Author: Vern Sanders

Are You Inclusive? Ambush I can remember it as if it were yesterday, even though it was over 50 years ago. The church I then served was having an “open meeting.” Since the topic concerned music and I was the music professional, I decided it would make sense for me…

UPDATE This was originally written for the Creator Magazine web site in November, 2014. It has been substantially updated. I was going through old email today, and found one that had a friendly rant, so I thought I’d share it. My comments were about a “part time” position, what we…

4 Practical Things For Great Curation The role of musical curator has changed (If you are reading this article first, you may wish to start here, where I discussed how things have changed). In the process it has gotten to be much more complicated to do that curation. It is…

Are You Stylin’? There are some who are convinced that a person’s basic personality is clear, if not essentially formed, shortly, if not immediately, upon exit from their mother’s womb. It is a scientific fact of life that water seeks its own level. In thinking about how pastors and musicians…

Dreamweaver… UPDATE This was originally written for my legacy blog site in July, 2009. The feedback was (and is) such that I’m reposting it as new at this time…enjoy! As an entrepreneur and a human being I made the decision to go back to work from my retirement with the…

Are You Jealous? A recent article in the Journal of the American Guild of Organists purported, on a very small sample size, that survey results showed that “volunteer” choirs could only be saved by having professional singers as the choir’s core… On the other hand, some churches in Nashville are…

A Look Backward…and Forward… If you are reading this at any time after the Obama presidency, this was originally written a long time ago…but I’ve updated it at the bottom, so read on… For those just joining our program, the backstory is this… In April, after months of badgering, cajoling,…

The Church Deserves Better… While sometimes I’m tempted to write one, this is not a rant about musical styles in the church, or worship music versus traditional music. So if you are looking for controversy, you may not find it here. But now that you are here, I do have…

A Look Backward…and Forward… If you are reading this at any time after the Obama presidency, this was originally written a long time ago…but I’ve updated it at the bottom, so read on… Pardon the “about me”-ness of this post in advance, but it’s time for an update… So…as close…

UPDATE This was originally written for the Creator Magazine web site in November, 2014. It has been recently updated. When you publish something, it goes with the territory that you will get unsolicited manuscripts. Unsolicited manuscripts are one of those good news/bad news things. The good news is that people…