Music school is great, but if you want to be a church musician in the 21st century, there are lots of things you're left to figure out on your own - things that simply aren't taught in most schools or private studios.

This includes:

• playing and singing or playing and conducting at the same time
• accompanying and supporting choral and congregational singing
• harmonizing melodies (with and without chord symbols)
• finding cadence points and vamping in the moment
• creating modulations and transposing at sight
• improvising transitions and creating musical underscores
• playing 5-finger patterns in all 24 keys (12 major, 12 minor)

And the list goes on. Where do you start? How do you learn and develop these skills?

If you can relate to any of this, then this course is for you.

Growing a church music program is an important part of what we do as directors and leaders. In building a program, we’re building a place where people of all ages and walks of life can come and learn and grow. We’re creating a safe environment for them to explore and discover and feel loved and supported and encouraged.

Most of you likely inherited your church’s choir program and are building year to year on that foundation. Others of you might be starting from scratch—building a program from the ground up.

Either way, we’re always building, right? Trying new things, finding new things to offer, creating new opportunities for people to come and grow in their faith and knowledge of God, learn about music and develop musical skills, and find new ways to connect to worship.

Some of our biggest challenges as church musicians are recruiting people to be part of the ministry work we do and sustaining that ministry for years to come.

Sound familiar? If so, this post is for you!

Today, I’m sharing five effective tips and strategies for recruiting for your church ministry and outlining several things you can do to help sustain your ministry, now and in the future.

Summer can often feel like an ordinary, even dull, part of the church year. Choirs are usually on break, and there may be a dip in church attendance.

In fact, the time between Pentecost and Advent, as well as the time between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, is known as “Ordinary Time” in some Christian denominations to distinguish the “ordinary” parts of the year from seasons of celebration (like Christmas) and penitence (like Lent).

But Ordinary Time doesn’t have to mean ordinary worship. Fortunately, there are many creative, musical ways to make the “everyday” season of the year special and meaningful in its own way.

You just found the perfect song to sing next month. It has a nice melody and the text ties in perfectly with the Scripture reading of the day and the sermon topic.

But, it's unfamiliar to the congregation.

And your congregation is particularly resistant to singing anything new, especially something not in the hymnal.

What's a music director to do?

How do you go about introducing a new hymn or song to your congregation? How do you teach it in a way that's meaningful and memorable (so they'll remember it next time you sing it)?

Summer is almost here! Time for watermelon and slow evenings on the patio, travel adventures and long, early morning walks, a slower pace and simpler Sunday morning services (we hope!).

For many of us, summer means a break from choir rehearsals; but that doesn’t mean they can’t sing during the summer months!

Spend your last rehearsal of the year prepping a few easy anthems to do throughout the summer, then meet for 30 minutes before each service to review parts and get warmed up. Do a pick-up choir once or twice a month, or put together an ensemble one week.

This is a great way to keep people connected during the summer months and a wonderful way for new people from your congregation to see what choir is like without making a year-long commitment.

Related post: The Case for the Summer Choir

I usually try to stick with anthems that are easy and accessible - not too challenging melodically or rhythmically and without a lot of divisi. You may even look at unison/2-part or SAB anthems. If you have a few capable singers that are available to sing one Sunday, pull an SSA or TTB piece and put together a ladies’ or mens’ trio. The possibilities are endless!

Looking for a few suggestions? Here are 12 of my favorite anthems for summer (in no particular order):

Earlier this year, I wrote a post on planning a music-themed service with liturgy, music, hymns, anthems, and other worship planning resources. (Read it here, in case you missed it.)

This past weekend, we had a Music Sunday at our church and I thought I'd share a copy of our service for those of you looking to do something similar in the future.

We decided to use the basic pattern of worship as an overarching structure: Gathering, Praise & Thanksgiving, Proclamation & Response, Sending Forth. Within each section, we pieced together hymns, music by all our ensembles, and short readings that helped tie everything together.

I tried to find something creative to add to each of the hymns: a modulation up a half step, a harmonization for the last verse, a 4-bar interlude before the last verse, a trumpet fanfare before the introduction, etc.

Overall, it was a great day in worship, and it was so fun to see (and hear) everyone come together in worship and song!

Here is a detailed outline of our service:

"No other form of expression can so richly translate the depth and breadth of authentic religious experience like a well-conceived song of praise.” - Juan Vidal (source)

It’s true, isn’t it?

A hymn or song of praise reminds us of who God is and what he has promised us. It fuels our faith - a foundation we can stand upon throughout our lives. It weaves our lives together as believers and connects us with the church’s history and the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us.

This is a powerful thing.

A hymn festival is a special service focused on the hymns and songs of our faith. These might include old favorites and newly-composed hymns, traditional, contemporary, and everything in between. The nature of your hymn festival will depend a lot on your congregation and what music they hold dear.

Here are a few helpful steps for planning your own hymn festival:

In many churches, "Special Music" is a fairly common occurrence in worship services. For some, the title is reserved for a soloist or small ensemble, and sometimes guest musicians or interns. For others, Special Music is anything other than the choir singing - a soloist or ensemble, an amateur instrumentalist from the congregation, a guest musician, etc.

Let me begin by saying there is nothing wrong with having Special Music in your services. However, there are a few problems that might arise:

1. Expectation. It can be hard to live up to the expectation of having Special Music every week. It can be challenging to find people who are willing to do something musical and are readily available, especially if you’re in a small church. During extended periods when the choir isn’t singing (e.g. summer), it can become a week-to-week struggle. “Are you in town next week? Would you like to sing something, anything?"
    
2. Content. When Special Music is planned relatively last minute (e.g. week-to-week), you often have less control over the music selection, choosing from whatever the person has in their repertoire already. Sometimes, it may feel like a nice solo stuck in the middle of the service with no apparent connection to anything else around it.
    
3. Label. For some people, the label “special music” itself can be a problem. “Isn’t all music special?” they might say.

"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.

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: