A few thoughts on music in church.

I grew up Catholic, in a Catholic church choir, where my mom, dad, and I led the music for a small, country parish. In fact, my folks still lead their local church in song every Saturday night. They are a gift to many, many people.

These days I'm not quite so Catholic, but that's another story. 

I've migrated towards the Baptist faith, and have found a network of churches that resonate with my beliefs. Unsurprisingly, a big factor in this connection is the music selection. 

Last summer I was part of a book study around the book "Worship Matters."  People who plan the music should (and in my experience do) put significant time and effort into the songs/hymns sung for a service. I've always been of the belief that songs should be tied to Scripture. They should steer away from love songs that are broad and could have multiple interpretations.

However, this morning I got a new perspective.

The worship team leader announced that they would be singing a Florence + The Machine song. I love Florence, but I was skeptical. Do contemporary pop songs have a place in the Church? 

Sure enough, the song took me by surprise. The entire song was about water, and the Gospel readings and sermon were about water as well.

Any church going people will tell you that faith does not start and stop on Sundays alone. Faith is meant to be carried throughout the week. I don't know about you, but I don't usually listen to hymns during the week. That's not my cup of tea. 

I am, however, interested in how I can apply faith to my normal routine. 

This worship team brought a relevant song that may or may not have been written with Christian intentions, and applied the song to an old text. I was impressed.