The Unlikely Choir

Have you been asked to do something that you knew would be really challenging ?

The pastor of our little sea-side church asked me, the music director, if I would form a church choir.

At the first practise , six keen women, and two gentlemen arrived.

I discreetly listened to their individual voices, and found that two of the ladies did not sing in tune. ( they lacked pitch accuracy).

Two other women sang in tune, but decades of cigarette smoking had affected their vocal chords, and they now preferred to sing an octave lower than the rest of us.

Both gentlemen had lovely tenor voices.

None of the choir members could read music, but they had a great enthusiasm for wanting to praise the Lord.

And so, my challenge began. It was time consuming to find hymns that the members could learn by rote (memory), and also challenging to transpose the music into a key where everyone could sing.

But we persisted, enjoyed wonderful fellowship, and each week, amazingly, we continued to improve.

Eventually we were invited to sing at other local churches, at long- term care homes, and even at a Christmas Concert televised on cable t.v.

The unlikely choir was successful, because despite our challenges, the Holy Spirit blessed our sincere efforts to worship.

God sees all of his children’s heartfelt desires to praise Him.

I never told the two choir ladies that they did not sing in tune. That really didn’t matter, since God loved their music.

Photo courtesy of iStock.

Photo of Trinity Newfoundland with iceberg and lighthouse in the distance

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