Crystal Miller wrote the words and music to the song, “Acts 2,” and I arranged it. Listen to her tell the story.
In January, 2015, I heard a sermon about a renewed vision for the church. At one point in the message, the end of Acts chapter 2 was used. The “breaking bread from house to house” part stood out to me, as the last while I’d been hungering for more time spent together with people in their homes, more of the “let’s get together” and “come over sometime” mentality, more of sharing our lives with each other throughout the week in a relaxed, familiar way. In Acts we read about the warm fellowship of the early church, and lo and behold, they went house to house breaking bread! The whole description of their camaraderie impressed me.
The next day my brother Benjamin called to talk about the need he still felt for another type of song on the upcoming Tapestry album, something more folksy and upbeat. Did I have any suggestions for a text? I got off the phone and immediately thought of that unique, warm-fuzzies passage from Ken’s sermon the evening before. I wanted to see those verses again. Looking them up in my NASB/NIV Bible, and then adding KJV to the mix, the words started singing themselves off the pages. The lines were working themselves out. The music, the rhythms were just flowing. It felt like the song was being given to me. It was exhilarating!
Since Lyle was working with Benjamin on the Tapestry project, we sent “Acts 2” to him for arranging. The result was a piece that many seemed to enjoy. ~Crystal Miller
My children loved the piece. After the Tapestry CD came out, they always asked to hear “House to house.” Think about it, how many songs do children get to hear about baking bread? In a serious choral program? For adults? Not very many. Remember when you misheard lyrics as a child? Yes, our children definitely heard “baking bread” throughout this piece, but thankfully, adults usually seem to catch it right the first time.
Someone wondered why the song is so happy when it’s just talking about getting together and breaking bread. What’s up with all the excitement musically over such a simple text? If you’ve ever experienced the sheer joy of fellowship with other believers spirit to spirit, the kind of fellowship that wants to continue all night, you know that it is one of the most exciting experiences in a community of believers. It’s hard to measure the joy that comes from those experiences, but it’s easy to say with conviction that that kind of fellowship is worth portraying with all the excitement we can give.
Lyle