SCL

We had a wonderful Christian friend, now gone on to Glory, whom I’ll call “Ray” because that was his name.

Ray, during congregational singing, made a joyful noise unto the Lord. Loudly. Atonically. Or perhaps monotonically. One could not doubt the sincerety of his worship, but woe to the people sitting near him if they wished to be “on tune” because one would inevitably be led astray, so to speak. He, by himself would provide cover for any secret singer.

ha! yes, i like to “blend in” with the congregation singing too (thats how I word it to make myself feel better. dont judge me.)
i guess in a weird way im paranoid about standing out in singing and have other people thinking “wow she thinks she has a great voice when she really doesnt. poor thing. she just wants attention.” selfish too I suppose…
my favorite worship time recently was Passion 08 in ATL when the music was SO LOUD that we were sing-shouting and couldn’t hear each other or ourselves…left the ATL hoarse, but it was great.

Not only is it difficult for secret singers to remember it’s about worship. It’s very difficult for people who can actually sing. I often have this problem. But I’m getting better. Baby steps indeed.

But I imagine that if you aren’t a great singer and you know you’re a great singer that you would get distracted by the sound of your own voice while worshipping, no?

BTW, Jon, there’s hope. I believe that singing like most things is something you can get better at with practice. KEEP SINGING! (said in my Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” voice)

WOW! And we each think we are alone until we stumble across a blogger that gets honest. I was once told by someone who was very tone deaf that Augustine said: He who sings, prays twice.

that’s pretty funny – secret singing. the opposite of secret singing is singing a harmony part as loud as you can so that everyone can hear how “well you harmonize” …sheesh!

Being this is Music appreciation month, I would love for your consider writing some great transition prayers that worship leaders use to take us to go from one song to the next… Because you just cant start singing a new song without smooth transition prayer especially if its in a different key.

Ditto on the singing, I wear a earpiece microphone thingy before I speak, and I am always paranoid that the sound tech is going to turn me up right during the 42nd time through “I could sing of your love forever.”

I’m happy to admit that I’m a secret singer too. Probably everyone around me is happy also. I could scare people. Seriously.

I am not a secret singer. But I sang in a worship team with a guy who’s heart was all there and who’s voice was all NOT there. He was SO BAD they didn’t even power his mike. But no one told him. He was BAD. “Bagpipe in swoony heat” bad.

Bless his heart. He was , and is, utterly clueless.

He even sent anonymous notes to the music director about how everyone should be able to sing solos. She always knew from whence came the notes. Always. And henceforth he never had a solo!! I could not be next to him and sing. I just had to move, the poor guy was so bad. Did I mention how bad he was?

Bless his heart…I said that didn’t I?

At least God Himself heard beyond what we heard. We weren’t perfect enough to get past his voice. Some secrets are meant to be kept.

my voice is my weapon. I hold my youth hostage forcing them to sing under threat of the same.

And what about every secret singer’s nemesis – the ‘must plug one ear to sing harmony’ singer? The worst part? It’s usually the ear nearest the not-so-secret singer. I think ‘plugging your ear so you can find the harmony part’ is the side-hug of Christian worship services. Because it would be very un-Christlike to admit you were trying to block out someone who was ’shrieking for Jesus!’

I am a “real Singer” who is married to a secret singer! He hates it, especially when I sing next to him! Thanks for defining the feeling so well..he totally understood it!

dude – you have no idea!
My husband, bless his heart, loves to worship…but, um, to be honest, his giftings are definately elsewhere. Poor thing can't even clap on time… (I love to worship too but just not in public – cuz I can't sing either). To make matters worse, we're AG…ya know, Charasmatic. lol

There's a reason God wrote about "…making a joyful noise."

I encourage my husband by letting him know that our children & Jesus LOVE to hear him sing.

a’ rich life,

“can’t even clap on time” is half my church. I about died during a song a couple weeks ago because I kept trying to clap on time with the drummer .. just watch the drum sticks its easy. Anyways, I had just about given up since at least half the congregation was on some other beat all together. I mean literally they were in sync with the wrong beat.

This part wasn’t so bad until I looked over and saw the drummer wife trying to keep the right beat also by watching her hubby. The look on her face … priceless. I almost had to excuse myself so I didn’t fall out laughing. Of course I’m Pentecostal so it might have been ok.

I admit it…I am one sometimes too. I am even in the choir and do the secret singing at times. A problem I have is that I am alto and often the songs are way out of my range…and I am not good enough to pick out the harmony by myself sometimes. One day I will sing boldly…one day…

Jon,

If that sweet little baby lamb who weighed eight pounds and six ounces had the courage to give it all he had on that stage during the Easter cantata, and proceeded to pass out in doing so, surely you could give it all you have and sing to the rafters. Sing until your lungs burst and until you pass out.

Do it for the lamb, man. Do it for the lamb.

Just don’t pass out permanently.

Psalm 100:1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Mine certainly is a noise…

haha i’m quite the opposite. but if we ever worship together one day, i’ll be sure to provide you lots of cover for your secret singing, jon!

My mother is a secret singer. My father is an opera singer. I am caught in the middle.

I think I would like to be a secret singer, but since I’m considered to be a lead worshipper, I’m expected to be a bit loud.

