Karaoke

Some among the powers-that-be at the church to which I belong have decided that those who decline invitations to join our fellowship of Christian believers may be staying away because they find our services less attractive than alternative activities (i.e. boring). The obvious solution is to do something more interesting than lining up on long wooden pews singing “church songs” together and listening to long prayers and an extended lecture about some passage of the Bible. Thus, one Sunday evening a month is being set aside for “fun and fellowship” rather than the usual Sunday evening service. I have mixed feelings about that move, seeing both positive and negative points, but that’s a topic for another time and place. None of those feelings are strong enough to merit a blog entry. After all, I have yet to find the verse in the Bible that commands Christians to attend two church services every Sunday. Primarily, I’m just going with the flow without comment.

Last evening was our second such event. It was a karaoke night. Having led a sheltered life, this was my first exposure to the activity. I was amazed. The high school student beside me at the table insisted strongly at the outset that “I don’t sing!” However, by the end of the evening, she had joined one or both of her younger brothers and young cousin several times behind the microphone. People who have been part of my church family for years and whom I’ve never heard sing took the microphone voluntarily. For some, the result explained why they don’t participate in special music for church services. Others revealed unknown talents and made me wonder why they’ve never responded to requests for more musicians to become involved in our church music program.

By my unofficial count, there were 47 in attendance for this event, double the number present the week before for an “ordinary” evening service. Of those, eighteen, more than a third, took the microphone for either a solo or group song besides the unison “table songs”. Only three of those who performed do special music in our services on a regular basis. Several who have very nice singing voices declined to participate. Most of the 15 who sang other than those three regular church soloists had not previously revealed their ambitions for public performance. What is it about an open mic and a karaoke machine that breaks down the inhibitions people have about standing in front of a fairly large group of people and displaying their musical skills?

Did I feel the pull? Yes, it was there. Knowing that I might not be the worst singer in the group based on what I was hearing was probably part of that pull. I guess that’s the blessing of those whose dreams and ambitions exceed their musical skills. They make it easier for others to take the risk of embarrassing themselves. I went so far as to look over the selections available to see if one would grab me and propel me to the front. None did. I do often wish I had better singing skills because I would love to be able to include the lyrics when I make music rather than just playing the tune on the piano. The selections available didn’t include any of the songs that stir up those wishes. They were more for fun. If I’m going to do things for fun, I’ll stick to the piano -- Henry Mancini, Floyd Kramer, and such. If karaoke included piano music, I definitely would have been up there doing “The Pink Panther” since the remake of that movie is still playing at the local theater and I love playing Henry Mancini music. Instead, I just enjoyed being part of the audience and sometimes sang along softly. Being the interim pianist for church services, I have no lack of opportunity to display what talents I have on the instrument for which I have the most skills – the piano. In truth, I don’t consider a church service the best setting for a performance since the purpose of such a gathering is to glorify God rather than individuals among the congregation, but the challenge of using my skills to bring others into the presence of God is plenty for me. I don’t need performance opportunities.

I went to the karaoke night with apprehension. Would there be arm-twisting to get people to perform? Would the pressure make anyone uncomfortable? Was it really an event to which one could invite someone who wasn’t part of the church crowd?

I was pleasantly surprised. I had thought that recreational singing was pretty much a lost activity outside people sitting in pews in churches. I had heard that public speaking was among the greatest fears of people. Surely, public singing would be an even greater fear.

I learned some things last night. We have people sitting quietly in the pews every week who would share their musical talents with us given the right opportunity. I'm not sure what to do with this knowledge, how to provide those opportunities as an avenue for ministry, but I find it interesting.

Did the karaoke night accomplish it's purpose of attracting people who think our church services are boring? Well, it brought some people back Sunday night who wouldn't ordinarily return for the evening service. And we had a Methodist join us for a while. Other than that, it was just the usual crowd having some fun together instead of doing the usual pew thing. Maybe that's not a bad thing to accomplish.