The Alban Institute’s Weekly Roundtable blog takes on the vital question of the relationship between pastor and church musician:
Friend, Foe, or Fiasco
From The Alban Institute
. . . There seems to be a direct correlation between the worship life of a community and the relationship between the pastor and the church musician. When this partnership suffers, congregational worship suffers. When the partnership is flourishing, the way is clear for us to foster dynamic worship. We believe that church musicians and pastors need to take an honest look at their respective theological perspectives, approaches to worship, and gifts in worship leadership by asking the following questions: How do we complement one another in worship leadership? What areas are strong, and what areas need a bit of tweaking in our individual and collegial worship leadership? How do we each understand the aim of worship and the role of music in worship? If we come from different theological or liturgical perspectives, in what areas can we find common ground?