St Luke's Mt Waverley

Category: Music

  • Touch in music and mystery

    We use embodied metaphor to talk about knowing, thinking and experiencing. Just a few of the almost countless examples: see the point hold something up to scrutiny chew over an idea savour an experience digest the meaning play with a concept return to a topic grasp a concept be touched by an experience a weighty…

  • Practising the presence of us

    Here’s a problem most of us can relate to if we ever take on a special role in worship, such as reading, acting a tableau or saying a prayer. A novice musician admits: “I have trouble listening to the sermon when there’s something to perform afterwards.” We don’t want to discover the pleasures of music-making…

  • Focus on grace

    “Amazing grace (how sweet the sound)” is one of the most widely loved spiritual songs. The Mustard Seeds have two special versions of “Amazing grace” in our repertoire so far, and each takes the song in a different direction. The more elaborate version is B.J. Davis’s arrangement for four-part choir of Chris Tomlin’s “Amazing grace…

  • Why we are musicians

    How do we respond when someone puts the entire liturgy for a service in our hands? In the case of the first musician-led service at St Luke’s (coming on 23 August), one of the first collective responses was to look wonderingly among ourselves thinking “we’re musicians.” I’m a professional musician, but I’m in the minority.…

  • How long, O Lord

    For the first three weeks in August 2015 we have a special lectionary series on the book of Job, and it’s accompanied by a study that our ministry team has called “Listening generously/ Living in community.” As a musical marker of the season, we’ll be singing a round, “How long, O Lord” (Malcolm Gordon). It’s…

  • At the centre: beauty and celebration

    A fellow student once turned to me and said, “I spend all day in the practice room by myself. I am completely self-centred. What good am I to anyone else?” It is a question worth asking about music – what good am I to anyone else? Is the beautiful useful, even necessary, or merely a…

  • Local Voices Songwriting Workshops

    Last Sunday marked the conclusion of the Local Voices Songwriting Workshop series, and what a great experience it’s been! All of the participants shared an interest in music and song, though only a couple had any musical training. The workshops’ design allowed everyone to discover their inner poet and composer. Through creative thinking exercises and a…

  • Season of Creation and the Evergreen God

    In our Season of Creation services this year, we introduce Ross Langmead’s very pretty sung blessing “Evergreen God.” Langmead was inspired by Eckhart’s understanding of our spiritual growth proceeding cyclically through different paths. Eckhart summed them up in four paths: • via positiva, the way of fullness, gratitude and awe; • via negativa, the way of…