Purify my wallet . . . let me be as gold

My Money Talks – Songs for Worship Bryan Moyer Suderman. Herald Press. 2007.

For many people, talking, let alone singing, about money in the context of worship doesn’t fit. Yet Jesus’ parables, and much of the Bible, are filled with stories about the challenges and threats that material things can pose to our relationship with God. These issues and questions are dramatically underrepresented in the life of the church and in the songs we sing in worship.

Two years ago, the Mennonite Foundation of Canada (MFC) asked musician Bryan Moyer Suderman to compose and record new songs on themes related to financial stewardship for congregational worship. The result of this project supported by a Legacy Fund grant from MFC is My Money Talks – Songs for Worship, a 12-song CD released in early October.

Bryan writes and sings from the heart, addressing in a poetic, memorable, and catchy fashion the challenges that Christians face in dealing with money. The musical styles on the CD range from folk guitar to a capella, from harmonies to contemplative piano accompaniment to country gospel, with forays into contemporary worship and rock. A number of the songs lend themselves easily to group singing and have the potential to become regular parts of Sunday morning worship.

While much of the music on Bryan’s first two CDs – God’s Love is for Everybody and Can’t Keep Quiet – found its greatest popularity among younger children, several of his compositions have already found their way into widespread use, both in North American churches and abroad. A Church of Scotland hymnal published in 2005 includes two of Bryan’s songs, “God’s Love is for Everybody” and “God Who makes Friends.”

Some of the biblical texts used in the new songs, such as Numbers 19 (“Speak to the Rock”) and Proverbs 30 (“Prayer of Agur”) aren’t that well-known. But the idea of recognizing when there is enough, expressed through songs such as “Prayer of Agur” and “To Be Content” (based on Philippians 4) is a vitally important spiritual concept that we need to ponder and sing.

It is something that we, as an affluent North American church, need to do: to learn to pray, to learn to be content. In another song, “I Can Give with Joy,” each of the verses is based on a biblical character who responds differently to the call of Jesus. Those struggles are just as relevant to Christians today as they were for the people of Jesus’ time.

Various Mennonite churches in Canada have already incorporated Suderman’s songs into their services.

Mark Vincent, editor of Giving magazine, and past board member of Ecumenical Stewardship Center in the U.S. called My Money Talks a “wonderful resource” and said he couldn’t wait to get the collection into the hands of his congregation’s worship leaders. An accompanying songbook will be released in early 2008.

For information about having Bryan perform at your church, contact him through his website smalltallmusic.com. CDs can be purchased through Bryan, Herald Press or the Mennonite Foundation of Canada offices.

Originally published in the Mennonite Foundation of Canada INFO newsletter – Fall, 2007.