Amazing Grace

In the past few years, I've had the privilege of putting together several orchestra-led, thematically-based worship concerts. I call these “worship concerts,’’ because rather than just a traditional concert, they are designed to be an interactive worship experience.

These programs are centered around a particular theme, with all of the titles relating in some way to the theme. Besides the usual instrumental specials, there are vocal solos, choir, and/or congregational singing, all tied together with narration, including lots of scripture. Multimedia elements are sometimes included, such as video testimonies from the orchestra members, or videos created to accompany the instrumental numbers.

An example of this type of program is one which was titled “God's Amazing Grace.’’ What a rich theme, and of course, there are many songs and hymns about God's grace which could be included.

For the conclusion of the concert, I wrote a special arrangement of Amazing Grace. It began with a viola solo. Then the orchestra sang the first verse of the song. A worship team sang the second and third verses, and then the congregation was invited to join in for the final, triumphal ‘‘When we've been there ten thousand years ...’’

I recently revised this arrangement for publication. It's really a multi-use piece which may be done by orchestra only, choir and/or congregation only, or other combinations, subject to the creativity of the user. A special feature of the arrangement is that the opening section is set in the key of E-flat, so it could be done featuring traditional Highland bagpipes! Here is a link to this piece on our website. Scroll down the page to find the listing. I hope it is something you will enjoy listening to, and something you can use in your ministry.