Because International Baptist College and Seminary is part of our local church, our services are impacted by the college calendar. This Sunday the college Chamber Singers and Handbell Ensemble traveled to Berean Baptist Church and ministered there. The absence of those 30 students impacted the service. Numbers-wise, it is not that many actual bodies from the pews. But our students are in Bible college to train for the Christian service, so they tend to be

Here is what I posted on Facebook this morning: “Today in church we sang a choir anthem based on a 15th century text, a tune to another hymn by the classical composer G.F. Handel (early 1700s), a British Victorian hymn (1865), a gospel song from the early 1900s, a vocal solo from yesterday’s Senior Classics banquet published in 1941 (Makes sense!), a praise chorus from 1976 requested by Pastor Mike, and a modern hymn

Ministering to Sister Churches We sang songs about the church today. I didn’t choose Dr. Bryson’s hymn “The Holy Church.” Though that usually would be my first choice. I didn’t choose it because Dr. Bryson was not in the service. He was ministering in another church with the Chamber Singers and the Hand Bell Ensemble from International Baptist College and Seminary. Twice each semester the college ensembles go to sister churches. Beth Christensen did a

I was out of town this Sunday. It was a special joy to go to California and work with a Christian school on their high school play production. Hymns with an Irish Flavor Since it was Saint Patrick’s Day, I chose hymns with an Irish flavor. We began the service with “In Christ Alone.” Keith and Kristyn Getty are from Ireland, although they work mostly out of Nashville now. This hymn is a wonderful example

Opening with Praise to the Lord, the Almighty We opened our Sunday morning service with “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.” I did not tell the hymn story, though it is a good one! I had told a longer story the week before. And I knew that Pastor Mike wanted to share the story of song that is special to him later in the service. Meditation using Come, Lonely Heart After the “opening hymn,” we

When I tell a hymn story, I often write out what I am going to say. This I do for several reasons:   I want to choose my words carefully. I want to make sure I say specific details correctly—names, dates, places, etc. I don’t want to include a bunch of interesting things about the hymn that don’t serve the purpose of this specific telling. Plus it allows me to time my comments exactly. That

“I just feel like when you praise our ministry, you are demeaning other churches.”   I didn’t even know what to say. Neurons began firing. Thoughts swirled and swarmed. Sentences began to form like, “How IN THE WORLD did you arrive at that lunacy?” And “What could possibly have prompted that stunning leap of logic in your brain?” And “So let me get this straight: because I thanked the Lord for our church, I am

I read in another church’s bulletin recently a note to the congregation from the music ministry. It said: “Regarding volume. During times of musical worship, every musician up front aims to provide accompaniment to the vocal worship of the congregation. To that end, we intend to set the volume at a level that meets two opposing criteria: The music must be loud enough for the congregation to follow the melody and sing confidently, but not

We began our service with a Trinitarian hymn “Come, Thou Almighty King.” So, of course, we couldn’t leave out a stanza! Then we sang a new chorus—the refrain to the song 294 in our hymnal “Trust His Word.” At this point the congregation was wondering, “Why are we singing about trusting His Word after the Trinity hymn?” Pastor Mike did the music ministry a huge favor before he prayed. He told the congregation that we

This Sunday morning was interesting. If you’re not from ’round here, you probably don’t understand why a little rain throws us into a panic. But rain is so unusual in the desert that we don’t quite know what to do. I teased the congregation that Sunday was practically apocalyptic! Humidity at 99%, a high of only 62°, and liquid falling from the sky! While I was joking, there is a measure of truth there. In