What are the greatest challenges in church music today?
I think there are two great challenges before us today. Number one, how can you be both a servant of the word and of the people you serve? Often the difference between those two positions is a big challenge. Number two is the enormous upheaval in worship practices since Vatican II and the drastic changes and varieties in worship styles. We need to look at ourselves and say it is okay to be different from the church down the street. Often the questions “do we need to change” or “are we doing something wrong” fall on the shoulders of the church musician. Q: Is there a pendulum-swing going on in church music today? A: Yes, in some ways I believe there is. I think there is some movement back toward the middle, away from the extremes of some contemporary Christian services. The large cultural swing to a more self-centered, narcissistic attitude makes the comment “if I go to church, what’s in it for me?” even more likely to impact us today than say 30 years ago. Yet, in spite of this trend,
