Bryan Holten

Church Music Made Better

Church Music Sense | The Blog

Bad Choral Music in Disguise: Four Tell-Tale Signs

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How many times have you struggled to find great choral music for your church? You have so many limitations to consider. Your choir doesn’t learn difficult music quickly, so you can’t program old masterworks every week (if ever). Your existing library has a bunch of anthems in roughly the same style. And so much of what’s out there is so thoroughly mediocre.

Finding choral music you’ll love is certainly possible—and easier than ever with new resources available all the time. (Stay tuned for a future post about these!) But if you really want a program filled with variety, creativity, and fun, you need to learn how to weed out the stuff that won’t work. Quickly.

With that in mind, here are four tell-tale signs that you’re looking at a lemon.

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The Five-Mile View: How to Gain a Fresh Perspective (and Stay Motivated)

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Do you ever find yourself “stuck in the weeds” of daily life, not sure where to go next? If so, read more and try this simple but powerful exercise.

The Revelation

I’ve really struggled the past couple of weeks. I wish it weren’t so, because I’m such a perfectionist. Perfect people don’t struggle, right?

Of course, you and I both know that this is a ridiculous way to think. Struggling is part of living your life as a human being.

I had become frustrated enough with myself yesterday that I decided to step out for a bit and take a walk around my neighborhood. After just a few minutes of fresh air and sunlight, it dawned on me what I had been doing wrong. I had stopped looking at the bigger picture of why I’m doing all of the things I’m doing these days. I had gotten stuck in the day-to-day thrum of tasks and work.

I’m so glad I had this revelation, because it motivated me to do what I did next. I made a chart.

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The Rich Life: Thriving on a Musician’s Income

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What does the rich life mean to you?

Imagine one person—let’s call her Bonnie—who earns $80,000 per year (including benefits) at a job that requires 40 hours per week. Bonnie commutes in rush hour traffic for 3 out of 5 days each week, and works at home the other two days.

Imagine another person—let’s call him Charlie—who earns $40,000 per year, but in a job that averages only 20 hours per week. Charlie works a variety of jobs close to home, usually without the hustle of rush hour.

Bonnie and Charlie earn roughly the same amount per hour, but which of these two people lives the richer life?

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How to Have a Healthy Relationship with Your Pastor

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A better partnership starts with awareness. Here’s how to get there.

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Pastors and musicians have a history of fraught relationships, but yours doesn’t have to be that way. Everyone has their good and bad days, but no one deserves to be stuck at an impasse forever. Healthy relationships in the church are just as important as anywhere else. Here are a few of my suggestions for how to have a healthy relationship with your pastor. He or she should always be your number one partner in music ministry.

Don’t assume anything.

Too many musicians assume that the pastor is little more than a philosopher with his “head in the clouds.” Likewise, too many pastors assume that musicians are temperamental artists with little concern for the larger work of the church. Don’t make this mistake.

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Egan Millard: What happens when you’re the only one who shows up to church?

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Do you ever find yourself questioning the value of the work you do amid shrinking attendance numbers?

This heartwarming and challenging article by Egan Millard of the Portland (ME) Press-Herald really hit home for me, and I think it will for you, too.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them. (Matthew 18:20)

Sometimes, transformation of the spirit requires challenging work. You never know when the work you do will nurture someone when they need it most.

The work of the church (and the church musician) is worth doing. Keep going.

Again, here’s the article. I highly recommend it.

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For more articles for church musicians, pastors, and all those who believe in a strong future for worship and liturgy, go to the Church Music Sense blog.