BUIES CREEK, N.C.—From the vibrations of organist Jane Holstein’s open organ registration in the initial session to the harmony of a variety of instruments, voices and bells in the closing worship service, attendees at Campbell University Divinity School’s second annual church music conference said they were renewed, challenged, and inspired for the coming church year.
More than 400 pastors, worship leaders, music directors, choir members and worship technologists attended the July 16-18 “OASIS: renew for the journey church music conference” on Campbell’s campus.
A handbell choir track was added to this year’s OASIS program. (Photo courtesy of Campbell University Divinity School)
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Longtime pastor Gaylord Lehman told musicians that they were the most undervalued parts of a worship service. During his meditation at one of five worship services during the conference, he directed them to “never underestimate the power and emotion that your music brings to worship.”
Lehman, retired pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, N.C., and current pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Wilson, N.C., shared a story from Will Willimon, former dean of the chapel at Duke University, about a lawyer who was discouraged by the fact that his job was full of misery. Willimon said the lawyer told him that his difficult and discouraging days helped explain why he attended worship. Willimon asked what he had said that was so meaningful.
“Oh, it’s not the sermon I come for, Preacher. It’s the music. It lifts me out of my despair and renews my soul.”
Lehman told his audience to “accept this word of appreciation from one who for many years has realized that good music has often rescued a bland and boring sermon.”
At the same time, he said, “‘thee’ and ‘thou’ don’t rock anymore.” Lehman said each generation must “perceive and celebrate what God has done in Jesus Christ in its own way,” not unlike the way each denomination tends to do worship. The words of our praise “should be as current as God’s mercies—new every morning,” he said.
Lehman said that people will always be composing new songs which worshipers should engage and “then give us the best of it. But realize that in crunch time, when the chips are down, and life is on the line, we probably will want the old traditional words and music that soothe the soul. . .. Cherish the old while you teach us the new. In both may the Lord’s name be praised!”
More than 50 breakouts addressed worship and spiritual renewal topics, while three music reading sessions were sponsored by Hinshaw, PraiseGathering and Hope music publishers.
Worship leaders included musicians Kyle Matthews, Jane Holstein, Joel Raney and Benjamin Harlan.
Nancy Seagroves, pianist at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Fuquay-Varina, N.C., said the conference “challenged her to always keep in mind that everything I play is for God and that it may be the very thing someone needed at that moment.”
Jack Glasgow, pastor of Zebulon (N.C.) Baptist Church, said he enjoyed the experience of singing and listening, “not as a means to an end, but as an end in itself—to simply worship.” He said it was also an excellent opportunity for him to become aware of music resources for worship planning and he particularly enjoyed the critical reflection provided in the breakout sessions.
Another participant, Judy Spivey, said she was attending for the second time and was grateful for a nearby conference on the topic. “It truly is a time to relax and renew,” she said. “I am ready to start the new church year.”
John Cullop, pastor of Modest Town (Va.) Baptist Church and his wife, Kathy, registered after the congregation’s deacons saw an advertisement in the Religious Herald and encouraged the couple to go. As pastor, John said that he enjoyed the worship and concert times and that it was a good “getaway and retreat time for me personally. I’m going back now rejuvenated!” Kathy, a musician who leads the church’s music program, said she most appreciated classes led by organist Jane Holstein.
Next year’s OASIS conference will be July 15-17 and will feature Pepper Choplin, composer/conductor/humorist from Greystone Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C.; Joseph Martin, pianist/composer from Austin, Texas; Randy Edwards of San Antonio Texas, conductor/composer and founder of YouthCue; and the North Carolina Baptist All-State Youth Choir, auditioned youth in grades 9-12 representing churches from across North Carolina.
Irma Duke ([email protected]) is director of church relations and advancement at Campbell University Divinity School.