“The great thing about a chord - you’re already dealing with something people enjoy. You’re not telling people God is a problem to be solved - you’re saying that the Trinity is a reality to be enjoyed.” - Jeremy Begbie. We discuss themes from Begbie’s recent book A Peculiar Orthodoxy: Reflections on Theology and the Arts, including how music can help us think about our faith, created beauty and creative beauty, and sentimentality. Get in touch: sarah-bereza.com/38 ;...

J. J. Wright is a Grammy-Award winning jazz musician, composer of O Emmanuel, an album which debuted at the top of the Billboard Classical Charts, and he’s also a scholar of sacred music. We talk about his journey from military band member to directing the Notre Dame Folk Choir, and how his jazz skills and sacred musicianship have complemented each other. We also talk about how the music we make can reflect our deepest beliefs about what the Church is — what does the music of the Church...

Explore rock 'n' roll's Pentecostal roots with historian Randall J. Stephens as he discusses his new book The Devil's Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned, and Embraced Rock ’n’ Roll. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/36; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah

We believe that people — all people — are made in the image of God. Full stop. So, when we’re talking about how to make our churches more inclusive, we aren’t talking about welcoming people even though they have disabilities or even though they are children. The goal is making our programs better reflect our theology. The goal is living out our beliefs about what it means to be human, and what it means to love and serve God in community with our siblings in Christ. Get in touch:...

Children in the church. Children and the church. Let's talk about welcoming our littlest sisters and brothers in the faith, with youth leader Anita Smallin. Get in touch: Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/34; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah

Join Monique M. Ingalls, Muriel Swijghuisen Reigersberg, and Zoe C. Sherinian in a conversation about their new edited collection: Making Congregational Music Local in Christian Communities Worldwide. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/33 @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah

Composer Kathryn Rose began Cecilia's List as a way for music directors to easily find sacred choral music written by women. Her site links directors to music grouped by Season and by Lectionary readings. Kathryn Rose hails from Canada, and is now based in London and studying for a PhD in composition at the University of Aberdeen. We talk about Cecilia’s List and how musicians can more intentionally program music written by women. We also discuss Kathryn’s music and why she uses creative...

Deanna Witkowski has a wide range of musical experience, including as a church musician and as a guest artist in churches. Many of her compositions are sacred works, including a song my choir often sings—"We Walk in Love." In 2017, her hymn "We Belong to God" won the Annual Hymn Search of The Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada. Among Deanna's many accolades, she has won the Great American Jazz Piano Competition. She has also released six albums, including most recently Makes the Heart to...

Church musician Crawford Wiley and I discuss how our personal identities align with our ministry in the church. Neither of us is a pastor, but we both feel a deep sense of fulfillment in our ministries through the churches we work for. We also care about having healthy boundaries so that we don't burn out. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/30; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah

Catholics can sing! Here's how one music director leads congregational singing at Mass in bilingual and multi-ethnic parishes. Darrell St. Romain is the Director of Music at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Farmers Branch, TX. We discuss congregational participation, teaching new music, supporting other musical leaders in your program, and label services by musical style. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/29; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah

Church ministry usually brings radically flexibility to our work schedules. And a balanced life means embracing both the pros and the cons of that flexible schedule. Focusing only on the pros can leave you disappointed when a con comes up. And only looking at the cons might mean you miss out on the pros. Music and the Church will be back next week with a regular episode. In the meantime, check out our back episodes at musicandthechurch.com

Let's talk about the band model—the way the musicians form an ensemble (not a particular music style). My goal is to get young people invested in the music ministry. And I'm interested in the band model because it has room for a really wide range of skills. You don’t have to sing. And if you play an instrument, you might play a drone or some intricate cello part. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/28; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah

Teaching with Respect: Inclusive Pedagogy for Choral Directors by Stephen Sieck has a message for all of us in leadership positions. We who are leaders need to respect the experiences of the people we lead. In our conversation, Dr. Sieck and I talk discuss respect and vulnerability in choir rehearsals and how we express values through our musical programming. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/27; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah

What is an artist-in-residence and why would your church support one? Concert organist Chelsea Chen discusses artist residencies, visioning for concert series, and the pastoral care of church musicians. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/26; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah

Church services can be incredibly distracting places, especially for leaders—you’re in the choir, you’re reading the scriptures, you're leading prayers, you’re preaching the sermon. What does it mean for us participate with our hearts—not just our lips!—when we’re busy with mundane things like adjusting a microphone or remembering a last minute announcement? Dr. Mary Catherine Levri, Music Director at the Atheneum of Ohio, brings wisdom to this topic and draws us to a heart of worship. Mary...

If you’re in a majority-white American church, singing global songs like “Siyahamba” brings up questions like — “Is singing this cultural appropriation or ethnotourism?” and "What is the relationship between global song and the universal Church?" In her research with music directors and church members in mainline Protestant churches, ethnomusicologist Dr. Marissa Glynias Moore, a Lecturer at Yale University, finds that by singing global songs, directors intend to express their beliefs about...

Summer is a distinct season of the year for church musicians. Here's how to make the most use out your summer—and enjoy the change of pace. Plus—a new job for Sarah! This is the last episode of Season 1. We'll be back in September! Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/23; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah; 513-580-4282

You're an organist, a choir director, or other musician. You want to get a church music job. Here's what you should do. I surveyed 268 church musicians and the people who've hired them. I learned a lot about what makes a great job applicant. Here are the highlights. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/22; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah; 513-580-4282

Virtuosity and excellence are important, but ministers of music must also be called. Dr. Birgitta Johnson, Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina, discusses being anointed and called for music ministry in African American churches. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/21; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah; 513-580-4282

Musical virtuosity isn't just about sound, but who makes the sound and how they make it. Dr. David VanderHamm researches the social construction of virtuosity—what counts as skill and why it matters. In thinking about the work of guitarist Tony Melendez, who was born without arms, David explores what makes us hear music as "virtuosic." Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/20; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah; 513-580-4282

When can you or should you display the musical abilities you've spent years developing? Here's how fundamentalist Christian musicians approach this question. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/19; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah; 513-580-4282

Musical virtuosity in church services. Is it showing off? Giving God your best? Christians often come to opposite conclusions because of their different beliefs about what music IS and what it DOES in worship contexts. Dr. Joshua Busman shows how these conundrums go back to the Protestant Reformation and how in many white Evangelical churches, musicians have to play as amateurs without the mistakes of amateurishness. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/18;...

Learn more about the history of British Methodist Hymnody as Dr. Martin V. Clarke discusses his new book. We cover Armenian and Calvinist hymn texts, why John Wesley changed his brother's hymn texts, how a praise band is like a choir, and what makes Methodist hymnody distinctively "Methodist." Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/17; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah; 513-580-4282

Why should professional musicians play music for fun? Don't we already make enough music? Music educator Ashley Danyew discusses why playing for fun is worth (besides the obvious: it's fun). Also: mountain goats. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/16; @sarahbereza; facebook.com/berezasarah; 513-580-4282

Certified Alexander Technique instructor Ted Gibboney, D.M.A., shares how the Alexander Technique can help church musicians, as well as other people experiencing tension in their bodies. Ted was working full-time as the music director of a large church when he got a pain in his neck, literally. That discomfort—and the loss of control of his limbs—led him to healing through the Alexander Technique. Get in touch: [email protected]; sarah-bereza.com/15; @sarahbereza;...