THERE are broadly two kinds of evangelism. In the first, you assume you have something rich and glorious, but appreciate that not everyone might immediately appreciate its worth; so you lower the threshold as far as you can, provide your best hospitality, offer harmless incentives to get people to take the risk of entering, and serve up your offering on your own territory.
The second kind goes to the other person’s territory, or seeks neutral ground, and affirms it, seeking to build trust, express appreciation, and then supplement that common ground with fresh insights of one’s own, either by requesting the opportunity, or by waiting to be asked the reason for the hope in your heart. Often, the second is the precursor to the first.
Evangelists talk a great deal about the unchurched, but the Church of England could reverse decline overnight by simply doing a better job of finding ways for those who used to enjoy its life to cross the threshold again. Two insights offer hope in this project. One is that church is about the most profound things in people’s lives. To find out what those are, one simply needs to investigate where people go for solace in the face of pain or joy that surpasses expression.
For a host of people, the answer to that question is music. If you can offer music of a quality that yields the recognition “You had to be there,” you are halfway to offering something that will persuade people to cross a threshold. The second insight is that most people are embarrassed by their lack of understanding of music, and that that embarrassment is an inhibitor to their enjoyment or participation.
OUT of these two insights, “Great Sacred Music” was born. The principle is research that says people need to be in a church seven times before they feel comfortable worshipping there; so, you need to give people enthralling ways to be in a church which don’t intimidate or discourage. What better way than to offer glorious music, and accompany that music with commentary offering brief, interesting, informative, and amusing introductions to assist appreciation of each piece?
At our own church, St Martin-in the-Fields, in central London, we offer a weekly, 35-minute Thursday-lunchtime event (we don’t call it a concert or a service), where we present six choral anthems and invite those gathered to join (seated) in two hymns. Each piece has an introduction highlighting its theological, biographical, historical, or musical features — but with a lightness of touch that makes the event more like a playful commentary than an earnest lecture.
We offer a handout with the words of the two hymns, details of composers, and signposting to other events. We take a retiring collection “for those who’d like this wonderful tradition to continue”. We have been doing it since 2013 — and online also since 2020.
A programme of this kind, blending choral and congregational singing with light-touch commentary and an unthreatening welcome, has immeasurably enhanced the enjoyment and understanding of regulars, attracted and kept many who might have found the threshold of attending a Sunday or weekday worship service too daunting, and offered a way to promote a culture around music appreciation that doesn’t take itself too seriously, yet is a memorable aesthetic, educational, and devotional experience. We now have spin-off events on Sunday afternoons and Monday lunchtimes.
THESE things are perfectly possible in other social and ecclesial contexts. Let’s imagine you have a lively tradition of visiting around each other’s denominations in a market town during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity; an interdenominational choir could practise suitable pieces, and there could be four or five events that transcend the difficulties presented by ecumenical worship. Or, if you have a pattern of a Lent course, you could take five great choral works, and (months in advance) invite a choir to perform them.
The key is to see what is possible, and not succumb to the “If only!”, or “We can’t do that”, or “It’s all right for some” mentality. A church must strive to be what only it can be, and not be a failed version of somewhere else. Perhaps your community has got used to online community during Covid, and kept up that practice since; maybe you could do a series that works for people as an online event.
And it doesn’t have to be classical choral music. Some churches have used the same format for contemporary music. We once did a Thursday lunchtime, “Great Sacred Worship Songs”. And it doesn’t have to be sacred — or at least, not explicitly so. Just as Sister Wendy Beckett made much of drawing out the spiritual and devotional potential of abstract art, so it doesn’t take much research to do the same for familiar ballads or contemporary pop music.
The format can work equally well for any age group, or any social class — it is not an élitist thing at all. The music does not have to be live: provided it’s not live-streamed, it can be taken off any suitable online resource. That affects the “You had to be there” experience; but you can compensate for that by attractive forms of hospitality and publicity.
IN FACT, it doesn’t have to be music at all. Other things can move the soul profoundly: art has great potential, although ensuring everyone present has access to the image in question requires printing a leaflet, or using audio-visual facilities. The point is not about resources, or training, or investment, or location: it is about an infectious enthusiasm, a hospitable attitude, and a playful tone of voice. It alters the power dynamic from “I have the truth and you need to accept it,” to “Isn’t this beautiful and intriguing? — and here’s a funny story you might not know about it.”
Fundamentally, it is about trusting the Holy Spirit to act, provided you have curated a suitable environment of trust and expectation. Most of all, it is huge fun — because we are enjoying ourselves, celebrating creativity and beauty, and learning interesting things on the way.
The Revd Dr Sam Wells is Vicar and Andrew Earis is Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields in the diocese of London.
Great Sacred Music: A resource book for mission through music is published by Canterbury Press at £18.99 (CT Bookshop £15.19); 978-1-78622-573-3 (Books, 21 March).
