Music Ministries
Declaring the Word of God — through song.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:16–17, ESV)
Why We Sing
There are lots of positive reasons for a church to sing. Singing can be encouraging, it can be enjoyable, singing can build us up and bring us together. The most fundamental reason we sing, however, isn’t because of any of its positive effects. Simply put, we sing because God commanded it (Ephesians 5:17-21).
God commanded singing as a means of instruction. In fact, based on Paul’s words about singing as an avenue for teaching and admonition from the Word of Christ (Colossians 3:16), many have rightly observed that a church’s singing reveals much about that church. To put it another way, poor theology in the hymns likely leads to or comes from poor theology in the pews or the pulpit. So we take the songs we sing seriously! The focus has to be the lyrical and theological content of the poetry; the music - its style and excellence must come second. In other words, the music serves the theology, not the other way around. Stylistically, that means we aim for modest effectiveness. We don’t wade into exotic choices musically — no reggae arrangements of classic hymns here — because then the music distracts from the gospel truths entailed. That’s not why we sing; we sing to declare the Word of God in song.
If you’re curious about what that looks like, you can watch any of our past worship livestreams here.
The Songs We Sing
No church can sing every song. At an average of four or five songs a Sunday, it can be pretty limiting to keep up a steady repertoire of songs we’re comfortable with. While there are thousands of songs that sing beautifully of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - we had to pick some. If you’re curious about those songs or just want a way to listen at home, we’ve made up a few playlists of the songs we sing on Sunday mornings at FEFC. If you’ve got a song you really think we should sing, click “Suggest A Song” and let us know!
Beyond Sunday Morning
Worship Service Review
Almost every Monday at noon, we gather to review the Sunday preceding’s order of service together. We talk through things like song selection, musical choices, audio mixing, and technical glitches. Let us know you’re coming here! Worship Service Review →
Worship Colloquium
A comprehensive leadership training program, the Worship Colloquium is designed to raise up band leaders and service planners side-by-side to develop a theologically grounded and well-connected leadership team for the ministry of congregational worship. Meeting dates and times will vary as this group becomes a tightly-knit team of co-laborers. Interested? Let Web know.
Hymnsings
Throughout the year, we often hold stand-alone music ministry nights. Sometimes we sing hymns, and other times, we learn new songs. We have gathered in backyard gardens, in the sanctuary, or around a campfire to sing and give God praise at various times. Check out the upcoming events section to learn more.
Hymns of Faith
That the Word of Christ May Dwell Richly
We’ve designed a custom hymnal, “Hymns of Faith,” that arrived in October of 2023 and features roughly 300 hymns designed to “Let the Word of Christ Dwell Richly” in our hearts and minds through faith (Colossians 3:16). The Hymns of Faith are a single-run project designed to fill our pews and homes with the richness of good hymnody. Contact Pastor Web to request your copy!
Join the Team!
Musicians, technicians, and folks on a Mission welcome. We’re always looking for more friends to make the ministry merrier, whether you’re an instrumentalist, a vocalist, a sound engineer, or you just want to find a way to serve, fill out the form below to get started with the music ministry.