Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza

Ryan P. Harper discusses his new book, The Gaithers and Southern Gospel: Homecoming in the Twenty-First Century.  Bill and Gloria Gaither are known for their many hymns like “Because He Lives” “He Touched Me” and “The Family of God.” Between them, they’ve won 6 Grammys. Harper’s book focuses on their Homecomings: in 1991, it seemed like Bill’s work as a singer was winding down and they recorded a “Homecoming” video as a kind of goodbye. But that Homecoming recording ended up launching a whole second career for them. 

We discuss the "quiet power" of lyricist Gloria Gaither, the belief behind the Gaithers' inclusive approach to musical style, and authenticity as it relates to church musicians.

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In The Field: Crawford and I discuss whether to change hymn lyrics. What are your beliefs about the purpose of congregational singing? Should a hymn writer's intent prevail over a specific church's beliefs?

Resource: We mention When God Speaks Through Worship: Stories Congregations Live By by Craig A. Satterlee

Let's Think about Music in the Early Church: What did leaders in the early church have to say about music? Perhaps surprisingly, their general view of music is relatively low. And when they did praise music, they usually qualified their statements.

Crawford and I cover the four main areas that the Church Fathers and other early church leaders address when they talk about music: musical metaphor, the academic discipline of music (ars musica), pagan music (instruments=bad!), and good/Christian uses of music in Eucharistic services, agape meals and other social settings, and private devotional life.

Listener Question: Kirsten wonders how choir members can give an offering:  "It drives me nuts when choir members have no easy way to participate in the offering! Often there’s no plate (and the choir is maybe even singing during the offering); sometimes it’s possible to dash up right after the service and stick an envelope in the plate at the front, but sometimes it’s whisked away before choir members would even have a chance to get there, especially if you’re staying put and listening to the postlude."

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Resources:

Music in Early Christian Literature by James McKinnonI'm a Church Choir Director and/or Organist Facebook Group

Interview: We discuss the musical training of ministerial students with Harrison Russin, Lecturer in Liturgical Music and Dean's Fellow at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Yonkers, NY). He also shares his experience directing a choir in non-metrical chants; surveys the (many!) kinds of Orthodox music heard in churches across the U.S.; and explains why some Orthodox churches have organs, but most don't.

Try This at Church: Use timbre to change your liturgical colors. Picking up on last week's episode about using music to set Lent apart as a special season of the year, Stephen writes that he changes his musical "liturgical color" during Lent.

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Resources:

The website of the International Society for Orthodox Church MusicRobin Freeman, Director of Music at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary

Check out these composers of Orthodox music:

Mark BaileySergei GlagolevArvo PärtIvan MoodyNicholas ReevesKurt SanderJohn TavenerRichard Toensing

8 ways to set apart Lent as a special season of the year:

omit prelude/postlude musicchange to a simpler musical styleuse simple a cappella musicuse a setting of the service music that is reserved for penitential seasons. In churches that don't use service music (such as a Gloria), sing the same hymn every week of Lent, such as during the offertory or at communion.at the beginning of choir rehearsals, lead the choir in a Lenten prayer or a short devotionalexplore hymn themes outside of the "Lent" section of the hymnal (but watch out for sneaky Alleluias!)if you use prelude music during Lent, play longer preludes (10-15 minutes) as a mediation time for the congregation, perhaps including hymn texts or scripture in the bulletin to complement the musicif your church observes Laetare Sunday, use bolder music to distinguish it from the other Sundays of Lent

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Try This at Church: Host an easy sing—here's a 3 step guide!

In this bonus episode of Music and the Church, Dr. Tanya Riches continues discussing The Hillsong Movement Examined: You Call Me Out Upon the Waters, a new collection of essays that she and Dr. Tom Wagner co-edited.

Earlier in Episode 8, Tanya talked about Hillsong’s music, how women lead worship in the church, and how she and Tom approached Hillsong as scholars working on the inside and outside of the church.

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Today, she's giving an overview of the book's 15 essays, and discussing her chapter on women's ministries at Hillsong, especially the Sisterhood (starting about 14 minutes in). She shows how many Hillsong women internalize an identity that doesn’t reflect their own experiences. Contrary to a so-called "princess theology," the women Tanya interviewed said that they had empowering experiences of leadership and training in the church.

