Our Lenten series, “A Season of Song and Prayer,” will take place on three Tuesday evenings, March 3, 10, and 17. You are invited to gather for snacks and conversation each evening at 6:45 p.m. before the program, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the chapel. This year we will sing songs of faith, from three distinct styles. Each evening will include a time of prayer.
On March 3, we will be joined by Bob Batastini, former music director of Holland’s Christians United in Song and Prayer (CUSP), who also was the guest speaker at our “Santo, Santo, Santo” Spanish-language hymn festival a few years ago. Bob was the president of GIA Publications, a music publisher in Chicago, for many years; in that capacity he brought the music of Taize to American congregations. He has visited Taize a number of times and met founder Jacques Berthier. Bob will talk about the community of Taize and the philosophy behind their music and lead us in a Taize service of music and prayer.
On March 10, Rhonda will lead us in singing familiar old-time hymns (of the sort that many of us grew up with but that don’t get sung much in progressive circles anymore), as well as some older tunes that have been set with new texts. You can request hymns to be sung via a suggestion list in the Gathering Area. This evening will close with a simple prayer service.
On March 17, Pastor Jackson will lead us in singing music from Porter’s Gate, a sacred ecumenical arts collective and a resource that he’s using for Chapel Service music. Some of these songs you may recognize, and some may be new. Again, this evening will include both music and a prayer service.
If you’re wondering why we’ve chosen singing together as our evening Lenten practice, here’s some food for thought from a Washington Post article, “Why Singing is Good for Your Brain,” courtesy of Hope church member and Hope College Psych Professor Dave Meyers.
“‘It can move us emotionally, it can move us physically, it can connect us to other people,’ which are all important elements of mental health, said Daniel Bowling, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine who researches music-based treatments for mental health.
“Studies have shown that listening to music we enjoy is associated with better subjective well-being, stress reduction and greater coping with negative emotions while lifting up positive ones, and that it can be an effective way to alleviate feelings of depression and anxiety.
“Given its pleasurable nature, it is perhaps unsurprising that music releases dopamine and activates the brain’s reward system.
“Making music with others—in a choir, jam session or karaoke bar—supercharges its benefits.
“Our behaviors synchronize with the beat and each other. Even something as simple as tapping along to the same beat with another person makes us feel closer to them than if we tap out of beat, research shows.
“Music also syncs up our brains, and more so when we make it together than merely listening. Neural activity becomes more similar in the brains of people engaged with the same music, imaging studies have shown.
“Singing in groups can decrease cortisol, a stress hormone, and increase the release of oxytocin, a neuropeptide and hormone important for social bonding. The oxytocin release may further amplify the reward system so if “you have a very positive social experience, it may be extra reinforcing,” Bowling said.
“One 2015 study found that singing may serve as an effective icebreaker and speed up social bonding and feelings of closeness.
“Singing in a group is ‘the best possible way of ego dissolving that helps you feel more connected to the people around you and more a part of something larger,’ Levitin said.”
Photo by Michael Maasen on Unsplash