Interview with a Music Minister

Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary
Mill Valley Campus
M1911-01: Introduction to Church Music/ Brian Garland / Spring 2003

by

Chris A. Foreman / Box 780 / April 12, 2003

I interviewed The music minister who is a co-minister of music at Tiburon Baptist Church. He shares this ministry with his wife. On March 29th, 2003, we sat down together at a Wendy's Restaurant in San Rafael and talked for about an hour. The music minister's History in Music Ministry

The music minister is 52 years old and has been a minister of music at TBC since 1995. He has advanced degrees in both theology and music. For many years, The music minister and his wife were both professors at GGBTS. They left the seminary under unhappy circumstances. We talked about that for a while. The music minister now works as an administrator at Dominican University.


The music minister's Duties as Music Ministry

The music minister and his wife are both part time employees at TBC. They receive a small salary, but a larger housing allowance. As leaders of our worship team, they are traditional in their approach to music and worship. This was the order of our worship service for Palm Sunday last weekend:
1. Invitation to worship - led by Pastor
2. Prelude / Handbell Ensemble: led by wife of the music minister
3. Congregational Praise "Hosanna in the Highest" -- led by The music minister
4. Hymn of Praise: # 204 "glorious Is They Name -- led by The music minister
5. Prayer -- led by Pastor
6. Anthem: "He is Mine" -- led by The music minister
7. Hymn: Hallelujah! What a Savior!" -- led by The music minister
8. Concerns of the Church and Morning Prayer -- led by Pastor
9. Anthem: "Hosanna in the Highest" -- led by The music minister
10. Offertory Hymn: #2 "Holy, Holy, Holy" -- led by The music minister
11. The Gathering of Tithes and Offerings -- led by Deacons
12. Sermon -- led by Pastor
13. Hymn of Response: #292 "O Love that Wilt not Let Me Go" -- led by The music minister
14. Sharing of Responses -- Congregation
15. Our Life Together -- led by Pastor
16. Benediction -- led by Pastor

Of these sixteen specific activities, eight are musical, and seven were led by The music minister. This order of service is pretty typical of most Sundays. The music minister usually meets with the pastor on Tuesday evenings to coordinate the upcoming Sunday service. This meeting includes his wife (as co-minister of music) and sometimes our piano player. If there is a big event coming up then more people may be involved. Of course music gets hectic at Christmas time, Easter time, and when Max Lyle shows up in town. We have two services every Sunday and The music minister leads the choir for both of these times. He arranges for solo singing and sometimes sings himself. The evening service is handled by the Youth Group including the singing, although they do participate. There is a choir practice every Wednesday evening, and on Sundays one half hour before the 8:30 service and one half hour before the 11:00 service. The music minister also teaches guitar once a week in the church. Most of his students are teenagers although he does have few older students. The church also supports a handbell ensemble that joins in the worship about once a month. Beth is mostly in charge of this, though The music minister participates. Our evening worship includes guitars, but our morning services are instrumentally supported only by the piano and organ with the occasional handbells. An exception occurred this last Sunday when a tympani accompanied some African music. In The music minister's full-time job at Dominican he works with a lot of foreign students. Recently he has been working with these students to set up an "English club" with TBC. The foreign students receive one hour of regular ESL teaching then one hour of English language Bible study. Many students are exposed to the Gospel for the first time. In addition to music ministries, I meet with The music minister every Saturday morning. He leads a Bible study at San Quentin prison. We are now studying "The Mind of Christ" curriculum with about a dozen inmates. The music minister is a busy guy!

The music minister's Philosophy of Music Ministry

I spent most of my time with The music minister discussing contemporary versus traditional worship as well as hymns versus praise songs. I mentioned to him that I had visited ten churches to report on my African mission trip. It told him that TBC was the only church that did not have a projection system. He responded, "yes, we are a very traditional church." The music minister feels very strong about using the hymnal. Of course he does not place it at the level of the Bible, but he does believe that much of the Baptist tradition would be lost if the hymnal were to be abandoned. In the Sunday evening service, there is contemporary singing, but on Sunday mornings the tradition is strong. The music minister suggests that many of the large contemporary churches are returning to traditional singing. Group singing in choirs of children, choirs of youth, and choirs of adults can provide a glue that keeps a large congregation together. The music minister believes that the obituary for hymnals shouldn't be written yet. I mentioned to The music minister that there did seem to be a dearth of "twenty-somethings" in TBC. He knows the congregation well, yet we could come up with only one person who regularly attends church who is between the ages of 19 to 27. I know that this is a hard group to reach in any church climate, but it is a particular challenge when there is no overhead projection, trap set, or latest pop gospel hit. I believe that TBC will remain traditional for the foreseeable future. But we must develop strategies to attract the young to our tradition.