Counter-Melodies: Banquets, Conferences,
Playing for the Congregation
I SUPPOSE ALMOST every gospel musician and singer is invited from time to time to play or sing for church banquets. I have had my turn at all of them: the Men's Fellowship Banquet, the Father and Son Banquet, the Mother and Daughter Banquet, the Fund-Raising Banquet, the Christmas Banquet, and Awards Banquet, the Anniversary Banquet.
I do not consider myself temperamental, or a prima donna, but there is one rule I have made for myself. I will never play while people are eating. And I don't approve being asked to "play something while the people are coming in." Another request I don't appreciate is, "If you start playing something, they'll hear the piano and come to the tables." After all, you wouldn't ask the speaker to start talking, so that when the folks heard him, they would gather around the tables! Nor would you ask the singer to sing one of his solos while the people are coming in.
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You see, I feel that if my music is worth hearing, then it is worth being heard at its best. And no one can play at his best while dishes are rattling, and people are chatting. Anyway, the logical time for a musical program is after dinner, not during.
It is amazing to me how great is the variance in the quality of food served at church dinners. Sometimes I feel like saying, "I'll be glad to come and play, but do I have to eat, too?" This is all being said in humor, and perhaps I should explain here that my wife is the greatest cook in the world—and I am thinking (while trying to eat the food served at the dinner where I am playing) I could be having a delicious home-cooked meal!
The potluck dinner seems to be a favorite everywhere. However, unless it is well planned, you end up with nearly everybody bringing salads or desserts.
The really wonderful part of church dinners is that such an occasion brings all of the church family together in the most congenial atmosphere, and provides a time of fellowship where everyone can just be themselves.
Evangelist Merv Rosell has developed a special banquet ministry which has proven extremely successful and fruitful. It not only involves the church members, but it provides an attractive occasion to which the unchurched may be invited. I have enjoyed participating in some of these dinners. I recall one which involved the young people of one of our nearby churches. Literally hundreds of young men and women were present, and they heard an attractive musical program, followed by one of Merv's earnest and searching messages. At the close, an opportunity was given to those who
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wished to make a decision for Christ.
I think one great mistake made by those who plan church banquets, is that of having the preliminaries too long. I have often felt really sorry for the speaker who has to face a crowd which has already listened to a lengthy musical program, various reports and presentations, and a large number of jokes by the master of ceremonies.
Our own church (Church of the Open Door) in Los Angeles has inaugurated a family night every Thursday night. A modestly priced dinner is served at 5:30, preceding the regular Bible Study service at 7:30. During the Bible study, other youth groups meet in various parts of the church. The 5:30 dinner serves as an incentive for the folks to arrive early. No program is featured at the dinner—just good food.
I am often asked both to play and to speak at banquets. This makes for a very busy evening, but I enjoy doing it, and I feel that I am using all of my talents for the Lord.
Another phase of Christian work which I enjoy is the conferences—for all ages. Up until two years ago, I spent Fourth of July week at the beautiful Mount Hermon conference grounds in Northern California. Mount Hermon is among the redwoods near Santa Cruz, and about seventy-five miles south of San Francisco.
The Fourth of July week was climaxed by a great Radio Rally on the afternoon of the Fourth. A huge crowd gathered for this service, and Dr. Charles Fuller would bring the message. Throughout the week we
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heard inspirational talks from outstanding evangelists, missionaries, pastors and Bible teachers.
Our yearly trips to Mount Hermon were eagerly anticipated, since I usually took my family along. We enjoyed the beautiful surroundings and the inspirational meetings together. Sometimes we took the famed seventeen-mile drive along the Monterey coast, or a tour into the redwood trees. My wife and I both have a particular affinity for the city of San Francisco, so of course the week at Mount Hermon usually included one day in The City by the Bay.
The beach at Santa Cruz is also an inviting feature of this conference week, and so are fascinating trips to Shadowbrook. Brookdale is a unique restaurant up among the big trees which features a stream running through the center of the restaurant.
And last (but certainly not least) almost everyone takes a trip to the famous Begonia Gardens of Capitola, only a few miles' drive from the conference grounds. I am surprised that this place is not better known, for the sight of literally thousands of begonias in every conceivable color is truly spectacular and memorable.
Although the regular summer conferences sponsored by the Fuller Theological Seminary have been discontinued, it is our hope that we may have many more occasions to visit this beautiful conference ground. Bill Gwinn has been the director at Mount Hermon for some time now, and he is doing an excellent job in making this one of the most attractive and inviting Christian conference grounds I know of.
Much closer to home are two other conference grounds where I have played and spoken. One is Tahquitz
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Pines, and the other is Forest Home. Dr. Stanley Collins, who is now director of Forest Home, has been a frequent speaker at the Church of the Open Door, and he is a dynamic leader bringing the same humor and vitality to his work with the young people and Christian groups, as he has brought to the pulpit.
In the Midwest are two delightful conference grounds—Winona Lake, and Cedar Lake, both in Indiana.
I have not been to Winona Lake for several years, but I can never forget the times when it was my privilege to play at the great Youth for Christ summer conferences. What a thrill to see literally thousands of teen-agers meeting together to hear Christ exalted, and the Word of God proclaimed.
My trips to Cedar Lake are always planned in conjunction with my annual trek to Chicago, where I play a week of sacred concerts every summer. For the past few years, Cedar Lake has featured a Saturday night concert series during the summer, and it has been my pleasure to be invited to play at one of these concerts each year.
Cedar Lake is only forty miles south of Chicago, and offers an outstanding array of speakers and musical talent at every conference. This beautiful conference ground is under the competent direction of Dick Boldt, whom I am proud to count as my friend. I have a standing invitation to spend several days at Cedar Lake, but my schedule usually makes this impossible.
