A case for classical outreach

.

August is often a month where things slow down, and we have a chance to pause and plan. Why not use this month to try and think of some creative musical ways to engage your community with the good news of Jesus?

I’d like to make a short case for using classical music in our outreach.

Now, full disclaimer, this is where I am perhaps at my most nerdy – normal service will resume next month! – but here are four reasons why I believe the art music of our European forebears is a resource worth our attention:

1. Slower engagement

Our world seems committed to exist at breakneck speed, resulting in a poorer quality of discourse about many issues. A work that is 30 minutes or more can speak much more thoughtfully and with greater nuance.

2. Deeper engagement

Music is an inherently emotional medium; we feel things in response to music. Music not only gives us something to think about, but makes us feel it too.

3. Community engagement

A lot of music requires more than one person to play it. It invites everyone to join in.

4. The Bible got there first!

Engaging with long and intricately constructed pieces of art is something we are invited to do as Christians. Look no further than Psalm 119 and all the books that revel in taking it to pieces to see how it works.

What kind of music?

There is plenty of great ‘sacred’ music that points explicitly to Jesus. You’ve probably come across Handel’s Messiah, but did you know that J.S. Bach’s St John Passion includes a direct evangelistic appeal to the listener?

There is also lots of not outwardly Christian music that wrestles with the important questions that the gospel answers. Schubert’s Winterreise feels almost like the quasi-existential turmoil of Job or Ecclesiastes, while Brahms’s German Requiem reveals the heart of an inwardly humanist composer processing his own mortality through texts from Scripture. There are many more modern works that confront us with the reality of suffering and how we should aim to cope: Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, Penderecki’s Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (not easy listening!) or John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls.

And how we could keep going… get out there and explore for yourself!

But one last thing…

Music is not just for performing or listening, it is for talking about. It is meant to prompt thought and conversation. You could put on a concert, make sure you compère it with something to help people join the dots to Jesus. Why not hold a listening and discussion group? Let August be your month for planning creative evangelism!