MY SELF-UNDERSTANDING AS A MINISTER OF MUSIC

Ryan D. Neaveill
Music Ministry in the Local Church, J-Term 2007
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Evanston, Illinois

As a Minister of Music in the United Methodist Church I serve both God and people primarily in the context of worship. Through my ministry of music, the good news of God’s mighty acts and salvation through Jesus Christ is proclaimed in a special way to the people, and likewise, through music the people are enabled in a unique way to sing and pray to God. Thus, I see my role as a minister of music serving primarily a dual role: 1) as a liturgist, that is attending to the liturgies and readings (scripture) of the church as this is primarily how we hear and remember the stories of God’s mighty acts, and 2) as a prayer leader, that is, leading the people in their response to that initial action of God. In addition to these primary roles, I understand there to be a sense of pastoral ministry involved with church music ministry as I attend to my various relationships with choir members, musicians, and other staff members. Finally, there is a prophetic purpose to my role as a minister of music as music can challenge us to examine the world as it is and question whether it is the world that God wants it to be.

When I define my role as a liturgist, I am using this term in a broad sense. A better and more precise term instead of minister of music might be director of liturgical music. I agree with Robin Leaver that the best term for the music of worship is liturgical music. Leaver states:

...the contemporary use of “Liturgy” is not restricted to text and embraces all that is designated by “Rite,” and used in this way “Liturgical Music” is the appropriate term for the music of worship. (Leaver 217)

Thus, as a minister of music, I must be a liturgist in a broad sense of the word--not simply as one who stands at the lectern and reads scripture (although I am often called upon to do this), but as one who steps back from the immediate setting of worship and understands the readings and liturgy in their larger context, the patterns of worship of the particular church I am serving, and how music can enhance and support all of these elements of worship.

As a minister of music, I must be attentive to the liturgy of the church at various levels. For example, I must have an understanding at the macro level of the progression of the Christian year with its two major cycles (Advent-Christmas-Epiphany and Lent-Easter-Pentecost) and how Christ’s life unfolds anew every year through these cycles. Likewise, at the micro level I must understand the specific readings and liturgy for each day of the Christian year as I select music that, at the least, corresponds with these texts but hopefully does more by helping to open up these texts in a new way for the congregation.

The word liturgy means “the work of the people,” however, because of its profound power to form and shape us over time, I believe there is also “the work of God” happening in liturgy and music. As Don Saliers observes:

The power of such formation should never be taken for granted, nor should it be abused. Over time, the activity of singing imprints the descriptions of the divine in creation and history and ascriptions to God voiced in praise, confession, lamentation, and thanksgiving on the body faithful. (Leaver 392)

Thus, when I define myself as a liturgist or as a director liturgical music, I am primarily concerned with this capacity of the music and its text to shape our hearts and minds. Remembering what God has done in the past is an important part of this formation. However it is important that we not simply remember, but that we draw the memory into the present (anamnesis) and relate it to what God is doing today in our own lives as well as look forward to the future (prolepsis) with an understanding of who God wants us to be.

The texts and music that we sing in worship are especially important in this formation because people tend to remember the songs they sing much more easily and readily than the sermons or scripture that they hear. Therefore, as a minister of music, I must give very careful attention to the theology that is expressed in these songs.

This leads me to what I feel is another important aspect of my role as a minister of music: prayer leader. The songs that we sing in worship not only help to form the hearts and minds of the people through the theology and understanding of God that they impart, but these songs also give voice to the people when they lift up their prayers to God. Edward Foley, has helped to remind us of this important and historic role of the cantor in both the ancient Jewish and Christian traditions:

...in both traditions, the cantor developed from a form of volunteer prayer leadership that clearly emphasized the prayer component over the musical. (Foley 66)

As Foley alludes, somehow throughout the history of church music, church musicians lost this prayer emphasis and began focusing more on the musical aspects of their craft. By defining myself as a prayer leader, I hope to lead the church back to this emphasis on prayer which, in essence, is an emphasis on the God-human relationship. One way this prayer emphasis can be accomplished is by focusing not on the music of the songs that we sing, but on the text. This does not mean that the music should be neglected, but that the text is of primary importance and the music should support that text and help us to hear the text in a special way.

In addition to these primary roles of liturgist and prayer leader which deal mainly with worship, I also define my role as a minister of music by the relationships I have with others (choir members, musicians, other church staff). I believe I am called not just to work with music in the church, but to work with people. Therefore I have a sense of a pastoral element to my ministry of music which calls me to care for and love those with whom I am serving.

I also have a strong sense of the prophetic in my understanding of myself as a minister of music. I believe that music (and all the arts for that matter) can challenge us to examine the current state of our lives and our world and help us to question whether the current state is aligned with God’s plan.

My roles as a liturgist and prayer leader will lead me in some specific directions as my ministry of music is enacted and carried out. As mentioned earlier, an understanding and appreciation of the cycles of the Christian year is an important component of this ministry. One of the best resources that enables us to follow the Christian year is a lectionary (in my tradition we use the Revised Common Lectionary) which lists all of the scripture readings for each Sunday of the year. One of my hopes as a minister of music is to serve a church which follows the lectionary (currently I am in a church that does not, at least not regularly). My desire to follow the lectionary has both theological and practical reasons. Theologically, the lectionary allows us to experience Christ’s entire life anew every year (and with a three-year cycle such as the RCL, in a slightly different way each year). This gives us a profound sense not only of remembering Christ’s life, but of understanding how the life of Christ relates to us now as we are progressing through time in the twenty-first century. Another advantage of the lectionary that I appreciate is that it takes us pretty much through the entire Bible every three years. This is another important aspect when I consider that part of my job as a liturgist is to retell and remember the stories of our faith--ALL of the stories, not just some.

