Joshua+W

Hi my name is Josh Wentz my cello broke today. :(


 * Worksheet to Use with**


 * TRAINING LOCAL CHURCH MUSICIANS**
 * By Mark Hayes**


 * TYPE IN YOUR RESPONSES & SAVE; POST YOUR COMPLETED WORKSHEET TO THE WIKI (as a Word doc or PDF).**


 * In the opening paragraphs, Hayes points out that “new forms of worship” are emerging in many churches, while some mourn the fading of old “patterns and traditions.” What is he talking about and have you seen this? Where?**

Hayes is referring to contemporary style of music in the church. Over the past 30 years or so many of the old ways of doing things, like using hymnals and playing an organ, are slowly starting to fade out. Many people are upset with that because they believe that hymnals and simple instrumentation is the right way to do it and that everything else is wrong. Personally, I agree and disagree. I have been to churches where their worship music is more focused on the appeal as opposed to bringing focus to God. They use giant TVs, camera cranes, lights, and even smoke. All that stuff is fun and cool but I don’t think it’s appropriate for church and it draws the focus away from God and puts it on ourselves. On the flip side music has always changed and evolved. Before it was considered a sinful act to use even an organ or an instrument in a church. One thing that I do feel firmly on, even though they are not particularly my favorite, is that hymnals are rich in doctrine where as some of the new contemporary music can feel dry.


 * The thrust of Hayes article is pointing out practical areas that church-music-leaders-in-training should receive to “close the gap that currently exists between esoteric learning and practical skills that will help” these folks in their daily work. However, before he launches into musical skills, he mentions several concerns of a “spiritual, social, or psychological” nature. Name and explain one of these that resonated with you.**

I feel that sometimes I actually fail to take care of my physical, and spiritual body. I find myself frequently putting things off and not being able to prioritize a chaotic schedule and thus I am pulling late nights, getting extremely frustrated, and not being able to focus on getting tasks done for the plain fact that my daily schedule doesn’t allow me to. I find that this physically drains my body and it causes me to come up short spiritually and as a musician.


 * At the bottom of page 4 Hayes presents two polarized views of the appropriate approach to worship music. On one extreme is the pro-traditional view, represented by a quote by Eward Farley. On the other extreme is the pro-contemporary view, represented by a quote by William Easum. What is your reaction to these quotes and positions?**

I believe that both Farley and Easum’s views of worship are somewhat skewed. I believe that worship whether it is contemporary or traditional needs to be God focused and it shouldn’t matter what the genre or style of music is. To say that we should only sing hymnals can actually hinder someone from being able to worship and saying we should only sing contemporary can hinder someone being able to worship to God. I feel that both serve their purpose in the church. My church sings both styles of music and our focus during our playing is to help lead everyone in worship. It’s not about us at all. If contemporary and/or hymnal music helps you worship God in an authentic, relational, and reverent way then it doesn’t matter style. It’s all personal preference neither one is bad and there are churches that practice one or the other or both and thrive.


 * 4) Hayes opines: “In my opinion, one of the reasons why worshipers don’t enjoy classical music is that it is performed so poorly in church. I think the same can be said for hastily thrown together praise and worship music performed by the equivalent of “garage bands”? Have you ever experienced this? Is there any validity to this remark?**

I have seen worship leaders perform music that doesn’t seem prepared and it sometimes sounds and feels sloppy. One thing that I have learned in my experience is to have everything planned and mapped out that way everyone on your team know is going on and where the direction of the music should flow. I would say this for classical as well as contemporary music. As worship leaders and players our goal is not to strive for perfection because God is the only perfect one, but we should strive for excellence and give God our best. I think that because worship leaders don’t take the time to strive for excellence it can be a distraction from those who are worshipping.


 * 5) In the remainder of the article, Hayes mentions a number of excellent suggestions for preparing one’s self for church music ministry. I believe many of these have technology implications, either directly or indirectly. List the four recommendations of Hayes’ with which you most agree. Describe a way that technology could help you prepare in as many of those areas as you can.**

I would say being able to know the ins and outs of the equipment that you are using i.e. sound board, slide program, being able to set up mics, XLRs, DI boxes, ¼ inches, etc. really helps being a worship leader become easier. If there is a problem with the equipment you will know where the source is and how to fix it. Second I would say being able to transpose and change the key of the music as needed is a really good tool to have. This allows you to better suit the music for the congregation and allows you to become a more diverse musician. Thirdly, I would say being able to legalize music and create chord, or lead sheets. Foremost, it is important to not steal music from someone else but also it’s important to give credit to the artist. Being able to write lead/chord sheets will help when it comes to making slight tweaks or big changes to the music. Finally, I would say understanding how different instruments blend with each other. I would say that having a sense for the different sound being produced by different instruments could be the difference between having a good sound/mix and a bad one.

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