Leadership Program for Musicians Serving Small Churches

A joint venture of the Standing Commission on Church Music and the Virginia Theological Seminary. The goal of the program's work is to discover and implement ways to help small parishes in church music endeavors which might lead to more effective, inclusive, and inspirational worship. The Presiding Bishop's Diploma in Church Music is awarded to participants who complete six areas of study: basic church music; teaching new music to the congregation; service playing and accompaniment (for keyboard players and guitar players); survey of The Hymnal 1982; liturgy planning; and fresh approaches to developing an effective music program. In 1994 the program achieved its present structure. The first Leadership Training Conference was held at the Virginia Theological Seminary, July 2-8, 1995. The 1998 conference included persons from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The program was developed by the Standing Commission on Church Music's subcommittee on Music in Small Churches.