By Kristen Thomason
Music plays a central role in worship for most church goers. “[It] creates a pathway so that together we love the Lord with heart and mind and strength,” said Doug Haney, who recently retired from ministry at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas. Yet the church musicians crafting a meaningful worship experience often feel isolated. “Sometimes you wonder if what you do makes a difference,” said Susan Deal, Intentional Interim minster of music at University Baptist Church in Charlottesville.
To better support those in music ministry, Haney and Deal are facilitating the Polyphony Thriving in Ministry cohort for CBF. “The purpose is bringing together church musicians to encourage one another, to provide a space for community,” Deal said.
The Thriving in Ministry cohort is an extension of Polyphony Music Resources, a network for church musicians from all denominations. Haney serves as the group’s executive director, “Polyphony is unique in that we are focused on encouraging and nurturing church musicians by focusing on their ministry and their well-being.”
One way Polyphony supports musicians is through the Harmony Project. Most surveys of pastoral well-being have neglected those involved in music ministry. For the Harmony Project, Deal and other volunteers surveyed 100 church musicians to discover what helps them thrive in ministry.
In addition to a positive relationship with the senior pastor and congregation, those in music ministry also value affirmation and encouragement from others who share their calling. “When you are in a group with “similar others,” people who share the same calling, the same type of ministry, you can bond over a lot,” Deal said. “Everyone has that strident singer in the choir you have to help blend in. Everyone has that challenging personality. You don’t have to explain.”
Once Polyphony discovered this need among music ministry staff, CBF stepped up to meet it by establishing the Polyphony Thriving in Ministry cohort with a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. The cohort is in its second year of supporting church musicians. Led by Deal and Haney, the cohort meets in-person the Wednesday before the annual Polyphony conference as well as two other times during the year.
“In each in-person gathering through the year, we include times of worship. On the final night of our last meeting, each participant offered a brief word of scripture and a verse of a hymn or song,” Haney said. “Without introduction or commentary, we simply listened to each reading and then singing the hymn verse acapella. This beautiful and simple time of worship is one example when worshiping together was deeply meaningful to this community of peers.”
In the months between in-person meetings, the cohort meets over Zoom. “In each of those Zoom meetings, we begin by just checking in with each person [to see] what’s going on in their lives; these ar some of the richest times of connection that we’ve had,” Deal said. Each cohort is unique and as facilitators, Haney and Deal strive to respond to the needs of each distinct group.
The 2023 church musician cohort met for the final time in November. What we heard at this final gathering was how critical it is to be among peers who understand the challenges of music ministry and who offer fresh ideas to meet these challenges,” Haney said.
Church musicians will have the opportunity to gather with their peers at the annual Polyphony conference in early February. The 12 members of the Polyphony Thriving in Ministry cohort for 2024 will meet for the first time to begin their year of encouragement and fellowship. The theme for the conference is “The Call: Reclaiming Our Deep Passion,” which Deal says is about asking the question “How can we encourage the call to future musicians as well as reclaiming and renewing our own calls as church musicians?”
Results from the Harmony Project revealed those who had followed God’s call to music ministry were first identified as gifted and encouraged to pursue a career in ministry by someone else in the church. “We have to continue calling out the gifts in the next generation,” said Deal. “I’m hopeful because I’m seeing some really fine young musicians.”
Polyphony aims to nurture church musicians in their ministry and in their well-being so they thrive wherever God calls them. Polyphony was born from a meeting of church musicians in Atlanta in 2007 who were looking for a place to call home musically, liturgically and spiritually. To learn more, connect with Doug Haney at doug@polyphonyresources.org