Author Noel A. Snyder discusses his new book Sermons That Sing: Music and the Practice of Preaching. Shownotes at musicandthechurch.com/62.

An interview with Nathan Myrick and Mark Porter, editors of Ethics and Christian Musicking. Get in touch at sarah-bereza.com and [email protected]

Mark Chaves, director of the National Congregations Study, shares recent highlights from the survey and how they compare with the last 20 years of data. Get in touch: musicandthechurch.com and [email protected]

Right now we are constrained by limited in-person music making, closed church buildings, virtual choirs and so on. But we can still find musical satisfaction. Join me in this podcast to discover your own inspiration for growth and develop a plan to nourish your musical soul. Get in touch: musicandthechurch.com and [email protected]

Let's take stock of where we are in the marathon of the pandemic and of the program year. Get in touch: musicandthechurch.com/58 and [email protected]

I am so delighted to be talking with author Andy Thomas about his new book Resounding Body: Building Christlike Church Communities through Music. So often we think that a great church music program must be heavy on financial resources, but he "encourages music leaders to step up and persevere in low-resource contexts, and challenges all those who lead music in worship to refocus on building communities, not just on producing musical results." It's a lovely conversation, and I hope you listen...

In this episode, Dr. Adan Fernandez shares his positive approach to virtual rehearsals and performances. Dr. Adan Fernandez is the Director of Music at Holy Family Catholic Community in Glendale, CA, and is the Campus Organist at California Lutheran University. Resources Mentioned on This Episode: * Spitfire Plugin Enjoying this podcast episode? Click here to find other Music and the Church episodes, or subscribe to the show wherever you...

Listen in for an in-depth interview with Andrew Eastes, Jonathan Ottaway, Glenn Stallsmith, and Deborah Wong, four of the authors of Flow: The Ancient Way to Do Contemporary Worship. This is the second of two episodes on Flow. Get in touch: musicandthechurch.com/55 and [email protected]

Listen in for an in-depth interview with Lester Ruth, Zachary Barnes, and Adam Perez, three of the authors of Flow: The Ancient Way to Do Contemporary Worship. This is part one of two parts; next month's episode continues with Flow's four other authors: Andrew Eastes, Jonathan Ottaway, Glenn Stallsmith, and Deborah Wong. Get in touch: musicandthechurch.com and [email protected]

Listen in for an in-depth interview with Dr. Alisha Lola Jones about her new book Flaming?: The Peculiar Theopolitics of Fire and Desire in Black Male Gospel Performance. Get in touch: sarah-bereza.com/53 and [email protected]

Jessica French shares her compositions, how her compositional process is influenced by synesthesia, as well as her work as a soprano and music educator. Get in touch: musicandthechurch.com/52 and [email protected]

You know the old joke: if you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans. Be that as it may, here' show I'm planning for the fall. Not the usual hymns + anthems + a few handbell pieces, but plans nonetheless. With a baby due in mid-August, I need some plans in place, even though they're practically sure to change. I bet you have more flexibility than I do, but I hope hearing my plans will give you some ideas for the coming months. Get in touch: sarah-bereza.com and [email protected]

What does music ministry look like - sound like - right now? Whatever your answer, it's certainly different from what it would have been earlier this year. On this episode, Brian Hehn and I discuss leaning into our identities as music ministers, and why that focus is an important aspect of our work as church musicians all the time, not just right now. Brian Hehn is the Director of the Center for Congregational Song, a wing of the The Hymn Society in the United States and...

We're putting church music online - whether we want to or not. Fortunately, we're finding lots of grace and permission to fail as we figure out what on earth we're doing! Craig Harmann and I talk about our mindsets as we live in this new season of life as church music directors. Craig Harmann is a music director and educator based in Houston, Texas. He also produces the Church Music Makers blog and podcast. Find more about him and his resources for church musicians...

Delvyn Case is bringing people together by creating conversations around sacred music. And he's creating these conversations not just with other musicians, but with folks who haven't trained to talk about music by coupling live musical performances with guided dialogue. Today, we talk about the values around Scripture and community that motivated his founding of Deus Ex Musica, plus the events that Deus Ex Musica is producing to support the connection between sacred music and faith...

Want to program more music by women composers? Selah Published has just released a new choral series edited by Sarah MacDonald, and all the composers are women: Sarah Cattley, Elizabeth Coxhead, Eleanor Daley, Elizabeth Kimble, Stephanie Martin, Ceclie McDowall, Annabell Rooney, and Sarah MacDonald. Get in touch: musicandthechurch.com/47 and [email protected]

Crawford Wiley and I talk about our top five favorite hymnals. None are hymnals that our congregations sing from, but we use them in our service planning and sometimes devotionally. Get in touch: musicandthechurch.com/46 and [email protected]

How can singing foster our relationships with strangers? And how can singing not just foster relationships, but be a powerful means of hospitality? Dr. Helen Phelan draws on her ethnographic work with a Congolese-Irish choir to show the "sonic hospitality" of singing together, with Dr. Joshua Busman interviewing. Get in touch: musicandthechurch.com/45 and [email protected]

What language does God speak, and how can the metaphor of language help us better understand our relationship to God? Dr. Jean Kidula, Professor of Music at the University of Georgia, shows how thinking about dialect expands our ways of thinking about the music we use to worship God. Get in touch: musicandthechurch.com/44 and [email protected]

1. Making change in our churches in a week-by-week process, 2. the importance of resources to validate aspects of ministry that aren't currently supported, and 3. how important teachability and curiosity is to leadership. With Dr. John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. Get in touch: [email protected] and transcript and shownotes at musicandthechurch.com/43

Learn what the Old Hispanic Chant is (it's not Gregorian!), what we know about it today, and what we can learn from medieval processions. Get in touch: [email protected] and musicandthechurch.com/42

Music and faith, music and belief - what's the difference, and how can music illuminate our doctrine and lived faith experiences? Rev. Dr. Jonathan Arnold is the Dean of Divinity at Magdalen College, Oxford and author of several books on music. Get in touch: [email protected] and musicandthechurch.com/41

So often we knee-jerk on hymn media options - assuming something about belief when we talk about hymnals and screens. But there's a lot of nuance in our choices - and often what works for one congregation just doesn't for another. Join Sarah Bereza along with guest Crawford Wiley for a thoughtful conversation. Get in touch: [email protected], musicandthechurch.com/40

We work harder than you think, calling doesn't always look conventional, and other things your church leaders wish you knew. Chelsea Chen, Anita Smallin, Anny Stevens-Gleason, J. J. Wright, Pr. Lisa Heffernan, Deanna Witkowski, and Darrell St. Romain share their perspectives on what they wish people know about their ministries in the church. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/39; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah