“Sing them over again to me”: Why Engaging Children with Music Matters

In this short essay I would like to share some of my thoughts on the inspiring and consequential work of engaging children with music. As I begin, I invite you to consider three distinct scenarios. These scenarios are not hypothetical; they represent real experiences. Here they are:

Scenario 1: First Baptist Church, Recife, Northeastern Brazil, 1970s

This was my home church. I grew up Baptist, which meant that I was part of a religious minority; not persecuted, just ignored. This was the place where I learned about God and the Bible, and got to see my cousins, aunts, and uncles every week, where I made friends, and where I discovered my love of music. My pocket-size hymnal (words-only edition) was a favorite book, and I remember many of the songs I was taught in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. I even remember some of the rehearsals we had for several weeks towards the end of the year, getting ready for Christmas. There were no props, no fancy equipment, no books, no instruments. Just a brave, dedicated song leader and dozens of children, some of whom, like me, would savor every moment of those singing experiences.

Scenario 2: Westbury United Methodist Day School, Houston, Texas, late 1990s

This was my first official job teaching music: teaching pre-school-aged children. Yes. Pre-school. I was drafted by a dear friend who needed a substitute music teacher twice a week. By then, I was married and had a child myself, but I had never considered teaching other people’s children, especially those under the age of 18! I said “yes” to my friend’s plea out of love for her, and because I felt it was my Christian duty. After several weeks of teaching music to children aged 18 months through kindergarten, following the competent instructions of my friend, I began to see a whole new world revealing itself to me.

My understanding of music was enriched by witnessing very young children finding joy, pleasure, and laughter in music; little kids being moved by songs and stories expressing a variety of human emotions; four-year-old children being curious and intrigued by songs and stories about Jesus. I always told the Bible story behind the songs we learned and often drew pictures to illustrate them. I remember one of my students asking to hear the Resurrection story again and again and finally saying: “Could you draw these pictures for me to take to my parents? I don’t think they know that story!” Some of the two-year-olds with very limited vocabulary would act out our little plays and have a great time simply by “doing what the music told them.” Once I understood what these children were able to do, my job became a very exciting adventure, in which I would come up with a general plan, share it with the children, and go where the music took us. Granted, sometimes it was a very short, uninspiring trip; but other times, it was simply amazing!

Scenario 3: First Mexican Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas, 2009-2020

I became a member of Primera (Spanish for “First”) in 2008. It is a bilingual congregation in the heart of San Antonio. We are about to celebrate our 137th anniversary, and we are proud of our history: the second oldest Mexican church in the U.S. Prompted by my previous experience at the Day School, I decided to start a children’s choir.

We met every Sunday afternoon for one hour in a spacious room with a very out-of-tune piano. We welcomed children aged three to eleven (sometimes two-year-olds would join us too, because they wanted to be with their older siblings). We had about twenty children in the choir. I counted on a talented and faithful pianist, at least one cheerful helper (usually, but not exclusively, my husband), and no budget. The choir sang in both English and Spanish, even though only about half of the children were fully bilingual (some spoke English only, some spoke Spanish only). Incidentally, I still direct the choir, but since COVID, our schedule is a little different.

The Role of Music in Children’s Development

Many of you may have had similar experiences as the ones described above, some of you may be currently involved in a comparable endeavor, and others may feel little or no connection to what I have just depicted. Whatever the case may be, I would like you to consider a few of the lessons I have learned and continue to learn from these experiences, at the intersection of children, church, and music.

Music and Spiritual Development

First, music plays a crucial role in supporting a child’s spiritual development. If you had grown up Baptist in the 1960s and 70s, you would probably be familiar with my childhood “playlist” which included some of the earliest gospel truths I learned as a child. Today, at sixty-one, I can recall them with no difficulty. These songs are engraved in my mind and in my heart. How grateful I am for those who took the time to teach me these “wonderful words of life!”

Music and Emotional Development

Second, music plays a crucial role in supporting a child’s emotional development. While teaching at the Day School in Houston, I was surprised to observe how music could affect a young child’s emotions and mood. For example, while chanting and acting out the nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffet,” some of the children would refuse to play Miss Muffet’s part because they were too afraid of the spider (even though the spider was played by one of the other children in the group); or, when singing about baby Jesus while pretending to hold a baby in our arms, several children would rock baby Jesus to sleep with visible gentleness.

Another example: one recent December, while preparing for the children’s choir Christmas program at church, one of the songs we were practicing told the story of Joseph and Mary being denied a place at the inn in Bethlehem. After hearing the song for the first time, one little boy commented: “so much sorrow . . .” Fear, tenderness, empathy, joy, wonder: music can evoke all these emotions and more, invite us to taste them, and, in the process, make us better human beings.

Music and Cultural and Linguistic Identity

Third, music plays a crucial role in supporting a child’s cultural and linguistic identity. My congregation in San Antonio has taught me other ways in which the song of the church contributes to a child’s development.

In addition to the more common spiritual and educational dimensions typical of a church’s music ministry, at this bilingual and bicultural community, music reinforces the concept of the church as a haven for both Mexican American citizens and Mexican immigrants. Let me explain. There was a time, not too long ago, when speaking Spanish in Texas schools was unlawful. Indeed, I have met some Mexican Americans whose parents decided not to teach them Spanish to protect them. What would it be like, I wonder, to grow up in a home where parents and grandparents, some of whom were American citizens, would speak a forbidden language? Yet, as poignantly described by a member of this Tejano community, “[t]he church opened its doors to us when access was denied in other places because we were Mexican Americans. It accepted and affirmed us while other institutions rejected us as well as our Mexican culture. […] It was in church that I learned that God was bilingual, that God understood Spanish.”¹

Churches such as Primera are often one of the few places where Mexican American children and youth can learn formal Spanish. In fact, author Paul Barton points out that, “Latino Protestant churches have usually been one of those places where the use of Spanish has been encouraged and defended.” Barton explains that such a community helps the assimilation of Mexican immigrants into American society and, at the same time, helps Mexican Americans to gain an awareness of their cultural heritage. I am keenly aware that the music I select for my church’s children’s choir is a significant part of this process.

Continuing the Work: Shaping Young Worshipers

To the three scenarios described above, I could add one more: my work in Shaping Young Worshipers through Transformative Music Ministry, a grant project funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc., asking “How is music being used to nurture the spiritual lives of children in local church communities?” This ongoing study explores the fruitful intersection of children, church, and music, which, among other lasting benefits, has the potential to nurture a child’s spiritual development, emotional development, and cultural identity. And that is just a sample of what music can do.

I believe engaging children with music matters. It is my hope that you do, too.