Where Have All the Church Choirs Gone?
Raised on the sound of church choirs in Louisiana and Mississippi, Derek Payne misses hearing them in Sunday worship. As music ministries change, he asks whether the choir still has a place in the church.
For a Louisiana native who attended college in Mississippi, the sound of Sunday worship included a choir. As churches change their music ministries, what happens to the voices that once filled the choir stand?
By Derek Payne
The Weekly Press
I can still hear a church choir before I see it: the organ finding its place, the director lifting a hand and a row of voices joining together. Growing up in Louisiana and attending college in Mississippi, I came to expect that sound on Sunday. The choir was part of my roots.
After moving to the Midwest, I found myself missing it. I have worshiped in places with gifted singers and musicians, yet I still listen for the fullness of a choir. That feeling led me to a question: Where have all the church choirs gone?
They have not disappeared. But they are less common in Sunday services than they once were. The National Congregations Study found that the share of U.S. congregations with a choir singing at their main worship service fell from 54% in 1998 to 46% in 2018-19, after accounting for summer months when choirs often take a break. The study measures what happened in a particular service; it does not tell us that every congregation without a choir that Sunday had disbanded one.
Worship itself has changed. In the same period, the study found more congregations using drums, projected lyrics and other practices associated with contemporary services. Those changes can bring energy and participation. A praise team can lead a room in heartfelt worship. Still, for those of us raised with choirs, a few voices at the front of the church do not always fill the same role as a stand of neighbors singing together.
A choir gave people a place to belong and a way to serve. Children could watch older singers and imagine themselves joining them one day. Rehearsals brought members together outside Sunday service. When the choir sang, you could hear different generations contributing to one sound.
That tradition has deep roots in Black church life. The Smithsonian describes music as a way African American congregations have built community, strength and celebration. Its collections preserve the history of sacred singing in churches as well as the work of the people who carried those songs forward.
Choirs also take commitment. Singers need time to rehearse. A director needs support. Young people need an invitation and someone willing to teach them. A church deciding how to use limited time and resources may choose a smaller group to lead music each week. That decision deserves understanding, even from those of us who miss what we remember.
And the desire to sing together remains. A 2019 Chorus America study estimated that more than 54 million Americans sang in choruses of various kinds. That figure includes singing beyond churches, but it is a reminder that people have not lost their appetite for joining their voices.
Perhaps a church does not need a large choir every Sunday to keep the tradition alive. A youth choir, a men’s or women’s chorus, a community choir or a choir that sings once a month could give people a chance to take part. A praise team and a choir can each have a place in worship.
My question comes from love for what the choir gave me. In Louisiana and Mississippi, I heard faith expressed through voices singing together. I miss that sound on Sundays in the Midwest. I hope the next generation gets to know it, too.
So, are church choirs a thing of the past? I do not believe they have to be. Wherever a congregation makes room for people to gather, practice and lift their voices together, the choir can sing again.
