Conversations

Website Review – ORGANISTSONLINE.ORG

Guest Blogger Christopher Dawes is Executive Chair of SOCHS (the Southern Ontario Chapter of the Hymn Society of the US and Canada).   Swiss organist Guy Bovet is often credited with a humbling truism about his profession, “There is no area of the musical world in which more incompetent people play publicly as professionals.”  Bovet’s […]

Celebrating The Faithful Project

Guest blogger Anneli Loepp Thiessen is an active song leader, researcher, classical musician, and music educator. She is pursuing a PhD in Interdisciplinary Music Research at the University of Ottawa where she received her Masters of Music in Piano Performance.   The Beginning In the fall of 2019, a group of women songwriters, poets, speakers, […]

Is God Listening To Our Song?

Blogger Brian Hehn is the Director of The Center for Congregational Song, the outreach and resource arm of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.   Favorite Music Scriptures When we talk about church music there are some go-to passages that we advocates for congregational singing love to quote and reference. Of course, […]

Vlog – Down at the Cross

Emorja Roberson is a pianist, conductor, workshop coordinator, composer, arranger and vocalist in world of classical and gospel. He is the first African-American student in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the University of Notre Dame to study Choral Conducting with a focus in African-American repertoire and also serves as the Director of Music […]

10 things Worship Leaders need to STOP DOING right now

This list was originally posted by Nikki Lerner in the “Multicultural Worship Leaders Network” Facebook Group. To check out that group, go to: Multicultural Worship Leaders Network | Facebook   Nikki Lerner spent over 20 years leading and building a successful multicultural creative department of over 150 people in an organization of 4000+. She is […]

COVID-19 NFHS Study Update

As of today (April 19th, 2021), we have some important updates on the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic and congregational singing. Many of you will be aware that a large number of public education organizations have been sponsoring a scientific study out of the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Maryland. That […]

Why is Lament so Hard for Worship Leaders (and their Congregations)?

Author – Adam Perez is a doctoral student in liturgical studies at Duke Divinity School.   Pandemic and Grief It goes without saying that the past year has had a lot to lament. The pandemic and personal grief attend to every congregation. Social isolation and financial burdens can be found near and far. And yet, Sunday […]

Evaluating Contemporary Worship Music: A System & A Call For Action

Blogger Brian Hehn is the Director of The Center for Congregational Song.   VARIETY OF SONG The United Methodist (UMC) organization “Discipleship Ministries” has just released a project that has been years in the making. As a denomination (like many mainline Protestant denominations in the U.S.), the variety of worship practices, music accompaniment styles, and […]

Pandemic Lesson from Hildegard

Guest Blogger Martha B. Alimi is a PhD candidate in theology at Boston University’s School of Theology, and the Music Director at Christ Episcopal Church in Middle Haddam, CT. She is currently writing a dissertation on Hildegard of Bingen’s theology and understanding of music, particularly as it appears in her treatise, Scivias.   New Job This […]

Vlog – Jesus On The Mainline

We’re glad to welcome Emorja Roberson to our blog team. Emorja is a pianist, conductor, workshop coordinator, composer, arranger and vocalist in world of classical and gospel. He is the first African-American student in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the University of Notre Dame to study Choral Conducting with a focus in African-American […]