A quality local church music program doesn’t just happen; it must be built. And just as the construction of a building doesn’t just happen overnight, the same holds true for constructing a music department.
In Part One, we established that the number one building block for constructing a music ministry is submission to a local church pastor. In this article we will continue to discuss some of the foundational principles that must be followed for success in the construction process.
Building Block #2 – The Music Ministry Must Have One Leader
Just as a church must have a dynamic leader if it is to progress and grow, the same is true with each department and subordinate ministry in the church. And that includes the music ministry.
The only place we can go to in the Word of God to see a pattern for organizing music ministry is David. He was a tremendous worshipper and gifted musician, and he also saw the importance of structure in music ministry.
First Chronicles 15:22 tells us that David put a man named Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, over the music. The scripture reveals one of the reasons for this:
He Instructed About The Song
Apparently Chenaniah was not just a musician and singer, but he instructed. That tells me he must have had some ability to lead and command people.
If a music ministry is going to grow, it must have someone who understands how to construct songs and song services and how to get the most out of his talent pool. You can’t do this by committee. It takes someone with a vision.
When I was a baby Christian, I was privileged to attend an Andrae Crouch concert. I saw not only a great anointing in his music, but I was knocked out with the excellence they played with. This helped me, as a leader now, to have a vision for the kind of excellence we have in our church music.
A good under-leader then must have his own vision, and the ability to guide and instruct his singers and musicians to flow with him, always following his pastor’s vision. A leader must be able to instruct.
In the next article we will discuss why the music leader must have some natural ability.
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Ken and Trudi's lives were dramatically transformed in 1971, when Trudi met Jesus Christ and was healed from an incurable eye problem. Her eyes had been crossed and her vision was seriously impaired from an accident she experienced at age 4. As she was prayed for and instantly healed, Trudi was able to throw away her glasses and contact lenses and she received perfect 20/20 vision. This miracle greatly impacted Ken, and he received Christ and was delivered from alcoholism.
Their adventure in ministry began as Ken worked with Willie George on The Gospel Bill Show during the 80's and 90’s. Ken played the character, "Nicodemus" on the program. He acted, wrote and directed episodes, and wrote and performed the music for the show. Ken was one of the first artists to film Christian music videos at that time, and his songs became wildly popular. He was a part of over 200 episodes that were broadcast worldwide, reaching millions of kids with the gospel. These episodes live on in rerun broadcasts today.
During the 90's Ken and Trudi were music directors at Church on the Move in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a church plant that grew to over 8,000 people in weekly attendance while they were there.
In 2002 the Lord directed Ken and Trudi to begin their own ministry with an emphasis on family relationships. Since that time they have traveled extensively to churches around the world preaching, teaching, and training Christians about how to connect in their marriages and raise their children to become champions for Christ.
The Blounts have produced a multitude of resources and teachings, including their monthly CD partner resource, Relative, all of which are available for purchase and download on their website and new smart phone app.
Although family, marriage, and parenting is their ministry focus, Ken hasn't left his original roots and mandate to teach children the Word of God and how to worship Jesus.
With his rich history as a singer and songwriter, Ken is now partnering with his son, Joshua, in their music project for kids called, Love Out Loud (LOL). The vision is to produce relevant, fun music for kids that teaches them to sing and worship Jesus "out loud." Available on CD and DVD, the music has a two-fold application. While being great for home use, the DVDs are also designed to use in a children's classroom for church services. LOL is an ongoing music franchise producing new music that is a tremendous resource for churches around the globe.