Climbing up a learning curve. Running down a sand dune, trying not to face plant. Throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Just a few metaphors for the work we’re doing lately! Emily Stokes, a minister for children and families, joins us to talk about our approaches to ministry right now.
Most of us church leaders are walking up a steep learning curve right now. Especially in smaller churches, we need technical and musical resources as we move our services and communities online. We also need grace for ourselves and for others as we learn, fail, succeed, and grow. I hope these resources are helpful for …
This post includes 57 recorded accompaniments that may be freely used in online services. Each audio file has an introduction to the hymn and several stanzas. If you’re in a small church without an easy way to record hymn accompaniments, I hope they will help support your congregation’s online worship. The hymn accompaniments can be …
57 Public Domain Hymn Accompaniments for Free Use (Updated 1/28/2021) Read More »
What a strange time we are in, especially as church leaders. Bill and Sarah share what they are currently doing to respond to COVID19, especially in terms of pastoral care and spiritual connection in a time of physical distance. We can still “worship in spirit and in truth” whether or not we are in-person.
What a strange time we are living in. I think most or all of us have never considered canceling in-person worship even once for sickness, much less for weeks. As we consider how to help our congregations worship in the coming weeks, I’ve made a list of hymns for fearful times – hymns of comfort, …
As we enter a new reality around COVID-19, there are several low-tech strategies we can use to prepare and to take some stress off of our music programs. Remember: important as our collective worship is, we can “worship God in spirit and in truth” wherever we are, and whether or not our choir learns a …
5 Low-Tech COVID-19 Strategies for Church Musicians (Plus 2 Techy Ones) Read More »
Delvyn Case is bringing people together by creating conversations around sacred music. And he’s creating these conversations not just with other musicians, but with folks who haven’t trained to talk about music by coupling live musical performances with guided dialogue. Today, we talk about the values around Scripture and community that motivated his founding of …
What are the advantages (and disadvantages) to getting an advanced degree when you’re in church ministry? Bill and Sarah talk master’s degrees, doctorates, certificates.
Want to program more music by women composers? Selah Publishing has just released a fantastic new choral series edited by Sarah MacDonald, and all the composers are women: Sarah Cattley, Elizabeth Coxhead, Eleanor Daley, Elizabeth Kimble, Stephanie Martin, Ceclie McDowall, Annabell Rooney, and Sarah MacDonald. In this conversation with Sarah MacDonald and Selah’s founder and …
Why do we worship corporately on Sunday mornings? When would we worship if we removed the “but we’ve always…” from our thinking?