I’m very much looking forward to the London Music Ministry Conference on November 17.
I’ve been reminded this month of the importance of investing in evangelical church music. An evangelical church organist had emailed me a few weeks ago, wondering why the organ is used so little in our meetings these days. One of the reasons is the style of the songs that are being written, which is hard (but definitely possible) to make work on the organ. Another is that evangelical organists are a rare breed.
It’s not just evangelical organists who are few and far between, but also pianists and band musicians who are able to lead congregations. There are quite a few classically-trained musicians, who, in God’s grace, belong to Jesus, but not many are able to cross over into leading congregations without a lot of re-training. Even if they do manage to make the change, their professional technique can be compromised. The Musicians Apprenticeship Scheme goes a short way to redressing the balance, but I think that there’s much more that we need to be doing.
