Some of my best and worst memories of going to church as a child are when my dad would belt out whatever song the choir was singing. If not a good singing voice, he at least had enthusiasm. We would all sing under our breaths, but he sang out like he didn’t care what anyone thought. He was brave that way. Of course, we were all mortified when he sang the wrong verse.
Over the years, organ music and choirs have given way to guitars and drums. I have gone to several churches in my life, and some of the choirs/bands were truly cringe-worthy, but some of them were good enough to be on the radio. I was once at a retreat where the band was so good, people from other retreats crashed ours. I also had the opportunity to go to a Mass in Burbank, California, and I could tell they were all professional musicians.
What may surprise you is that I appreciate the cringe-worthy choirs as much as I do the professionals. It takes a lot of faith and courage to get up in front of people to sing, especially when they must know they are not very good. Music adds a whole spiritual dimension to a church service, and without both the good and the bad musicians, something is lacking.
A couple of weeks ago, our little church was missing its keyboardist/lead singer. The backup singers asked us to bear with them and sing with them as they stepped forward to lead us a cappella. I could not help but think of my dad. I do not have a very good or a very strong singing voice, but I sang out anyway. I made dang sure I was on the correct verse, though.