Ghana methodist church choirs, sings to preach

From: Stephen A.Quaye, Columbus-Ohio, USA.

The Crowne Plaza Hotel at Doubletree Avenue in Columbus-Ohio, USA, was the venue for this year’s annual conference of the association of Ghana Methodist Church Choirs, North America Mission.

Hundreds of choristers from about twenty-five societies in both United States of America and Canada, converged at the said venue over the weekend to take stock of their past performance in the church and also look at the way forward in shaping the singing department of the church in winning more souls for Christ.

It was business as usual when the conference kicked off with various addresses coming from invited guests and the presiding bishop of Ghana Methodist Church Most Reverend Professor Emanuel Kwaku Asante, who graced the occasion.

Not until Saturday evening when the choral music night was held for the choir groups to mount the stage and entertain the whole gathering by revealing their sweet voices in songs they have composed over the period which could pass as preaching to the joy of all.

Before the choral music night on Saturday, Professor Emanuel Asante, had earlier in the morning speaking on the theme,” the chorister as an evangelist” observed that Methodist singers are hardly entertainers adding that they are singers of the evangelical faith.

He explained that Methodist singers sing with a view to winning souls for Christ, establishing believers in the faith and educating people in the mysteries of Christian faith.

Methodist singers are in that sense, evangelists, pastors and Christian educators who perform the evangelistic, pastoral and educative functions through the hymns they passionately sing with a meaning he noted.

In this sense,the presiding bishop charged the choir to be at the fore front in the church’s strategic objective” to rekindle the Wesleyan zeal of holiness, evangelism and mission towards significant church growth” of which the conditions for the possibility of the realization of this objective are hymns flowing from lives that are truly dedicated and fully committed to the lord.

He said,” we must understand that any true Christian singing is the overflow of the Christian heart. If our hearts are full, our singing will be full. If our commitment to the lord is seriously in doubt our singing will be nothing but blowing of hot air and mumbling of meaningless lines”.

Professor Asante pointed out that a renewed church is a singing church therefore true singing must reflect a congregation’s spiritual vitality and their response to God’s grace.

The presiding bishop advised the choristers that anytime they open the hymn book in public service to lift their voices to sing, they should take a few extra moments for personal spiritual renewal by noting thoughtfully the words they sing.

“Make the effort to learn something further of the experiences that defined and informed the writing of the hymns. Use the hymns in your private and collective devotions” he advised.