This past
week, Michael and I spent Monday through Wed in Mobile, AL, at a music
conference. It was a brand new conference put on by one of our major
music suppliers, Prism music. The concept was transferring information
from those of us who have been around for years to our younger
counterparts who are just beginning to lead worship. There are many
things that have changed in church music over the past 15 years, and, in
all likelihood, many more to come. However, in the midst of all the
changes, there are some things that do not change: the message of the
gospel, and the people involved. What we have seen is a style change.
This
conference brought together worship leaders from some of the top
churches in the country to lead small group seminars on a variety of
topics related to music ministry. None of them were about style, but
were about dealing with people, organization, and the spiritual aspects
of leading worship. It was a very worthwhile conference.
While
there, I was able to introduce Michael to some of my long-time friends
who are leaders in the publishing business and churches. It was a good
time to give him a historical perspective of the past 40 years in church
music.
The
conference was hosted by the University of Mobile, a Baptist college
with an outstanding music program. The music department has been chaired
by Roger Breland for the past 12 years. Roger, through his traveling
group, “Truth,” which was on the road for 30+ years, had a major impact
on many of the style changes that have taken place in church music and
helped it to remain relevant to new generations. I’ve known Roger for
several years, and it was interesting to see how he has taken the same
style of “Truth” from the early 70’s, made some minor adjustments, and
developed a very successful music department on those concepts. There
were about 350 students in the choir, about 40 in the orchestra, and a
wide variety of ensembles that led in worship each evening. Thank you,
Hillcrest, for the opportunity to attend this conference.
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