Light of God Blog – CCU Lowell

Updated: 04/24/2010 06:35:32 AM EDT

LOWELL — When gathered together in faith communities, everyone in the congregation can and should sing. Yet today, with shows like American Idol showcasing the pursuit of perfection, people are often intimidated if their voices aren’t in perfect pitch, says the Rev. Peter Lovett, pastor of Christ Church United.At CCU next weekend, congregants and guests will learn that they can indeed sing and why it’s so important, thanks to Patrick Evans, assistant professor of sacred music at Yale Divinity School.

For three years, Lovett has been trying to get Evans to come to Lowell to “get up in front of the crowd, get it turned on and get everybody singing.”

That will finally happen on Sunday, May 2, beginning at 12:30 p.m. Evans, who is committed to the reclamation and renewal of congregational song, is the featured musician and speaker at “Global Song in Local Worship” at CCU.

The event is open to the public and kicks off with an optional multicultural luncheon featuring traditional foods prepared by CCU and ethnic foods prepared by two of the faith communities that share space with Christ Church United — Iglesia Hispana de la Comunidad and the Lao UCC churches.

A donation of $5 for the luncheon will benefit the Multicultural Youth Fund and its summer programs.

Lovett expects most people to arrive for Evans’ presentation from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Evans will address reasons for singing global song in local worship and practical ways to teach and learn that are respectful of others.

He will also explore hymns and songs from many parts of the world church and the musical and theological questions that arise during global song.

Evans recently spent two weeks in Uganda, teaching and learning from church musicians and pastors from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan. Lovett says that Evans’ experience with global music will tap into the multicultural aspect not only of CCU, but of Lowell as well.

The event falls on the first Sunday of the month, which has been reserved each month for CCU’s trio of faith communities to worship together. At the 10 a.m. service, Evans will preach about “Paul and Barnabas, when they are in prison and they sing. I expect a lot of lively music even in the morning,” said Lovett.

Evans is “someone who could help us appreciate global music and what it can bring to the local church,” Lovett said.

Evans evolved from a classically trained pianist to a lover of global music, Lovett added.

“He is such a competent pianist that he can get up there and get 200 people bellowing. It’s such a rare thing these days that you can find somebody who can completely disarm people who are predisposed to more mainstream music.”

Aware that young people listen mainly to “canned contemporary Christian music,” Lovett hopes that Evans “can light a fire — showing the wider and deeper spectrum that is out there for sacred music.”

Lovett groups Evans into the same category as John L. Bell, a popular Scottish-born liturgical composer, teacher and preacher, and his own cousin, Alice Parker, a composer, conductor and teacher considered by American Record Guide to be the “reigning queen of choral music.”

The three “are among the few trying to help congregations recover singing as a sacred act,” Lovett said.

“As children of God, we are hard-wired to sing — we need to sing. They (the artists) know how to bring people close together so they can hear other people’s voices.”

Lovett encourages all who are interested to come by CCU for food, fellowship, and “some really good music that will stir your heart and soul — and make you smile. My gut tells me that he’ll help everybody reclaim that voice.”

Christ Church United at Lowell, 180 East Merrimack St., Lowell, 978-459-9631, www.cculowell.org

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