Perhaps never before has the church needed to worship well as we do now. We always need vital worship. But in an environment of fake news, hatred, violence, divisions in families and congregations, our worship is that place we come to be changed so we can serve a troubled world together. When we worship well so much more unites than divides us.
Copyright 2017, by the American Guild of Organists.
Used by permission of the American Organist magazine.
Are You Finding Worship More Difficult Lately?
Perhaps never before has the church needed to worship well as we do now. We always need vital worship. But in an environment of fake news, hatred, violence, divisions in families and congregations, our worship is that place we come to be changed so we can serve a troubled world together. When we worship well so much more unites than divides us.
Simple, Varied Anthems for the Church Year
This past January, Oxford released a collection of anthems to accommodate smaller and more flexible ensembles of singers, The OXFORD BOOK OF EASY FLEXIBLE ANTHEMS, edited by Alan Bullard. The volume contains around 65 anthems old and new by such composers as Thomas Tallis, John Rutter, Bob Chilcott, Mack Wilberg, Will Todd, and Alan Bullard. […]
“Recommended Anthems for Christmas Day and New Year’s Day”
This is the “dreaded” year when Christmas Day and New Year’s Day occur on subsequent Sundays, striking fear and anxiety in the hearts of church musicians planning choral music. For these occasions, directors need anthems that: use good music and appropriate text; necessitate less difficult vocal demands; can be performed by an indefinite and possibly […]
“With a Voice of Singing by Martin Shaw”
One of the compositions selected for CMI Choral Festivals recently held in Darien, Connecticut, and Dallas, Texas, was Martin Shaw’s anthem, With a Voice of Singing. This anthem has been a favorite in many American churches for almost a hundred years. In choral workshops across the country, however, we have discovered new generations of church […]
Review: Christian Music | A Global History
Christian Music: A Global History by Tim Dowley. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2011 Tim Dowley attempts the perhaps impossible task in writing “a new popular history of Christian music of all eras, all regions, and all varieties.” But in many ways he succeeds, perhaps because he understands the task is daunting, knows where the pitfalls are, […]