For the weekend of September 28-29th, the Holiness Tabernacle Music department celebrated a year of praise and worship with our first annual Music Summit. Under the leadership of our Music Department President, Sister Yolinda McCown, and the direction of guest facilitator, Elder Victor Thompson of New Community Temple COGIC, the Holiness Tabernacle choir enjoyed a weekend of fellowship and focused teaching.
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The weekend kicked off with Pastor Eddie B Pruitte talking about music in the church setting, from a pastor’s perspective. One thing he shared is that music serves many functions. These functions include, but are not limited to 1) a breaker of bonds – helping ease tension and life stress 2) a weapon – used to fight off the enemy, freeing the listeners into a place of openness 3) an ice breaker – helping newcomers feel welcome and comfortable 3) a method of praise – helping everyone communicate with the Lord.
Pastor Pruitte then encouraged the choir to sing effectively and with purpose, explaining that the choir is not merely a performance act. He went on to talk about the effectiveness of music in Old Testament Battles. In 2 Chr 20:21-22, Jehoshaphat appointed singers to praise the Lord as they entered the battle. Upon hearing this praise, God smote their enemies. It’s this type of praise that distracts the singer, taking their minds off of themselves and putting their minds back on the Lord. This allows those involved in the praise to rest in His provision and not their own inadequacy in the face of trouble. That’s what every choir should hope to do, move themselves and others toward a thirst for and dependency on God.
Following this, the choir was greeted and edified by our guest, Elder Thompson, who kept it real! He exhorted the choir to be professional in ministry, remembering that ministering through music requires skill and a great anointing from the Lord. To put this into perspective, he explained that the Levites (the priests) sang at the temple, meaning singers are ministers! He then told the attendees his personal testimony of how the Lord used his love of music to pull him into the church. It was also in this positioning that God blessed him with a family, an opportunity to sing to his heart’s contentment, and a chance to influence other artists. It’s this provision and platform that have helped in his growing musical career, inspiring him to both direct choirs and write music professionally.
Elder Thompson’s teaching continued into Saturday, where he both heavily rehearsed with the choir and personably interacted with all involved. He and his wife, Missionary Thompson, continued to stress the reality of music’s origin and what we are to do once we know from where music comes. Music and the gift of music making is a blessing from God. As such, we should endeavor to make our priority Him….not the music itself. He will use our voices, instruments, and ideas about music to further His will so long as we remain faithful to Him.
Later that night, after a short break, the attendees and guest returned for powerful night of music. We sang, we listened, we praised and we were used! Won’t you come out next year and join in the praise!?
We promise you’ll leave with a new song on your heart!