DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed for students preparing for lay and pastoral ministries who seek a sufficient background in church music to foster and encourage music ministry in the parish. The course work is based on the presumption that students have limited musical experience. Issues such as the place of music in Christian worship, church music theology, music copyright, and how to relate to church music professionals will be addressed. There will also be a strong practical component to the course that will provide familiarity with: reading music, vocal production, basic elements of music theory and harmonization, basic elements of choral singing, historic musical styles (e.g., Baroque, Classic, Romantic), and forms of contemporary church music.

Music has always played an important role in Christian worship and ministry. Whether pastors and lay professionals are trained in music or not, they will be expected to participate on some level in parish music programs, either as leaders who encourage others to use their musical skills or as active participants who lead worship musically. Also, they need to know how to speak a musical vocabulary and relate to church music professionals and volunteers. This course is designed to give students the tools they will need to deal effectively with musicians and musical issues in ministry.

The course has both lecture and practical components. Students will meet daily for four-hour sessions for two weeks.

Navarro, Kevin J. The Complete Worship Leader. Baker Books, 2001.

Orr, N. Lee. The Church Music Handbook. Abingdon, 1991.

Routley, Erik. Church Music and the Christian Faith. Agape, 1978.

Westermeyer, Paul. The Church Musician. Harper & Row, 1988.

Wilson-Dickson, Andrew. The Story of Christian Music. Fortress, 1996.

Blackwell, Albert L. The Sacred in Music. Westminster/John Knox, 1999.

Farley, Robert B. and Eric Vollen, eds. Leading the Church's Song. Augsburg Fortress, 1998 [book and music CD].

Grout, Donald Jay. A History of Western Music. Norton, 2000.

Marshall, Madeleine F. Common Hymnsense. GIA Publications, 1995.

Reynolds, William J. and Milburn Price. A Survey of Christian Hymnody. Hope, 1987.

Westermeyer, Paul. Te Deum. Fortress, 1998.

Course assignments will include: in-class projects, learning to sing and sight read, evaluating and analyzing varieties of music, and learning about musical composition and transposition. There will be a final paper in which the student begins working toward a theology of church music.

Meets elective requirement for the Worship, Theology, and the Arts concentration in the M.Div. and for M.A. in Worship, Theology, and the Arts.