I plan to arrive at Cedar Lake for the Saturday evening dinner, a feature which precedes the evening concert. Last summer during the dinner it suddenly started
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to pour, accompanied by crashing thunder and flashes of lightning. The wind was blowing so hard they had to shut the windows, and some of the folks were afraid there would be a tornado. One of the electric wires blew down, shorting out a fuse and plunging the dining room into darkness. This was about 6:30, and made the prospects of a good crowd for the concert pretty dismal. Fortunately, the lights in the auditorium were not affected, so at least we were able to go on with the concert. And—would you believe—we had a fine turn-out! Every year I have played before a packed house, and I am given the added encouragement of sharing encores with this enthusiastic audience.
I am also a member of the National Religious Broadcaster's Association. This group has its national convention in Washington, D.C. every year, in addition to regional meetings throughout the year in various sections of the country.
The NRB holds its annual meeting in the month of January, and in Washington, D.C., this usually means cold weather, often accompanied by snow!
Because of my commitments at home, it is rarely possible for me to attend, although I served a term on the Board of Directors, and have attended quite regularly in the past. Dr. Eugene Bertermann is the executive secretary, and one of the ablest administrators I know.
Most of the leading religious broadcasters belong to the National Religious Broadcaster's Association, and this annual conference affords an opportunity for the leading figures in the field of religious broadcasting to meet together in workshop sessions, and hear outstanding
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speeches from government officials and broadcasters both from the United States and the mission field. I would certainly love to attend this conference every year, since I am a firm believer in the tremendous ministry of religious broadcasting.
The final day of this convention features a Congressional Breakfast, to which members of the House and Senate are invited. On two occasions when I attended this breakfast, the speaker was Senator Karl Mundt of South Dakota. Other members of the House of Representatives and the Senate were introduced, and we had the opportunity to meet some of these men following breakfast.
Certainly some of the enjoyment of this conference is the opportunity to visit one of my favorite cities, Washington, D.C. I never grow tired of historic sights which are everywhere in this great city. I think every American should visit Washington at least once in his lifetime.
Another organization with which I have been associated for the past twelve years is the Christian Booksellers Association. The music for the CBA Convention is always supplied by artists from the various religious recording companies, and this is where I come in.
During these many years I have made lasting friendships among the members of the CBA, and I have learned a lot about the publishing and selling of Christian books. I am certain that one of the greatest ministries in the world today is the publishing and distribution of Christian literature.
Returning to the subject of summer conferences, many of my friends feel that the summer Christian conference
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is outmoded, and that the present generation of Christians is not interested in spending a week or two of their summer in such an atmosphere.
Personally, I hope that the Christian conference centers will continue to maintain their great ministry. I know of so many whose lives have been blessed and transformed because of the time spent at one of our beautiful and inspiring Christian conference grounds.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of my job is playing for the congregation. I suppose this looks like fun, and for me, it really is.
First of all, there is the matter of working with the song leader. If the leader is simply standing in front of the congregation and waving his arms in time with the music, then the pianist must take the initiative in establishing the tempo of the music. This is done in the playing of the introduction. In some churches, it is customary to play through an entire verse of the hymn before the congregation begins to sing. However, I generally play the last four or eight measures of the piece as an introduction.
Many churches use both the piano and organ to accompany the singing. This sometimes presents some interesting problems. I have had occasion to work with organists who took liberties with the harmonies, making wholesale changes in the chords as written in the hymn book. This may be great fun for the accompanist, but a cardinal rule in accompanying is that you must never alter the harmonies when playing for part singing. Of course, this is true, whether you are working with another instrument or not. After all, some of the congregation
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may be reading the music, and singing it as written. If the instrumentalists arbitrarily change the harmonies, where does that leave the singer?
I suppose someone will say, "But, Rudy, you change the harmonies when you play solos!" Yes, I do—but then I am not confusing someone else who may be trying to sing a part as written.
Getting back to the piano and organ accompaniments, another important aspect of this music is the correct blending of the instruments. For instance, almost any organist can completely drown out a pianist, if he so desires. By using the full volume of the organ, the organist can just about overwhelm everything, including the congregation.
When two (or more) instruments are accompanying together, they should play as an ensemble. A beautiful illustration of this is presented in the playing of a piano concerto. The pianist is the solo instrument, and even though he may be playing with a large symphony orchestra, the piano is never submerged beneath the other instruments.
I remember having occasion to play in a large auditorium in Southern California a short time ago, and working with me was a fine organist. However, the organ was so loud, I doubt if the piano could even be heard past the first few rows. I found myself wondering why I was invited to play, since I could not be heard!
It is interesting to observe how differently the same songs are sung by different congregations. Some groups seem to have developed the custom of singing almost everything in a rather fast tempo, while still others drag everything. It has always seemed to me that
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there is a right tempo for every song, and I always try to establish that right tempo when I play. If a congregation is very large, the tempos will necessarily be somewhat slower. And the larger the audience, the more difficult it becomes for the leader to keep them together.
There is no question about the importance of good congregational singing to a service. It can inspire and uplift—or it can depress and dispirit.
I have noticed that many successful evangelists attach great importance to the choice of an outstanding song leader. As the song leader directs the congregational singing, the whole mood of the service is established. I don't think any great revival has come without a great outpouring of song, and, indeed, the historic Welsh revival was called a Singing Revival. It seems that as the people met together to sing the great songs of the faith, the Spirit of God moved in mighty power and conviction upon them. We should never underestimate the importance of congregational singing. After all, there are just three places in the service in which every member of the congregation can share: the prayers, the offering, and the congregational singing.
