Contemporary versus traditional music in worship: how to avoid the landmines The whole discussion of contemporary versus traditional styles of worship wears on me a bit, but not as much as it used to. Let me tell you why. Over time, the contemporary approach in music that I once brought to the table has become […]
Church Housekeeping Hints
Music and smaller churches: The Simple Primer, part 4 of 5
Developing new musicians in smaller churches Larger churches often have the budget to bring in “ringers” to enhance and lead their music programs. Smaller churches usually have to depend upon volunteers. These comments may be more relevant smaller churches at first glance, but can apply to that “how tos” of developing worship musicians in any […]
Music and the smaller church: The Simple Primer, part 3 of 5
Introducing new music If you happen to serve a worshiping congregation who actually welcome new music into their worship services, you need to remember to at least put them on your Christmas card list. I know many musicians, especially those of us who serve at smaller churches, may not be able to throw in Starbucks […]
Music and smaller churches: The Simple Primer, part 2 of 5
Support the theme of your worship service Way back when I was an active member of our church’s high school youth group, First Baptist in Glenwood, Iowa allowed us to put together a youth service. It was then that our leaders introduced us to the idea of planning worship, which until that point had seemed […]
Music and smaller churches: The Simple Primer, part 1 of 5
How to select music Forty-some odd years ago, I strapped a guitar my back, took a deep breath, and became one of the first guitarists to ever offer special music as part of the Sunday morning worship service at First Baptist Church of Glenwood, Iowa. I’m pretty sure that none of the guitar players at […]