tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post8984169826486956978..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Where have all the organ students gone?Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-55819079978234405732019-10-13T19:53:19.624-05:002019-10-13T19:53:19.624-05:00folks like the so-called "pastor" Jody W...folks like the so-called "pastor" Jody Walter are pushing them away, people like him drive people from God instead of bringing others to God, he is a cancer of the church and God's childrenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-7438039546069158812017-01-12T12:45:08.330-06:002017-01-12T12:45:08.330-06:00Dear Pastor Peters,
Thanks for writing about this...Dear Pastor Peters,<br /><br />Thanks for writing about this. The church musicians in the LC-MS are the biggest victims of the "anti-Lutheran-church-music" (hereafter anti-LCM) crowd that controlled our synod for decades. <br /><br />Pastors might have opposed the anti-LCM movement in their congregations, and many did resist successfully in their own parish, but for those that were not successful in resisting, they still had their job when it was all over (if they did not quit). But the Lutheran church musicians usually did not have a job once the anti-LCM folks took over in a parish.<br /><br />I could see this happening already in conflicts at Concordia University-Chicago when I was a student there in the late 1970s. I was planning to be an Elementary school teacher in LC-MS, combined with the vocation of church organist, and choir director, but it was evident that the charismatics and young anti-LCM folks were going to carry the day, because 1976 was the "Year of the Evangelical" in the USA and the LC-MS was climbing on board the bandwagon.<br /><br />One sad case will be sufficient to illustrate. The parish next to mine when I served Oak Park, Illinois was Saint John, Forest Park. In the 1990s it was the largest LC-MS church and school in the area, with one of the finest LC-MS music programs, best organ, best choir, one of the most accomplished organists, etc. <br /><br />Sometime in the early 2000s, Saint Johns called a new pastor who intended to make the church "grow." One of the first things he did was fire the organist/choir director at Saint Johns. The quality of the Sunday services declined immediately and the choir quit. The congregation went into an uproar, and after it was all over, it was only about a tenth of its previous size. The school had to be rescued by Walther High School in Melrose Park, which still owns and operates it today.<br /><br />Most LC-MS people in Chicago heard about it. Many LC-MS musicians in Chicago concluded that they were not wanted anymore. They reasoned, "If it could happen at Saint Johns, it will happen to me---soon."<br /><br />Who wants to spend years upon years of hard piano practice as a youth, later years upon years on the organ, preparing for the hard work of church organist and choir director, when you have a good chance of being treated this way--by pastors, who should be your allies! It is not worth it.<br /><br />Only when our synod resolutely and consistently affirms the value<br />of the church musician as a vocation, including pipe organs, traditional choral music, Lutheran hymns and liturgy, music education for church and school, etc., will greater numbers of young people start thinking about making career decisions in that direction again. Those who do make those decisions today are brave souls, who deserve to be commended and PROTECTED.<br /><br />Yours in Christ, Martin R. NolandMartin R. Nolandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-17634681291138072832017-01-12T08:37:45.324-06:002017-01-12T08:37:45.324-06:00My husband was one of those students. He also had ...My husband was one of those students. He also had to schedule the students' practice times as part of his job in the music department.Joyfulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13382598095825371607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-22442952082637889992017-01-12T06:26:08.786-06:002017-01-12T06:26:08.786-06:00Won't pay a living wage or can't pay a liv...Won't pay a living wage or can't pay a living wage?David Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11966977894876326659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-71508356601205022752017-01-12T01:14:32.605-06:002017-01-12T01:14:32.605-06:00It's hard to believe there was a time when the...It's hard to believe there was a time when there were 180 organ students at Concordia, Nebraska. I bet practice time was hard to get. Most of those same practice organs still get daily use 50 years after they were first built for the music building (with a few predating the music building).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-46382407423292675562017-01-11T21:50:14.843-06:002017-01-11T21:50:14.843-06:00The simple explanation for WHY there are so few or...The simple explanation for WHY there are so few organ students these days is that Churches won't pay an organist a living wage ! An organist usually has a Bachelor's degree, if not a Master's or a Doctorate, yet they are expected to work for a church for $100-150 per week (after all they only play for an hour a week) Of course Pastor's only preach an hour a week as well, but somehow they make enough money to actually support themselves. When churches financially appreciate their musicians, there will be musicians to appreciate. BTW, I am NOT an organist or a church musician.<br />Douglas A. Campbellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-20157728757595047742017-01-11T08:27:54.082-06:002017-01-11T08:27:54.082-06:00How many organ students are currently enrolled at ...How many organ students are currently enrolled at the Concordia schools?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-8119377275099127322017-01-10T18:54:42.351-06:002017-01-10T18:54:42.351-06:00What is interesting about this is that a few years...What is interesting about this is that a few years back I read several articles how there is a huge revival of interesting in studying organ in the U.S. in general. It was reported that several top schools were turning as many as 50% of applicants away for want of space in their programs. These articles, however, did not specifically speak to the situation in the LCMS. I wonder if that trend as continued and the LCMS is an exception to the trend, of if it has died off again? Rev. Jody R. Walter, Webster, WIAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com