Review: November 2025 issue, The American Organist, pp72-73
SERVANTHOOD OF SONG: MUSIC, MINISTRY, AND THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES, Stanley R. McDaniel.
Eugene, Org.: Cascade Books, 2024. xx, 815 pp. ISBN 9781666755930. We have all heard about and probably been affected in some way by the “worship wars.” In Servanthood of Song, Stanley McDaniel details the context of worship in the United States from the 18th century to the present and shows how successful and meaningful music ministry has always met the needs of the whole community, not just some segments of it. Thus, the current deep divide between contemporary and traditional church music, or whatever labels or groups might be cited, is not only counterproductive but also unnecessary. A look through the index shows myriad subjects as varied as William Billings and the blues; the earliest Sunday Schools and megachurches; pump organs, melodions, and the manufacture of pipe organs during
wartime; and, yes, the AGO. The highly relevant final section, “Learning from the Past—Hope for the Future,” delves into subjects such as “The Congregational Singing Dilemma” and “The Tyranny of Labeling.” Victoria Sirota, former AGO chaplain and author of Preaching to the Choir, has said, “The sheer breadth of this work is staggering, as is McDaniel’s own clarity about music as a called ministry.”
THOMAS BOHLERT, FAGO