The most important aspect of church worship is neither the worship leader’s vocals nor the band’s performance, but the congregation’s voice.

“Watching worship on YouTube or at conferences, we can too easily think that the centre of the music ministry happens at the front where the people are playing music and leading.

“But the Bible says it’s actually the other way around: The ministry happens in the pews, in the congregation,” said Philip Percival, executive director of Emu Music.

Emu Music is a Sydney-based initiative with a heart to draw people closer to God through biblical worship music. Its name is a loose acronym for “evangelical music”.

Its 10-member team writes congregational songs that are rich in theology. It also trains those involved in music ministry on how to effectively lead the congregation in worship.

From April 11-13, in partnership with the Bible-Presbyterian Church in Singapore, Emu Music will be in Singapore to hold a concert and a songwriting workshop and a conference for those involved in music ministry.

Ahead of their visit, Salt&Light chatted with Philip about the origins of the group, the importance of singing the gospel and how worship teams can better lead the congregation in worship.

How did Emu Music start?

In Sydney in the early 2000s, there were songwriters in the evangelical church who wrote popular songs that would be sung at conventions. But there wasn’t much opportunity for publishing such music. 

When I was at Bible college in 2000, I met up with other songwriters and said: “Hey, let’s do something about it. Let’s create a way to get songs out into the world.”

We created an independent record label and also a publishing company so that we could get songs out of our heads and into actual churches.

(Editor’s note: A music publishing company ensures songwriters and composers receive credit and payment when their compositions are used.)

Quite soon after we started, we realised that writing and producing songs was only half of what was important.

So many churches in Australia didn’t really know what to do with songs. They didn’t really understand why they sang in church, what was the theology behind it, how to do it well in practice.

So we quickly started doing music ministry training through conferences. We love writing songs, but what’s more important is that people understand what the Bible has to say about singing and the Church.

How do biblical worship songs help to mould faith?

We see songs as a ministry of the Word, just like reading and preaching the Word are meant to engage people with the gospel and strengthen their relationship with Jesus. We want songs to be a tool for growing in faith. 

In church, songs are about one-another ministry. Colossians 3:16 is a great verse that talks about us singing the Word to one another.

It’s the same ministry as the preaching of the Word, but instead of coming from one person to the church, it’s the whole church singing the Word to one another by the power of the Spirit.

That is what we want our songs – and all songs – to do well.

When the Word and Spirit are at work in our singing, they train us for obedient faith throughout our lives.

Executive director of Emu Music Philip Percival, also the music minister in a church in north Sydney, has a heart for helping musicians grow in their gifts to serve the church. Photo from Emu Music’s Facebook page.

How have you seen the power of worship music?

I can’t tell what’s in people’s hearts when we sing in church, but I do love seeing people being engaged when they’re singing. I pray that it’s not the music but the gospel doing it in people’s hearts. 

I love it when I hear stories of people coming to faith through songs. It’s not actually our primary reason for singing, but it’s lovely when that happens.

Before being in Sydney I was working in Oxford, England, for 15 years. Our church was in the very centre of Oxford, so many people passed by and would hear the singing going on.

I’ve heard stories that people would hear the singing, want to know why it was happening, so they walk into the church and then they just never leave.

I think at least two people I know became Christians just because they were attracted into the assembly by hearing us sing.

Some people feel that worship music can be used to manipulate people’s emotions. What’s your take on that?

Honestly, I think music does manipulate emotions and we don’t want to be afraid of that.

But we need to be aware of it, so that what is affecting emotions when we sing is not the music, but the gospel that we are singing.

There is a danger that if we want to control people and manipulate them, we can play the music in a way that is manipulative, we can create a vibe in a room with the music. I think that’s a dangerous way to go.

But when we are singing gospel truths, we can be confident that it is the gospel that is affecting our hearts. It’s the gospel changing our hearts and “manipulating” us to love Jesus more.

Of course, to do that, that means that our songs have to be rich in the Bible.

What’s the key to a successful music ministry?

First of all, it’s to know what we’re actually doing – that we’re a ministry of God’s Word. The congregation and the musicians need to know that. We can’t encourage one another unless we know what our task is.

Then there are practical things that we do: Having a very solid song leader is an excellent way to help the music ministry.

My experience is that having a cool band doesn’t necessarily create good singing. A good song leader does a lot more than a great band can do, because people relate to a song leader.

A song leader that is pointing people to Jesus when we sing is the most effective way to get heart engagement.

It’s not just a good singer that makes a song leader. It’s someone who pastorally engages with the church, and someone who has the gifts of engaging people. So it’s a combination of pastoral ministry and practical aspects.

Then of course we do want to encourage excellence in our bands as well – they are there to encourage the congregation.

The most important thing in congregational singing is not the band at the front, but the congregation’s voice. The centre of the music ministry happens in the pews.

So we at the front do everything that we can to support great congregational singing. It means we want to play with excellence, but not draw attention to ourselves.

We do everything in order to encourage and support the congregation to sing.

What potential have you seen in the music ministries here in Singapore?

Great potential. We’ve been coming to Singapore for over 10 years and every time we come there, we’re just struck by the enthusiasm for doing music ministry well, from selecting great songs to the greater aim of wanting to see churches built up in Christ.

We have had a great relationship with a number of churches here over the years. We also have many friends in Singapore whom we love to partner in with this ministry, and we’re excited to meet everyone in Singapore this April.

Last question, what is your favourite Emu Music song and why?

One favourite is Creation Awaits. It’s based on Romans 8 and expresses so well in words and music the longing we feel for the new creation amid all the hard things going on it the world at the moment.

Catch Emu Music when they return to Singapore this April at the following events:

Songwriting Workshop: Thursday, April 11, 7.3opm to 9pm
A Night With Emu Concert: Friday, April 12, 7.30pm to 9pm
Word in Song Conference: Saturday, April 13, 9.15am to 4pm

Where: Zion Bishan Bible-Presbyterian Church
                4 Bishan Street 13, Singapore 579792

Visit their website here for ticketing and more information.

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