Introducing Your Congregation to the Odes Project

We wouldn't dream of telling you how to intuit your own congregations and how to teach them new songs-you do that every week. However, you will be singing the same songs that the earliest Christians in Antioch sang, literally the first Christian hymnal, and by helping you understand the style of the songs our first Christian brothers and sisters sung, we hope to make the introduction of this music more seamless for you as a worship leader. This hymnbook, discovered only one hundred years ago, contained no musical notation, but we followed some of the same styles of worship employed by the early church when bringing new music to these treasures. In just a few statements you can explain that the singing of the early church was in a different format than we normally sing today, but it is a format that will help us all to sing more vibrantly together. The form of singing in the early church was "antiphonal" or what is commonly known as call-and-response.

Because this style of singing (antiphonal) is uncommon nowadays, it may take a little time for everyone to feel comfortable in understanding where to come in. But part of the beauty of the Odes is that even though the words are profound in their depth, they are simple to learn. Also, to know that we join in praising God with the hymns of the first Christians gives us a connection to the past and strengthens our identity as people of God.

There are many unique features of the Odes to comment on, but one of the most outstanding characteristics is the immense joy and gratitude expressed to God for sending His Son into the world. Despite the extreme persecution surrounding the early Christians, their music was focused on joyful praise and adoration of God. We can learn today from the example of the early church and, likewise, sing back and forth to each other in wonder, love and praise.