I have been a Director of Music for multiple different clergy and countless different leaders of the church councils. My leadership has always been in main line, traditional, Protestant churches. At some point in a senior pastors tenure or a council leaders time, they decide that we must have a “contemporary” worship service. I always…
Author: T Dulka
Cultivating Respect and Celebrating Diversity by Icy Monroe
It’s 8:30 in the morning. It’s also cloudy and humid. My home smells of residual poop because I just spent the night before trying to fix a stopped up toilet (toddlers have a lovely way of using too much toilet paper). As I sit here next to my son, watching a movie called Ferdinand, I…
Don’t Fence Me In….signed God
We hear a great deal about diversity these days. Truth is, we’ve always been a diverse society in the US. Our population comes from everywhere. Literally. The American culture is really a combination of influences from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. We even have absorbed traditions from the natives who occupied the land for centuries before the explorers…
Hooray For Hymns
Our composers choose their favorite hymns. PAMELA STEWART: Eternal Father, Strong To Save. I have strong memories of this (the Navy Hymn) being played at John F. Kennedy’s funeral. Despite the pain of that occasion, there is a comforting strength not only in the words, but in the music itself. Come, Ye Thankful People, Come….
The One
I tell people that I’ve spent my entire life in Los Angeles. Born and Raised: The Few, The Proud. And, it’s almost entirely true. Almost. When I was in college many moons ago, I had the opportunity to study at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. For my junior year I spent my days and nights…
Curiosity Corner
We asked composers and arrangers “What are your top three movie scores and why do they resonate with you?” Here’s what they said: JOSEPH MARTIN: A wonderful but difficult question! Movie scores have always been a great musical influence and a rewarding part of my personal listening time. I could list…
Martin and the Doors
John Parker is a writer who needs no introduction – and so I won’t. Fred Bock Music Company recently released a new children’s musical to help churches commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, which happens this year. Did you know that? 500 years of Protestants arguing about predestination, whether the clergy or the laity…
DESPERATELY SEEKING ALLELUIA
For those of us who worship at a church that follows the liturgical calendar and traditions, the season of Lent can seem dark and heavy. The time of year is marked by cold, cloudy skies full of rain or snow. The weight of the ever-present gray can get to even the most optimistic of souls…
The Gift of “Hallelujah”
I don’t mean “Lent and Easter are finally over, Hallelujah!” Although I admit that I often feel this way when Easter is finally behind me. In fact, I was just having this conversation yesterday—Easter Monday—about what goes in to making Easter music all that it can be. But now, how do we keep this all…
Current WorshipSongs Promotion
Our online catalog lets you read all about our newest releases as well as listen to them by clicking the “Open Playlist” link. When scrolling through the new releases click the “ScorePlay” icons to see the actual score and hear it play. 2020 Spring, Lent & Easter Past Issues: 2019 Fall, Advent & Christmas 2019 Spring,…
Something Old, Something New
We’ve all heard the rhyme that brides repeat for their weddings: Something old… Something new Something borrowed… Something blue. It’s hard to imagine, but someone actually wrote those words. It’s been around forever, and now its just part of our collective cultural DNA. It’s the same thing with church music. Some of our favorite…
Long Live the Hymnal!
For centuries congregants have given money toward the purchase of new hymnals for their congregations. Perhaps you are wondering why congregations need new hymnals? Or, for that matter, why anyone anywhere uses hymnals in worship? Hymns and hymnals go back thousands of years. That’s right folks, I said thousands of years. The earliest hymnal used…
WorshipSongsOnline 