Our February Mission of the Month is David’s Harp. We will collect donations all month long at church. You can either drop off your donation at church, mail a check to church, or you can use our giving page on our website and select Mission of the Month.
David’s Harp, through its resource development and centers of music education care deeply about the following:
- MISSIONS Spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
- OUTREACH Reaching into communities and neighborhoods that surround our churches, schools and mission sites all over the world with the message of Christ.
- EDUCATION Catechizing all ages in the faith through the rich hymns of the Lutheran Church.
- YOUTH Teaching even the youngest among us in every community as we bring them up in the faith.
- MUSIC Using the enormous power of music as the vehicle for all of this.
David’s Harp believes that the Lutheran church is well-positioned for intentional outreach through music. Through strategic planning and collaboration in the areas of resource generation and the establishment of centers of music, David’s Harp will support the Synod’s churches, schools and missions in spreading the Gospel.
Music centers in the foreign mission field are indeed realistic! In fact, music is often one of the most effective ways of connecting people who find themselves specifically in the mission field.
In a foreign mission context, the church often competes with the influence of different strains of Christianity and different forms of paganism. Music helps lead a community into a culture that is not only Christian, but truly Lutheran! The best and most practical summary of that Lutheran culture is found in our liturgy and hymns. Having that music preserved in a hymnal which is used and taught regularly further facilitates faithful worship and a rich sacramental life.
Music in a foreign context also carries the culture of the Church to places where pastors are denied access. A music studio or conservatory, for example, may be permitted when a church is not. A music teacher may be able to travel where a pastor or missionary cannot. And sacred music itself, especially recorded music, may find its way through the Internet or on the airwaves to places no missionary can enter. All of these are ways music centers can benefit the mission field.