Music and Religion/Philosophy

Music and Religion/Philosophy

My music and religious background come from mostly Christianity. I grew up going to Beth Shiloh Presbyterian Church in York, SC. The congregation was roughly around 100 people. As I grew up as a person in this church I remember us always singing hymnals that were led by someone on the piano, which would be considered traditional. There were no other instruments or bands, besides the adult and kids choir. When the congregation sang it was beautiful, intimate, and authentic because there were no extra sounds of instruments just voices and piano. I also participated in the children’s choir and we would always get a chance to sing solos during service if we wanted to, which I did and I couldn’t sing then and I cannot sing now. But nonetheless, the children’s choir taught me many hymnals that I know by heart now.

         
          As I reached high school my family and I moved churches and we started to attend Clover First United Methodist. This congregation was about the same size maybe a few more people than our previous church. The main difference between these churches besides them being Methodist and Presbyterian was that the Methodist church had a “traditional service” and a “contemporary” service. I enjoyed going to the contemporary service because the music was led by a band that had a guitar, drums, and other instruments. The music was lively and we would sing some hymns but mostly contemporary Christian music.

         For the past six years, I have been going on a mission trip to Bishopville, South Carolina to work on homes of people in need. Every Sunday we go to a service and you are randomly assigned to a church. I’ve had the chance to have been to a Presbyterian, AME, Church of Christ, and a few Baptist churches. They all opened my eyes to different types of ways to praise. The two services that caught my attention most were the New Zion AME Church and the Church of Christ church. These two churches based their services on singing. They sing and worship for hours which was so wonderful to watch and be a part of. To give you more of a description I have left videos from a New Zion AME Church and the Church of Christ in Bishopville. 
     

New Zion AME Church

Bishopville Church of Christ

           Currently, I attend New River Church which is a Non-denominational church. I absolutely love going there. The band is made up of incredible singers and people playing instruments. I'm still fairly new with the church but they have been the most welcoming people. When you are worshiping you can sing at the top of your lungs and your voice will blend beautifully with the other hundreds of people there. 

 

        I am blessed that I have had the opportunity to attend many churches with different types of music and cultures. I can say one of the things I found in common with all the churches is my favorite Christian hymn is sung at every church which is "Amazing Grace." I love how all the congregations sing so differently but yet they can all make the hymn give me goosebumps every time!