A Word from Laura: Music Ministry at Western

How will our music ministry help Western grow into the church God is calling us to become?Our music task force gathered this past Thursday night to wrestle with the question and discern who will be the next to lead Western’s music ministry, as we also prepare to say good-bye to Tom Beveridge.  The group present included chairperson and session member, John Bader, and task force members Amy DeLouise, Anders Gyllenhall, Greta Morris, Lowrey Redmond, Letitia Obeng Roche, and myself.  (Dan Boettcher and Beth Duris were unable to be present.)The group represented a wide spectrum of musical backgrounds but shared a common hope for a music ministry that grows out of Western’s rich tradition of music while continuing to become more innovative and inclusive.  As we talked about dreams and hopes for music in the church, we realized that before we can put together a position description for a music director, we need more clarity about the mission of music ministry itself.This Thursday, the task force will meet again to talk more about the mission of our music ministry, with the hope that we’ll have something to share with the congregation in the next few weeks.  Once we’ve come back to you with a mission statement, we’ll continue drafting a position description, taking into account the music programs of churches of a similar size and ministry scope.  Then, we’ll come back to the congregation to make sure we’ve gotten it right, as the congregation understands our music program.In the meantime, you’re invited to keep this task force and its work in your thoughts and prayers.  Let us know your thoughts – not so much about the style of music you hope to hear, but about how you hope our music will help our church to grow.  If you know of other music programs in congregations of similar size or ethos that you think we need to check out, please let us know.  If you know of gifted music leaders in our community you think we need to know about, not just as candidates for our program, but in hopes of creating a network that leads us to the right person, please pass along their names.And keep watching and stay “tuned” for more information and opportunities to talk more!Grace and peace,Laura