One of the things we have been trying to accomplish this past year is to become more acquainted with a variety of Christian music. A Music Committee was formed to help in this process. For the most part, it has gone very well. We have wonderful musical talent in the congregation and it has manifested itself in The Shepherd’s Own, The Shepherd’s Strings, various singing and instrumental solos, and some smaller groups of singers and instrumentalists such as the Worship Ensemble just getting formed. Most of the special music of late has been of a more contemporary style, which helps us expand in that direction.As we look at all the music available to us as Christians, we do not want to forget about our rich heritage of music in the Lutheran Church, which is found in our own hymnal. We are fortunate to have in our congregation a member whose expertise is the music and liturgy of our hymnal. The Rev. Dr. David Johns has played, taught and studied the hymns and the liturgical services of our church most of his life.So, while on the one hand, we are expanding our musical
experience into the contemporary field, we, with Dr. Johns’ help, will also mine deeper into the treasure that is our hymnal. Starting in September, Dr. Johns will take some time each month before one of our worship services to introduce us to some of the many wonderful hymns in our hymnal that we may be unfamiliar with or a part of the worship service we may not know very well. Music is a wonderful gift from God and the more we can
grow in it the wonderful it is.