The organ once was considered a staple of Sunday morning worship
services in the majority of Southern Baptist churches.
The organ once was considered a staple of Sunday morning worship
services in the majority of Southern Baptist churches.
However, as more churches incorporate contemporary or “blended”
music into their worship, the organ also seems to be blending – into the
background.
Expensive organs are covered up and unplugged, and aspiring
organists often wonder where they can use their God-given talents for ministry.
Is it curtains for the organ? Has the praise band replaced
the traditional piano and organ combo?
Church accompanists say no – it simply is time for some
rethinking and re-training.
“Training is so important,” said Martha Kirkland,
a music specialist at LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“Were trying to help the organist succeed in the 21st century.”
Kirkland led workshops during a recent Southern Baptist conference
that focused on new ideas to use the organ as accompanying for hymns and choruses
as well as practical ways to develop new skills.
Many organ companies are producing quality instruments –
and they are incorporating new technology enabling an organ to imitate the sounds
of a guitar, for example, Kirkland noted. This new technology is making it possible
for organs to take on a new life, she said.
Becky Lombard is a music theory and organ professor at New
Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and also serves as a ministry multiplier
for LifeWay. Her most-requested conference – how to play contemporary music
on the organ.
“As organists, we have to learn to adapt,” Lombard
said. “When I do a conference, I usually review how we were traditionally
taught to play hymns, and how bad that technique sounds on choruses. … Organists
of this century are going to have to know how to read a chord chart.”
The relationship between music ministers and their accompanists
is a crucial part of the solution, both experts agree. Right attitudes are a
must on both sides, they say.
Lombard emphasized that organists are going to have to learn
to play effectively within the contemporary ensemble.
“Unfortunately, many younger congregations have only heard
a particular organ sound,” added Dennie Worley, minister of music at Brentwood
Baptist Church in Brentwood, Tenn. “They conclude that its boring.
“I believe its up to the organist and music minister
to explore the options offered on each particular instrument.
Technology now offered with organs offers a great deal of flexibility,
allowing the organ to function as a synthesizer with endless capabilities of
sounds and sampled sounds, Worley pointed out.
“Again, the organ as an instrument can provide so much more than what
most of us hear most of the time,” Worley said. “Someone simply needs
to dig deeper and spend more time investigating and learning.” (BP)