Christian worship in Mexico
The resources available for congregational worship in Mexico are sorely lacking. This is the case for a variety of reasons. Simply put, there has not been a Protestant reformation like what occurred in the 1500s in Europe. Mexico became Catholic and it is still Catholic. While we have no ill will towards Catholics (especially those in our area), this has limited Mexico’s ability to expand fully into Christianity.
Congregational Singing
One of the primary musical changes which occurred in Europe during the Reformation was a return to Congregational singing, which had been lost over the centuries. Worship had become a performance that the priests did and the congregations watched, as an audience would. The communion service had succumbed to this practice as well—congregations would partake only once a year, and then not at all—it was something the priest did up in the front.
In much the same way, the United States (and the broader Evangelical world) has fallen prey to regarding the worship service as something that the congregation observes or participates in only if desired—the main body of worship is done up front, with the band. It is our desire to help the church in Mexico regain its ability to sing in a congregational fashion—which means we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.
Theological Accuracy
Many of the Spanish translations of hymns are woefully swamped with theological inaccuracies and feminist ideologies. We are on a hunt to find better resources and contribute to the solution in our own translation work.
Poor Metrical Cadence
Many of the Spanish hymns do not have a proper poetical meter. This results in stuffing way too many syllables into one line and stretching them too far out on another line. This is confusing at best for people who are familiar with singing hymns—imagine how impossible this is for folks who have never sung in their lives! This is another area in which we are trying to find better solutions.
Few Psalms
Singing Psalms is very uncommon in Mexico. Admittedly, it has also become uncommon in the states since the time of the second great awakening. But it is almost nonexistent in Mexico. Much of this is because the singing of the Psalms has been a very Protestant thing to do, and currently Protestants aren’t doing it. Instead, much of the Protestant mission efforts in Mexico are exporting the latest translated radio hits from the states. My wife and I have experienced first hand the depth and beauty of singing God’s word back to Him, and we want our neighbors, both in the States and in Mexico, to experience this as well.
Spanish and Tarahumara Psalm Project
This is the beginning of our endeavor to popularize the singing of Psalms in Spanish to the traditional or classical style of congregational singing. This is not simply one preference over another: it is a style specifically designed for congregational singing. It was begun primarily in Germany and in France during the 1500s, spreading from there to the rest of Europe and into America and other parts of the world.
We believe that this is a style attainable across cultures, and it is recognized in Mexico as something “very old and ancient sounding”—very much Catholic, in fact. Through making videos and publishing songs such as this one, we hope to contribute to the Spanish speaking Christian world, both in Mexico and abroad. Upon learning the Tarahumara language well, we will be doing the same in Tarahumara.
I have recently learned how to do something called engraving—setting words to music in a hymnbook-quality format. Pictured here is a Psalm 22, translated to metered Spanish and engraved with music. This is an exciting skill for our family to possess, since hiring this out is a tens of thousands of dollars project.
English Psalm Project
We like singing, and we’re not afraid to publish stuff in English either. This project sprang from a desire we had for an album of psalms which didn’t sound stuffy and a-cappella, but at the same time still held to the old classical or traditional style. Our solution: produce an album of Psalms sung in 4-part harmony, accompanied by a piano.
Our first album is titled Troublous Seas: Psalms and Hymns of the Cantus Christi, Vol. 1, and we hope that this is the first of many to come. You can find it on any music distribution platform, or you can buy the CD at our music website here.
