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Music and the Harvest

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:37-38)

Jesus calls us to pray to the Lord to send laborers into a bountiful harvest, because the laborers are few. Since the main features of this issue emphasize worship and music, I want to focus on one kind of harvest laborer — those who bring leadership to the art and beauty of God’s song through congregational worship.

Perhaps you’ve been on committees which were charged with finding individuals who could bring music leadership to your community’s worship. Perhaps you have also discovered that it’s not been that easy finding worship directors and keyboard musicians, especially for congregations who can only afford to pay music leadership part-time salaries or stipends on a per Sunday basis.

I’m currently on such a search committee in my congregation. We began looking for new music leadership last fall. As of now (the middle of March 2006) we still have not been able to find musicians to lead our congregation. We’ve held some interviews. Out of the four or five we interviewed, one seemed suited for the position. We invited the person to join us. She first accepted it but then withdrew her name. Since the beginning of the new year, we haven’t had any more interviews.

Have we been too picky? Some of our congregations may be satisfied to find just one or two proficient church musicians to interview.

In our case, a couple interviewees came to us with lots of musical experience but little congregational experience. Another had little or no knowledge of any of our church’s worship heritage (but loads of experience from other denominational traditions very different from our own). Most came to us with a patchwork of jobs which they needed to do in order to make a living. Finding a way to fit in a 15-20 hours a week job allowing for some rehearsals, staff planning, and program development could be problematic.

Hence, we have been relying on substitute musicians who work on a Sunday-by-Sunday basis. We do what we can, but worship planning in such an environment can be easier said than accomplished.

I’m sure many of you can relate to the challenges of finding musicians. How you have met challenges to provide for music leadership would be instructive to our readers. Briefly share stories from your own settings and send them to me at william.decker@elca.org. I will then share them with the rest of our readers in a future issue.

Evangelical Lutheran Worship
This issue also features stories focused on our church’s new worship resources, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, which will debut in October of this year. Jonathan Eilert provides a overview of the materials. Mark Mummert considers the breadth and depth of the music found in the resources. Cheryl Dieter gives a timeline for the introduction of the resources and training opportunities.

In a different vein, church musician Eric Floan then takes us on a journey into the distinctive uses of the different kinds of keyboards used in worship — piano, electronic, and organ.

William A. Decker is editor of Lutheran Partners magazine, Chicago, Illinois.