Oh, and re: six-part-harmony wall-of-sound deals that others have mentioned: I have vivid memories of family get-togethers on my dad’s side, where the family not only for a morning doubled the congregation my grandparents’ tiny thirty-member church, but also drowned out the organ in their worshipful exuberance (not “our” exuberance, because as a shy pre-teen, I just wanted to crawl under the pew and stay there). Those poor little old ladies in front of the family didn’t stand a chance. But at least they didn’t need their hearing aids.

Makes sense. That’s why lots of churches raise the sound level of their worship band — so that secret singers can feel more free to sing out.

I’m right there with you. What I dread though are the moments when the worship leader decides to do things accapella for a bit. Talk about a nightmare.

“I almost had to excuse myself so I didn’t fall out laughing. Of course I’m Pentecostal so it might have been ok.”

CLASSIC!!!

“If that sweet little baby lamb who weighed eight pounds and six ounces had the courage to give it all he had on that stage during the Easter cantata …”

I think cantata is one of my favorite church words. I had a friend in high school who thought it was a hilarious word too and pronounced it cun-tah-tah, with all syllables equally emphasized! LOL.

I do that. Ha Ha. And if it is and especially bad song that I can’t sing to at all, I just movie my mouth to the words or hum it.LOL

so, i usually see those people that are closing there eyes while singing and think… “oh, you think you’re holier than us? godlier” and then i’m like, “wow, that was judgmental of me.” then i have wasted half the song worrying about other people, and my own experience… and i’ve forgotten to experience the wild abandon that worship, and especially in the form of music allows… so, i totally rock the worship songs… out loud… hand up (only one)… WHEN I’M IN MY CAR…. ahhhhhh.

John, Though I am not a secret singer, I am a baptist. There is a distinct possibility that We have problems showing emotion (especially in the singing department) He had Church today outside, and while singing I had the opportunity to sing with my eyes closed because I was wearing sunglasses. I recommend wearing sunglasses in church. If only I went to a Church that supported that.

My name is Lisa and I am a secret singer. There is one particular woman I look for every week so I can sit behind her. She sings so well and she sings loud. She also sings the harmony instead of the melody which is very good for me.

Not a secret singer. In fact, I’m one of those people who will stand up and sing loudly and passionately, even when no one else is standing up, because I thought everyone else was gonna stand up, then no one did, and then I’ll play it off like I’m so into God that I don’t care that I’m the only one standing up, I’m just that spiritual. And if I try really hard, I can forget I’m the only one standing up and just worship. I think God likes that.

So, yeah.

I have always been gifted with musical talent. I play lots of instruments, and I sing. I am a worship leader, too, in an acoustic, PA-free environment. And I’ll tell ya, there is nothing better than when the group of worshippers I’m blessed to lead is actually singing, free of judgement, free of self-consciousness, just worhipping their Lord. He is THERE. It is a powerful experience.

I would never, EVER, want someone to not sing because they think they’re not good enough. Seriously. It makes me so sad when people don’t sing because they are self-conscious about their voice, or even when people DO sing, for the wrong reasons (to sound great, to be told they have a great voice, etc)

It completely misses the point of worship.

See, when someone gets up in front of a church to lead worship, they MUST NOT see it as any kind of performance. It isn’t about self-expression. It isn’t about hitting all the right notes (though we do practice in order to give God our best).

Worship leading is about taking the musical gifts God has given you and using them to bring the collective group of His people to “that place,” you know, where they can commune with the Lord and truly worship Him. That is what it is about.

That is all that should be going through anyone’s head during worship, whether they are tone-deaf or a fantastic singer. Not what they sound like, not what others think of them (good or bad!), JUST the worship of our Lord.

Mmm-k… haha, I’m done now.

I sing harmony a lot (without plugging one ear, mind you), mainly because sometimes they sing too high for me to reach the notes.

God bless Jason! Seriously…. when I first heard Jason sing next to me in church…I thought, “wow, he rocks!” because there’s a ton of peeps in this church who CAN carry a tune and refuse to sing as loud as Jason does. Sometimes, I sing softly, just so I can hear his praise! Jason rocks because I know he doesn’t care what others think when he’s singing – May others find inspiration when they here his heart’s praise!

I know I’m late to this one, but I just found you.

You have very well articulated what I call my “75% Rule.”

Simply stated, whatever the singing level, whether it be loud or quit, I will being singing at 75% of it.

I am one of the people who secret singers hide behind…

A little late to the party, but I love to sing. I once joined a church just to be in the choir. No, I'm not a secret singer…. I'm a secret Dancer. I'm one of those people who hide in a corner where no one can see them, and then rock out to the praise. ^_^; It's much the same feeling, though. Once i got a compliment on my "dancing", and it freaked me out so much i didn't go to church the next week in case someone was watching me… Crazy, huh? Anyway, Love the site.

To some, singing is a chore! We don't mind if you guys sing, specially as you seem to like it so much, but some of us are different. So I'm not a secret singer, more of an 'oh-if-I-really-must singer'.
And the bare minimum please…. I'll sing a chorus once. Once is enough, no need to go overboard and sing the same chorus after every verse.
You see, I just don't think that the words 'singing' and 'worship' are interchangable. They go together sometimes…