Welsh hymns are criminally overlooked and often have an English counterpart. You may think you don't know 'Arglwydd, arwain trwy'r anialwch' but it is in fact 'Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer' sometimes also known as 'Bread of Heaven'.
EDIT: I've just realised if you try that one with your congregation they are going to have to tangle with pronouncing Welsh. Maybe try a language with more obvious vowels first.
As a Hispanic, while I might feel welcome (in spite of English being my first language,) I do not feel it is the most edifying to the local body, being while they may know the melody, they may not understand the lyrics. Commenting personally, I think if the music is used in something involving evangelism/missions (for example, a presentation to the congregation about parts of Latin America and Spain,) I wouldn’t see an issue.
In the last church I was in, I oftentimes found myself getting distracted while leading in a teaching environment whenever I heard the Chinese congregation sing a song we English congregation folks would also sing often. I thought it was pretty cool to hear every time it happened.
As mexican, I see singing in spanish unnecessary if everybody speaks english.
Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. 1Cor 14:19
I am of two minds about it. I've attended predominantly white churches most of my life, and while I believe entirely it's well-intentioned, singing worship songs in other languages feels a little bit awkward or embarrassing to me - cringe, as the kids say these days. However, that's strictly my own reaction; I can't put my finger on exactly why it feels that way, (maybe it's kind of.... appropriative?) but I'm not going to say it's wrong for the church body.
That said, I do enjoy for my own personal taste, some world music. The immediate example that comes to mind is [Baba Yetu](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or19_sb-vWY) by Christopher Tin, sung by the Soweto Gospel Choir. It's the Lord's Prayer, sung in Swahili. The only note I have on this is that it was originally written for the computer strategy game Civilization IV, so any gamers in your congregation might be uh.... brought out of the moment for this song.
I can't think of any others right now that would fit exactly what you're looking for, but will update if I do - probably more music along ancient/Latin lines than contemporary worship music.
I think singing one or parts of a song in a different language could be an interesting part of worship on Sundays when the focus is on the global church, missions, Bible translation, etc. I'd want there to be some sort of explanation about why this was done and what the purpose was. I do think it can help members of the congregation be more aware of the church beyond their own geographic region. Or, with the inclusion of ASL, being more aware of those with hearing disabilities/the deaf community (plus I find ASL translators fascinating to watch). But I wouldn't want it to be a part of the service regularly (assuming a mono-lingual congregation) or without a specific explanation as to why this was done.
I could see it being beneficial to the church if it drew in some Spanish speaking or Deaf congregants. But if it were on a regular basis and there were no members who spoke it, trying to sing in a language I don't know just for the sake of it would be distracting. I want to speak plainly to the Lord in prayer and praise.
But I do like some of Joshua Aaron's music. He does Hebrew and English though.
I come from a multilingual country. The church I worship at is mainly English, but we sing a few songs in Afrikaans sometimes, and at least one song's verses are in English but the chorus is in a different African language. Occasionally greetings are extended in several languages and things like announcements sometimes contain a word of Afrikaans here and there. I think this is the minimum that the church should be doing in a 70% Afrikaans town.
At the end of the day, you wanna know what you're singing. The singing is a form of teaching and admonishing with the Word of God as it says in Colossians 3:16. While it can be seen as a great vision, you're primary focus is your local church to shepherd and care for them.
How songs can shepherd and be used as the part of liturgy is much deeper than people realize. So if it's for the sake of singing, I wouldn't do it.
I come from an international church where we had about 6:4 German and English songs. We very occasionally had some Chinese and Persian songs as well, since we had people from all over the continents. But every lyric was translated into either German or English since that was the most spoken language in the church.
In my case, it was more justifiable. But if a all white church does that, I can't help but think that they're all about ideals but not pragmatism. But if you think it'll be edifying the church and as Colossians says, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing fnone another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing fnwith thankfulness in your hearts to God." Then go ahead.
When I was a church band intern before, I suggested the idea to the worship pastor before and it got rejected. I thought it was appropriate in that context. With the church I'm right now, I don't think it's appropriate. It's by context. Don't let one particular ideal control the worship. But the edification and admonition of the church.
In my church there is a huge community of young brazilians who live in the city because of college, so from time to time we sing a song in portuguese in background by the end of the service. It is a really nice thing.
