Seasonal Music and More
by Jay Walden
Jay Walden is a Transformation Ministries Worship Associate and full-time
Celebration Arts and Men's Pastor at Pomona First Baptist Church, Pomona, CA.
Jay is a frequent worship leader at camps and conferences.
Christmas is my favorite time of the year when it comes to music in the church, but if you're like me the season has a tendency to creep up resulting in a struggle to find just the right music for my church. If that has ever happened to you, you are not alone.
I've been doing church music for over 30 years now, and my best resource has always been word of mouth. There are some wonderful sites on the internet that you may or may not be aware of and I would love to share them with you. Maybe you're still looking for that "special" song. Or, maybe you'll find something you can use next year. Whichever it is, I hope this article and upcoming ones will help all of us lead our people into His presence. If you are aware of other sites or companies that could be of help to church musicians, please let me know.
Please feel free to contact me at jay@pomonafirstbaptist.com or call me in the office at 909-629-5277, *3006. This is going to be fun sharing with you what I've found and I'm looking forward to hearing from you. God bless you as you continue to make a joyful noise unto the Lord!
MUSIC?
? www.praisecharts.com is a wonderful site for contemporary arrangements of the Christmas songs your church loves to sing. You may purchase a membership or buy the songs individually. They have arrangements from vocal/piano all the way to full orchestrations. Check out their Christmas albums called Contemporary Worship Carols. On their home page you can view their top Christmas songs or your favorite artist to see what arrangements are available Enjoy!
? www.songselect.com is a great site if you have a CCLI license. There are thousands of songs on this site.
? www.anderkampmusic.com is an excellent site if you are looking for brass choir charts for Christmas. The Master's Brass Ensemble series has some good arrangements of Christmas songs. You can listen to them before purchasing.
? www.tommywalker.net is the site for Tommy Walker, the worship leader at Eagle Rock Christian Assembly. He has a brand new Christmas CD out called, "This is What Christmas Means to Me." The song, "I Vow to Worship" would be a great song for your church to learn during this upcoming season. It's easy and has a very catchy melody. You may also purchase lead sheets on Tommy's site for about $3 each.
In my next communication to you, I'll have some new music for the new year! You also need to know that the music conference called MusiCalifornia has been bought by a company called Pine Lake Music Company, a large music distributor in Atlanta Georgia meaning MusiCalifornia is alive and well and promises to be better than ever. I spoke with Scott Revo, president of Pine Lake and he shared with me some very exciting news about changes that will take place at this year's conference. This year's conference will be offered at First Nazarene Church in Pasadena, CA, the week following Easter '08, March 24 - 27, 2008. Cost: $275 per person. I'll have more info soon or you request additional information at info@musicalifornia.com
That's it for now. Have a great Christmas season and I am really looking forward to teaming up with you in the months to come.
In His Service, Jay
