"I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music." - J. S. Bach

What a beautiful sentiment about what we do as church musicians.

There’s something different about sharing music in a worship context - it becomes something greater than ourselves, more than we could make it on our own. In a way, we become the instruments, ready to be used by God, for His glory: “Take my voice and let me sing - always, only for my King."

I’ve written a few posts like this one, with music and worship-planning resources on a specific theme or topic. Here are the links, in case you missed them:

Water
The Good Shepherd

Today’s theme is Music. I’m writing this post for myself, really, because we’re in the midst of planning a Music Sunday at our church for later this Spring - a day to celebrate God’s gift of music and bring together as many of the church’s musicians as we can to offer our praise and thanksgiving.

This morning, it's 18 degrees here in Rochester, NY, and it's been snowing for 36 hours straight (oh hey, Winter Storm Stella), but summer is coming! And with summer, come lots of opportunities for learning, growing, and networking with other church musicians.

Summer conferences are a great way to stay connected with others in the field; learn new things about playing, singing, directing, and teaching; find inspiration for creating meaningful and engaging worship services; and hear about all the latest releases - choral music, handbell music, children's choir resources, instrumental collections, etc.

If you've been following along for a while, I'm sure you've heard me talk about Music and Worship Arts Week at Lake Junaluska (NC). I've been attending this conference on and off since I was in high school and it never disappoints. I always walk away feeling refreshed, inspired, and ready to get back to work. (P.S. I just completed my registration for this year's conference - will you be there?)

Whether you're a church musician, director, accompanist, choir member, student, worship leader, pastor, or liturgist, there is a summer conference out there for you.

Here are a few to consider (sorted by date):

Holy Week is a special time in the church year.

We retell the old, old story of Jesus gathering with his disciples, washing their feet, and breaking bread with them; praying in the garden; being betrayed and condemned to death on a cross; and laid in a tomb sealed with a stone. It’s a somber week of remembrance and reflection on God’s great gifts of love, grace, forgiveness, and redemption. But, we all know how the story ends: with victory, resurrection, hope, and new life.

Some churches have services every day during Holy Week; others may have only one or two services. Maundy Thursday, the remembrance of the Last Supper, and Good Friday, the remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice for us, are the two most common Holy Week services.

We’re in the midst of finalizing our plans for our Maundy Thursday service this year and are leaning toward a more emergent service, with art, music, readings, and communion around the table.

Looking to create something similar for your church? Here’s my step-by-step process:

Email newsletters are a great way to be inspired, stay connected, and become aware of new music and resources that might be useful to you in your work.

Some may feature curated content - articles, blogs, resource links, and tips from various places on the web. Others may focus on a specific subject in each newsletter. Still others offer daily devotions or short notes of inspiration to help get your week off on the right foot.

A word of caution: In today’s world, it’s easy to over-subscribe to email newsletters. Remember, every email subscription is a personal invitation into your inbox, so choose wisely.

Staying connected can be a blessing, but it can also be a burden. Think about what will actually help you in your work or inspire you as you go about your day and what will just add more complication or clutter to your life. 

Looking for a few recommendations? Here are five email newsletters to consider:

Maybe you’ve been there, or maybe you’re there now - the choir director who’s trying to piece together a music library on a shoestring budget with anthems that are interesting and relevant to your choir and congregation.

As we all know, music is expensive ($2-4 per octavo for most choral pieces) and there isn’t always room in the budget for those kind of expenditures throughout the year, especially if you’re looking to build a music library and purchase more than 1-2 new anthems per year.

The struggle is real.

But, there’s good news. Some music is free! That’s right. Music published before 1923 is in the public domain (in the USA), which means it is free to obtain and use. 

It can be a bit overwhelming to sift through all the music that’s out there, so today, I’m sharing a few of my favorite go-to resources for music in the public domain along with some anthem suggestions that might work for your choir.

Earlier this week, I shared helpful tools and resources for teaching a congregational class or workshop, including several ready-made classes and seminars and step-by-step directions for creating your own class or workshop (read it here, in case you missed it).

For those of you that may not have done something like this before, the idea of standing up in front of a room of people and talking may feel a little outside of your comfort zone. 

I get it. 

I mean, we’re musicians, right? Playing or singing in front of people is no big deal, but talking is a whole different story.

If teaching is new for you, here are a few practical tips for keeping your cool and creating a fun, meaningful, engaging learning experience for your participants.

Have you ever considered teaching a class or workshop?

Some of you may already do this - at a community music school, K-12 school, or local college or university. But, have you ever considered teaching members of your congregation?

Short-term classes, workshops, and mini-series are a great way to teach church members about music, worship, denominational history, etc. and help build a sense of community among the congregation.

Plus, if you plan a class that's several weeks long and happens to meet on Sundays, you may also (inadvertently) encourage regular attendance in worship.

If you love to read, research, and teach and you have curious congregation members who love to learn, this post is for you. Here's what you need to know:

I love this time of the year. 

This week in between Christmas and New Year’s is always a time of rest and reflection for me - both personally and professionally. I look back on my goals for the year and evaluate what worked and what didn’t work. I also spend some time reviewing this year’s blog content and growth and learning more about what really resonated with you. Finally, I look forward to the New Year by setting new personal and business goals and thinking about new blog content ideas and outlining a preliminary editorial calendar.

It’s always fun for me to look back at the most popular posts of the year. Here are this year's top 10: 

It’s Christmas week and church musicians everywhere are gearing up for one of the busiest weekends of the year - Christmas Eve on Saturday and Christmas Day on Sunday. If you’re involved in church services this weekend, you’re probably not describing your week as “calm” and “bright.” Your to-do list probably looks a lot like mine: 

practice
write thank you notes
finish newsletter article
proof bulletins
finish wrapping
meet piano tuner
etc.

It’s a crazy time, I know, but I’m determined to not let this season pass me by while I was caught up in the details and the planning. I don’t want to miss the spectacle, the gift, the presence of God in our midst. 

For many of us, worship planning is a big part of our jobs. It's creative and fulfilling, but it can also be tedious and a little time-consuming.

Plus, the more people that are involved in your worship planning, the more complicated it gets:

Susan coordinates the lay leaders
Chris oversees the audio/visual team
The pastor plans the Scriptures, prayers, and sermon
And then there's all the music in the service...

Good communication is key to planning and leading worship services and having everything go smoothly.