Category: Installments

                                                                                                             …

No. 5 – The Changing Role of the Organ in American Church Music             Historians of church music, church musicians, ecclesiologists have often endowed the pipe organ, because of its long association with the church, with sacred properties.  The 14th century poet/composer, Guillaumie de Machaut referred to the organ of his time as “de tous instruments…

No 4. – The “Old Way” versus a “New Way” – Reform or Elitism in the New England Meetinghouse             The desire to reform or improve congregational singing is nothing new.  Issues related to it were being debated and fought over long before the American revolution and continue to the present day.  The great historian, H.…

No. 3 – Some Personal Reflections on Congregational Singing             When I made the fateful decision in the 1970s to become a full-time, career church musician, I quickly discovered my twelve years of higher education to that point had not prepared me for the road I had chosen.  My vocal performance and conducting technique was solid.…

 No. 2 – Music, Ministry, and Servanthood         First, a word of confession:  I am a professional musician.  There was a time in our history when that acknowledgement alone would cause churches to seriously question whether I was fit to work in God’s house.  Yes, I am a professional musician.  My bachelor’s and master’s degrees were…

 No. 1 – Authentic Worship and Music Ministry Hi there! This newsletter is part of a pre-publication launch process for my book, Servanthood of Song:  Music, Ministry, and the Church, which will be published by Cascade Books, a subsidiary of Wipf & Stock Publishing Company.  Servanthood of Song is a large-scale history of American church music with…