Academic Training for Contemporary Church Musicians

I recently received a request for help from a local United Methodist pastor. One of his young members, a high school junior, was a talented musician who played piano for the church's contemporary worship service. The young man had decided to pursue college training as a church musician and wanted to major in the area of contemporary worship music to prepare for a career and calling into that area of local church ministry. A lifelong United Methodist, the student wanted to attend a United Methodist-related college or university. He had sought the counsel of his pastor and together they had looked for such a program in a UM school and had been unable to find one. The pastor was hoping I could provide them with names of schools, preferably UM schools, that offered the academic preparation this very serious, committed, and talented musician sought.

I made telephone calls and sent e-mail messages to the faculty members I know in UM schools. I also contacted the music and sacred music departments of a number of other UM schools. I spent considerable time visiting and searching college websites looking through their course and academic offerings. In my telephone and e-mail conversations, I also asked if they knew of non-UM schools that offered a program in contemporary church music. Here's what I found:

• There are many UM schools offering music training in performance, theory, composition, conducting, music education and history, and more.
• There is no shortage of programs combining music, theology, and worship.
• Every telephone contact I made stated that they offered the student the ability to study contemporary worship and music as part of an overall traditional and classical program. These were usually a small part of the curriculum that led to a degree in music or sacred music.
• Most UM school websites listed some course offerings and performance options in contemporary worship and music.
• No telephone contact was able to name an accredited non-UM college or university that offered a degree in contemporary music and worship.
• I was unable to find a non-UM school website that offered a degree in contemporary worship and music, although several offered more courses than most UM schools.
• I was unable to find a UM school that offered a major in contemporary music and worship.

I am hoping that my inability to find a contemporary degree program is the result of my inability to make contact with every institution, but I suspect that it's because one does not exist, which leads to a number of questions:

• How should the church train and prepare contemporary musicians for contemporary worship?
• Should it be a separate program or part of a larger, more traditional program?
• Is there something about the skills or materials involved in contemporary worship and music that exclude study from the traditional academic programs?
• Contemporary musicians currently learn from each other, from self-study, from listening to and imitating professional recording groups and artists, and from workshops, conferences, and events offered by churches, individuals, and groups throughout the country. Is this adequate and acceptable, or is there a better way to train musicians who seek to answer a call into contemporary church worship and music ministry?
• Where are we headed in UM worship and music? Will it be important in the year 2010, 2020, or 2050 for church musicians to have a firm foundation consisting of the content and skills that today make up most accredited programs in church worship and music?
• Would musicians leading in contemporary worship today be able to do so more effectively if they had a grounding in traditional academic study?