Taiwan Church News
3865 Edition
23 ~ 29 March, 2026
Weekly Topical
Transcending Via Crucis, New Voice Chanted in the Passion
Reported by Dalul from Tainan
As festivals of the Passion and Easter came near, a liturgical service combining theological reflections, meditating experiences and choral singing was held at Wan-Lih Church of Tainan Presbytery in the afternoon on March 21. This liturgical service, entitled as “New Voice Chanted in the Passion” is jointly organized by Wan-Lih Church and Yong-Ang Church of Kaohsiung Presbytery.
Prof Lee Chian-yi, conductor of the Octangle Tower Male Choir, was invited to serve as music director of the choral service, and Rev Yu Hsin-mei, pastor of Wan-Li Church, was commissioned to design the special liturgy. Through an in-depth practice within a plain worship, new meanings of Christian life in contemporary society are mediated and probed in the service.
Conducting by prof Lee Chian-yi, the choir started to sing some classical hymns for the Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday at the beginning of the service. Through the rthythmic breathing of the lyrics and emotional tensions within the musics, the choir’s hymnal singing is no longer a mere liturgical performance, but a confession with the narrative dynamics. In the interview, prof Lee Chian-yi emphasized “his conducting is not focused not upon ‘emotional change’, but to lead the choir members to go through a ‘spiritual journey.’”
The song of Palm Sunday begins with the crowd’s cheers of expectation, and then enters the suffering hymn – No. 88 of the PCT Hymnal – subtitled as Were you there when they crucified my Lord? In this hymn, the choir’s voice turns inwards and trembles with emotions, so as to express an intimate bondage between the cross and personal faith.
When the choir sing the Easter Sunday hymn, No. 630 of the PCT Hymnal subtitled as In the bulb there is a flower, the musics at the moment represents not simply a pursuit of magnificent, but a kind of “inner calmness” that shines through the dark. “The critical point to such a viva breathing of choral singing lies in the connection between the breathing and the lyrics, so that every breath of the choir confesses the faith, and goes beyond skillful performance,” said prof Lee.
After the choral singings, comes the core of a plain worship, named as “the Passion, Resurrection and New Voice.” Rev Yu Hsin-mei shared her thoughts of liturgical designs, “the axis of the worship rotates over three major Christian festivals: Palm Festival, Good Friday and Easter.” Instead of practicing a traditional worship, which the assembly take for granted in the church, she and co-workers specially introduced some sensory elements, such as “seeing, listening, reading, tasting and smelling”, so that an authentic Christian pilgrimage of how the Christ truly lives with us today could be appreciated and pursued.
Through the hilarious glory of the Palm Festival and an inward reflection on our homeland, the allied Yong-Ang Church Choir sings a hymnal prelude to enter the auditorium. In the subsequent sessions of this participatory service, the church members put down kinds of gadgets used in daily lives along the site symbolized as Via Crucis. The service then invited the assembly to reflect values of modern materialism, similar to the short-sighted people who waved palm branches but nailed Jesus, which always seek happiness based on the pains of our environments.
The Passion session of the worship uses African-American soul songs, such as No.166 and No. 88 of the PCT Hymnal, which are directly linked to contemporary human rights and environmental concerns reminiscent of a historical backgrounds of exploitative slavery. The most touching moment is to invite the congregation to come forward and sip the bitter tea, symbolizing that Jesus bears our sins.
When the choir combines these scriptural messages with their life experiences, gazes into the anxiety and brokenness, the hymns naturally bring out new meanings that are relevant to current era. When the worship enters the session of Resurrection, the assembly are invited to taste the malt candy. The sweetness of malt symbolizes the resurrection of Christ, helping people who are trapped in darkness and despair to boost again and live a new life full of praise with Halleluja!
Prof Lee Chian-yi said that the most wonderful part of this creative worship is to help participants turn their singing skills into spiritual worship. “When the choral singing is no longer done to appease the conductor or entertain the audience, but for the Lord, the choir’s voice naturally shift from performance into sincere prayer and true worship.”
Rev Yu Hsin-mei stressed, through a plain worship utilizing various body senses, “the assembly no long read the scriptures only, but also experience an in-depth transformation from dark despair in hell to glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ!Lee Chian-yi”
Translated by Peter Wolfe