From a more practical view, I have found that there are many wonderful music resources that are based on the lectionary that make music ministry more efficient. The United Methodist Music and Worship Planner published by Abingdon Press is one such resource as it lists not only the complete scripture readings for each Sunday but also includes suggestions for hymns, solos, choir anthems, prayers, as well as graphic/visual suggestions.

However, as I mentioned above, I do not currently serve a church which follows the lectionary nor am I guaranteed that I will be fortunate enough to serve such a church in the future. Therefore, as a minister of music, I may have to adjust the way I do things to the specific traditions and peculiarities of the local church in which I am employed. For example, in my current church my directing pastor usually selects scripture based on themes or a sermon series that he will preach. I can adapt my lectionary-based selection process for music fairly easily if I know in advance what the scriptures are because usually the scriptures that are selected occur somewhere in the lectionary, I just have to figure out where and then I can utilize the corresponding resources. Of course, I also continue to try to persuade my pastor to become a lectionary preacher (so far unsuccessfully!).

This leads me to another role I serve as a minister of music which I loosely label “pastoral care.” Again, I am using this term rather broadly. Unlike the more common issues that come to mind when thinking of pastoral care (such as visiting the sick), as a minister of music, I understand my pastoral ministry to be the way in which I care for and love those with whom I interact. This includes the singers and musicians that I direct as well as the staff and clergy with whom I work.

Earlier I mentioned the differences between my pastor and myself in how we prefer to plan worship. Being able to work together despite our differences is an important ability of clergy and ministers of music. Paul Westermeyer writes of this clergy-musician relationship in the context of worship:

Throughout the service, both pastor and cantor assume leadership roles in tandem. When they work together, a remarkable partnership exists. When they work at cross purposes or no purposes, the result is a wicked waste. (Westermeyr 102)

I would suggest that this relationship can foster “remarkable partnerships” or “wicked wastes” not just in the context of worship, but beyond the doors of the sanctuary as well. Key to this clergy-musician relationship, I think, is remembering why we do what we do. Westermeyer says:

Minister and cantor need to begin with the fundamental presupposition that they are in this together for the people. (Westermeyer 101)

I would add “God” to that paragraph. We musicians and clergy do what we do for God and for people. Everything we do in worship--whether it is music, liturgy, preaching or prayer--is about the relationship between God and people.

Thus as a minister of music, even though by nature of my title it would seem that music is tantamount to what I do, it is really only through people that this music can exist. Therefore, finding ways to minister to and care for these people is an important part of what I do. For example, I always take time at the beginning or end of choir rehearsal to ask what is going on in the lives of the choir members. If there are any issues out of the ordinary (sicknesses, problems, joys, blessings) then we lift those things up in prayer. This not only gives us an opportunity to pray, but it makes me (and the other choir members) aware of what is going on in other’s lives. I can then respond appropriately with a card or phone call to follow up on the situation. I believe this pastoral care for choir members or other musicians is a very important part of a successful music ministry.

Music ministry is a vital and important part of the worship of most churches. The emotional bond that people form with the music they sing is great. I have seen particularly strong examples of this in recent years as many churches have added contemporary praise and worship songs to their repertoire and the conflicts that have resulted from this change (or addition) to their traditional musical styles. However, I believe that my understanding of myself as a minister of music (including that of liturgist, prayer leader, pastoral care and prophet) gives me a foundation that enables me to work in a broad spectrum of worship and musical styles. Whether I am selecting hymns for a traditional worship service or praise choruses for a contemporary service, I would ask myself the same questions. What does this text say about the God-human relationship? How is God portrayed? Is the focus on God or on us? Does this text help us remember who God is and what God has done? Does this text help us understand who God wants us to be? Does it point us toward a future where this world is transformed to God’s will? Then, once I have established what the text is saying, I would ask whether the music “says” the same thing, that is, does the music express, enhance, and support in its non-verbal ways the same message that the text is conveying.

Because the texts that I work with as a minister of music have such power to shape our understanding of God, there are inevitably conflicts and tensions found in this area as well. For example, what kind of language is used to portray God? Is God depicted as a male? As a father? These may be traditional images of God, yet they do not fit well with my modern sensibility of inclusiveness. Thus, in addition to the liturgical and prayer purposes I’ve already discussed, the music I select as a minister of music may also serve a prophetic purpose, challenging the traditional biases of the status quo; for example, if I used a hymn such as Mothering God, You Gave Me Birth (TFWS 2050) which challenges the idea of God as father.

I believe that as a minister of music, I am called to serve both God and people. As a liturgist, I enable the people to do their work of worship while understanding that it is God also who is at work as the hearts and minds of the people are shaped by the liturgy and songs which impart a theology, understanding, and remembering of who God is. Therefore, I must exercise great care in the selection of these songs. I also understand myself as a prayer leader, enabling the people to express themselves to God through the songs that they sing. And again, I must tend to the language of these songs, as these expressions shape our understanding of our relationship with God. As a minister of music, I do not work with music alone, but with the people who help create the music. Therefore, I understand myself to have a pastoral care element to my music ministry as I take an interest in the lives of the people with whom I serve, praying with them and ministering to them through their joys and troubles. Finally, my ministry of music serves a prophetic role as it challenges people to rise above complacency and satisfaction with the status quo to a more just, inclusive and better world.

Copyright © 2007 Ryan D. Neaveill

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Foley, Edward, “The Cantor in Historical Perspective,” in Ritual Music: Studies in Liturgical Musicology (Beltsville, MD: Pastoral Press, 1995): 65-87.

Leaver, Robin A. and Joyce Ann Zimmerman, Liturgy and Music: Lifetime Learning (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1998).

Westermeyer, Paul, The Church Musician, rev. ed. (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1997).