1 of 3

Music ministers know the unending frustrations associated with managing an extensive music program. Each week is filled with new challenges: planning the music for the weekday or weekend services; scheduling which ensembles will assist at a particular service and the location for the ensemble's rehearsal; and highlighting specific elements to complement a service's theme by mixing in a praise team or drama team. And then, if possible, the minister might like to find time for his or her own playing and composing.

Then there are the less obvious responsibilities and decisions that often must be addressed by a music minister. Who's running the sound system at each service? Will the words of the hymns and praise choruses be projected on the house video system? If so, who will be responsible for entering the data? Are there lighting requirements for the service?

Welcome to worship arts ministry! It's all in your lap and the job must be done. The next service is always only a few days away.

When I began my church music career nearly thirty years ago, I managed several vocal choirs, a graded handbell and children's choir program, a concert series, a small orchestra, a couple of music librarians, and a dozen or more small performing ensembles (vocal and instrumental). There were three different ministers on staff and each had different music preferences. All of the planning was done with paper and pencil. Later, when computers arrived in our workplace, directors still had to manage many scheduling problems the old- fashioned way. Software designers had not yet realized the need for software programs to assist the church music minister/musician.

That's changed. There is a veritable glut of software products available for music ministers. There are programs designed to assist the music directors of both small and large churches; programs designed for liturgical and contemporary worship styles; programs designed to help write and edit music; and programs designed to track every detail of the larger music ministry. Many of these programs are quite good and loaded with practical features. Just as important, many are also inexpensive and user-friendly.

I'd like to highlight some of these programs for you.

Worship Pro.
This great program for the music minister comes from Servant PC Resources. Their motto—"Organizing God's People"—says it all. Servant PC offers innovative products designed to address the many facets of church ministry: Servant Keeper church management software, Bible Knowledge, Multimedia Resources, Phone Tree Management, and Worship Pro. With Worship Pro, a music minister can transpose songs at the touch of a button; create song lists; quickly and easily produce lead sheets and overheads; customize chord symbols for the praise team instrumentalists; generate reports for Christian Copyright Licensing International (ccli); and store sheet music and MIDI files. (MIDI stands for musical instrument digital interface, software that represents sound in a form computers can process. It is used for composing and editing electronic music.)

next page... |  1 of 3

share this page