Resources:

One essay author in the collection is Dr. Mark Porter—a recent guest on Music and the Church! He discusses his new book, Contemporary Worship Music and Everyday Musical Lives, on Episode 4.

Choir rooms need a lot more than chairs and a piano to function well for musicians—they need storage for anthems, places for information (like a white board), and most important of all: a flat surface for cookies. Listen for 11 choir rehearsal space essentials, plus two bonus ideas.

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Resources

Check out the Ep. 6 show notes to see the cubby shelves at Crawford's parish!

Theologian and musician Tanya Riches discusses the new book, The Hillsong Movement Examined: You Call Me Out Upon the Waters, which she co-edited with Tom Wagner. This collection of 15 essays is the first scholarly book about Hillsong Church, a Pentecostal church with roots in Sydney, Australia.

In our interview, Tanya discusses music at the church, as well as her essay in the collection, which deals with women's leadership in the church.

Try This At Church: We follow up on last week’s suggestion to play from a binder of an entire service’s music (instead of swapping out books throughout a service). Kathy suggests making copies of hymn harmonizations and organizing them alphabetically in binders, so you can see your entire collection at once instead of thumbing through many different books.

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In the Field: What theological issues are at play in the great debate: do organists and choir members really need to pay attention during the sermon, especially if other people in the congregation can’t see them?

Why use social media? Because it's is a way to share your and your church's ministry with others, especially people in your congregation.

Today's interview is with David Sinden, the Organist & Director of Music at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in St. Louis, Missouri, and co-host of the podcast All Things Rite and Musical.

Speaking of social media, you can follow David on Twitter.

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What platforms can be useful for church musicians? A personal or church website, Twitter, Facebook, blog, and emailed newsletter. David suggests embedding a more frequently updated platform, like Twitter, in a more evergreen location like a website, allowing the website to have fresh content without frequent management.

What kinds of things to post? Upcoming events, including what music is planned for a church service. Work in progress/behind the scenes photos, recordings, and videos.

Try This at Church: For trickier services, make copies of all music and play from a single binder instead of shuffling books.

Resources:

David mentions Jaime Coats, the director of Friends of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Should you organize your music alphabetically or by acquisition number? If you keep a spreadsheet, what categories should you use? Crawford and I discuss the pros and cons of various organization systems.

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Resources we mention:

the cubby-style shelving unit that Crawford bought to store choir member's binders and booksanthem collections published by Oxford University Press

Interview: Dr. Carrie Allen Tipton is a musicologist who hosts the podcast Notes on Bach, sponsored by the Bach Society Houston. Notes on Bach is a monthly series of interviews with scholars and musicians who work with Baroque music and issues around music like theology. Today, we discuss the benefits of bringing a researcher's mindset to the ministry of church music.

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Try This At Church: If your church serves alcohol at functions (like a Christmas choir party!), make sure there's something non-alcoholic that's equally festive to drink.

In the Field: The Four Weeks of Advent—have recurring themes! Crawford and I discuss what hymns fit which each Sunday's themes, including one that delighted my son in utero.

Resources We Mention:

This post on inner singing—where you sing along silently when you listen to a song.Way Over in Beulah Lan': Understanding the Performing the Negro Spiritual by André J. ThomasContemporary Worship Music and Everyday Musical Lives by Mark Porter (check out our podcast episode with Mark)Reforming Music: Music and the Religious Reformations of the Sixteenth Century by Chiara Bertoglio

All the Advent Music We Mention:

Hymns:

Canticle of Turning/My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful ShoutComfort, Comfort, Ye My PeopleImmaculate MaryNow the Green Blade RisesO Come, O Come EmmanuelOn Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s CryPeople Look EastSoon and Very SoonTell Out My SoulWachet Auf/Sleepers Wake/Wake, Awake, for Night Is FlyingWhen Jesus Came to Jordan

Choir:

"And the Glory of the Lord" from G. F. Handel’s MessiahSweet Was the Song by William Mathias

Organ:

Alfred V. Fedak, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" from An Advent Christmas SuiteMaurice Duruflé, Prelude, Adagio et Choral varie, sur le theme du Veni creator (Op. 4)Jean Demessieux, "Rorate caeli" from Twelve Choral Preludes on Gregorian Chant Themes