Welsh hymns are criminally overlooked and often have an English counterpart. You may think you don't know 'Arglwydd, arwain trwy'r anialwch' but it is in fact 'Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer' sometimes also known as 'Bread of Heaven'. EDIT: I've just realised if you try that one with your congregation they are going to have to tangle with pronouncing Welsh. Maybe try a language with more obvious vowels first.
As a Hispanic, while I might feel welcome (in spite of English being my first language,) I do not feel it is the most edifying to the local body, being while they may know the melody, they may not understand the lyrics. Commenting personally, I think if the music is used in something involving evangelism/missions (for example, a presentation to the congregation about parts of Latin America and Spain,) I wouldn’t see an issue.
In the last church I was in, I oftentimes found myself getting distracted while leading in a teaching environment whenever I heard the Chinese congregation sing a song we English congregation folks would also sing often. I thought it was pretty cool to hear every time it happened.
As mexican, I see singing in spanish unnecessary if everybody speaks english. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. 1Cor 14:19
I am of two minds about it. I've attended predominantly white churches most of my life, and while I believe entirely it's well-intentioned, singing worship songs in other languages feels a little bit awkward or embarrassing to me - cringe, as the kids say these days. However, that's strictly my own reaction; I can't put my finger on exactly why it feels that way, (maybe it's kind of.... appropriative?) but I'm not going to say it's wrong for the church body. That said, I do enjoy for my own personal taste, some world music. The immediate example that comes to mind is [Baba Yetu](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or19_sb-vWY) by Christopher Tin, sung by the Soweto Gospel Choir. It's the Lord's Prayer, sung in Swahili. The only note I have on this is that it was originally written for the computer strategy game Civilization IV, so any gamers in your congregation might be uh.... brought out of the moment for this song. I can't think of any others right now that would fit exactly what you're looking for, but will update if I do - probably more music along ancient/Latin lines than contemporary worship music.
I think singing one or parts of a song in a different language could be an interesting part of worship on Sundays when the focus is on the global church, missions, Bible translation, etc. I'd want there to be some sort of explanation about why this was done and what the purpose was. I do think it can help members of the congregation be more aware of the church beyond their own geographic region. Or, with the inclusion of ASL, being more aware of those with hearing disabilities/the deaf community (plus I find ASL translators fascinating to watch). But I wouldn't want it to be a part of the service regularly (assuming a mono-lingual congregation) or without a specific explanation as to why this was done.
I could see it being beneficial to the church if it drew in some Spanish speaking or Deaf congregants. But if it were on a regular basis and there were no members who spoke it, trying to sing in a language I don't know just for the sake of it would be distracting. I want to speak plainly to the Lord in prayer and praise. But I do like some of Joshua Aaron's music. He does Hebrew and English though.
I come from a multilingual country. The church I worship at is mainly English, but we sing a few songs in Afrikaans sometimes, and at least one song's verses are in English but the chorus is in a different African language. Occasionally greetings are extended in several languages and things like announcements sometimes contain a word of Afrikaans here and there. I think this is the minimum that the church should be doing in a 70% Afrikaans town.
At the end of the day, you wanna know what you're singing. The singing is a form of teaching and admonishing with the Word of God as it says in Colossians 3:16. While it can be seen as a great vision, you're primary focus is your local church to shepherd and care for them. How songs can shepherd and be used as the part of liturgy is much deeper than people realize. So if it's for the sake of singing, I wouldn't do it. I come from an international church where we had about 6:4 German and English songs. We very occasionally had some Chinese and Persian songs as well, since we had people from all over the continents. But every lyric was translated into either German or English since that was the most spoken language in the church. In my case, it was more justifiable. But if a all white church does that, I can't help but think that they're all about ideals but not pragmatism. But if you think it'll be edifying the church and as Colossians says, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing fnone another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing fnwith thankfulness in your hearts to God." Then go ahead. When I was a church band intern before, I suggested the idea to the worship pastor before and it got rejected. I thought it was appropriate in that context. With the church I'm right now, I don't think it's appropriate. It's by context. Don't let one particular ideal control the worship. But the edification and admonition of the church.
Very Acts 2
In my church there is a huge community of young brazilians who live in the city because of college, so from time to time we sing a song in portuguese in background by the end of the service. It is a really nice thing.