Bryan Holten

Church Music Made Better

You are here: Home / Archives for philosophy

philosophy

Why the Debate between Contemporary and Traditional Worship Styles is Bogus

By Leave a Comment

two men on a beach with flag

A Tale of Two Camps

This is a story about the knots we tie ourselves into when we ask the wrong questions about worship styles.

“We used to be really close with them, but then they started going to the contemporary service.”

A longtime church member said this to me, in reference to a family she used to worship with every week. I was serving as interim organist for a congregation while they searched for a permanent replacement over the summer. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that something peculiar had happened at this church.

[Read more…] about Why the Debate between Contemporary and Traditional Worship Styles is Bogus

Music Quality in the Church Choir: Tips for Directors

By Leave a Comment

Don’t assume that your church choir can’t do quality music just because they learn slowly.

We’ve all been here before. Somewhere in your music files (likely tucked under “Q” for “Quatre Motets”) is the Duruflé Ubi Caritas, a much beloved setting of a timeless text. Trouble is, you only have enough tenors and basses to place one on each part, and that’s if they’re all present! So much for programming something great, right? If only your church choir could learn music more quickly.

Because there are so many faults underlying this assumption, I’m going to tackle them one at a time.

[Read more…] about Music Quality in the Church Choir: Tips for Directors