music director at the church, the expectation was that I would play the piano, lead hymns, and direct the choir, as the previous director had. The only problem with this plan was that I am not the previous director! He was great, but we have different skill sets, and the transition has taught me the importance of valuing many skills in a community. I do play the piano, but I consider myself a developing pianist (I’ve been developing for about fifty years now!), though I have about a thousand years’ experience as a conductor and singer, and I have a love for people. I love working with others, organizing events for them, and watching them grow their skills into satisfying abilities.
This love for people must have been evident. Shortly after I began, people began coming out of the woodwork saying things like, “I’ve played piano for years, but I don’t know if I can play for church,” or, “I used to play all the time, but I just fell away. I should start up again.” It came to me that I could help them develop their piano skills as they helped support the music ministry of the church. I organized all seven of these volunteers into a rotating schedule to play the prelude music in worship. I invited them to play postludes as well, but only if it didn’t create too much pressure. Because they all come with different skill levels, my only expectation is that they improve in some way each time they play. With seven weeks between performances, that isn’t a very big ask, but it helps support them in their practice. They all bought in, and we have had a great time with the arrangement ever since. I’m always happy to support them by answering questions or giving advice. Some need it; some don’t. One of the pianists wanted to develop her skills as an accompanist for the choir as well as playing for congregational singing. She has been a godsend!
Since we started, one more wonderful person has joined us as an organist, and I put our band on the rotation to offer preludes as well. So now the prelude rotation is every nine weeks, which gives everyone so much time to set learning goals and prepare. Personally, I’m enjoying having a goal that helps me stay with my practicing. Looks like everybody’s winning!
Another vital discovery about the importance of music ministry came in my planning for Advent one year. I gathered all the music we would use for the season and then scheduled an afternoon retreat/rehearsal on the Sunday afternoon after Thanksgiving for the choir to learn the music. I baked cookies as thank-you packages for everyone and planned for a great rehearsal. We had also planned a Christmas caroling event to follow the rehearsal, so our agenda for the day was full. The rehearsal helped prepare us to sing well throughout the Advent and Christmas season, and we had a great time singing for our neighbors and enjoying cookies and cocoa afterward. Though it was a long day, everything went off without a hitch . . . well, not exactly everything.
As I reflected on the day, Matthew 28:19–20 kept coming to mind—the text that is often called the Great Commission—when Jesus says, “Go and make disciples.” I’m a big fan of going, but there wasn’t a lot of go in my plan for the choir’s participation in Advent and the annual caroling event. It seemed like most of our “musical arrow signposts” were pointing inward: we had a great time rehearsing and eating cookies, performing music for our congregation, and enjoying each other’s company caroling and eating cookies. (In case you haven’t noticed, cookies are kind of a thing at our church!) But not many of our arrows were pointing outward toward our community. I had eight months to come up with a new plan for next year.
Now, my life is pretty full, and any plan I created needed to be efficient. My goal was to redirect our efforts to point outward—to be more inviting to our neighbors. It occurred to me that a little rebranding of both our Advent choir music and our caroling event could really help.
In all honesty, not much else needed to change! The first step was to introduce a new name: the Aurora Presbyterian Community Christmas Choir. If that doesn’t shout “We are here for everyone,” I don’t know what does. I used social media to send invitations to those in the community who were not already part of the music ministry or the congregation. I asked our congregation members to share these invitations on their own pages when they saw them on their feed. The invite looked like this:
You’re invited to come sing with the Aurora Presbyterian Church Community Christmas Choir! Come as you are! This is an a la carte event. Come when you can. Our music is very achievable; if you come in the morning, you can sing that day. There are no auditions. No solos (unless you want one!) There will be cookies, and we won’t send the “Bible Squad” to your door afterward. Promise.
The results were staggeringly good. We serve a mighty God, but I think God was going for style points on this one! Our choir averages ten to twelve singers each week, and we welcomed three new singers the first week and a few more the second. Then these singers started bringing their friends and families, and soon the choir swelled to twenty-two singers. An increase in congregational attendance was noticeable as well. I had to bring in another pew for the choir loft. Every single week, I thought, “This is as good as it gets,” only to be amazed by the following week’s sound. Numbers are not the only measure of a quality choir, but it was such a joy to be able to welcome more and more voices to join us each week.
The Christmas caroling event went equally well. The invitation to come Christmas caroling with the Aurora Presbyterian Community Christmas Choir went out on Facebook and Instagram. Our wonderful deacons prepared a time of fellowship with hot chocolate, candy canes, and cookies after the caroling event. Many of the participants were people who sang in the choir, but we also welcomed some new people. Caroling was fun, but for me, the real fun was afterwards when our choir was making friends with new folks that they had never met. I felt like a proud papa watching all those new relationships starting! But more than pride, I felt gratitude—that God would take our little efforts and use them so thoroughly.
The Sunday after Christmas, I prepared myself for the sad loss of many of my new friends. After all, it was a Christmas choir. I was delighted, however, to see the new members meant a 20 percent increase! The really great part is that they have stayed and brought their families and new friends with them to church. Grateful doesn’t begin to cover how I feel about this experience. And I’m sure that no amount of cookies will ever pay the debt!
Looking forward, I’ve rebranded our end-of-year Choir Sunday to become a day when the congregation shows appreciation to the choir and vice versa. This year the choir is putting on a concert in the afternoon. Once again, we will invite the community on Facebook and Instagram, we will livestream the event, and I’m giving the congregation printed invitations to give out to their friends and—especially—to their neighbors. The congregation and choir will be able to express their mutual appreciation, but now our invitations are pointing outward beyond the congregation. Better. So. Much. Better!
So that Matthew 28 thing is really a thing. It matters. Sometimes we have to be a little bit more creative in our response to that command. That’s all. I have learned that if you invite people and work on building new relationships with them, growth happens. And cookies always help!
