JP Interview from Friday, January 21

 
 

JP’s Written answers to some additional questions

1. What training/education have you done in the areas of music and worship leading?

  • I'm an autodidact (i.e. a self-taught person) when it comes to learning. I like to pursue fields of knowledge that are of my interest or necessity, and that works really well in my case. Obviously, being an autodidact doesn't mean that I don't rely on other people, but it means that I set the pace at which I learn and I initiate each pursuit, by my own research or being aided by others. God has been so gracious to me in placing me in churches that I could grow both musically and theologically, by walking alongside better people. So my training and education was a mix between my own pursuits and the input and interactions with my pastors and brothers that I was active in ministry with.

    When I reach a plateau in my pursuits, or whenever a practice by myself could lead to bad habits, I like to rely on a teacher. At the moment, for example, I'm having singing technique coaching/lessons.

2. Are you willing/able to be a choir director? We have several members who enjoy being a part of the church choir.

  • Yes, I am able, and I would definitely be willing to the extent that it aligns with the mission/vision of the church. I would probably have a preference for seasonal choirs so that the congregational singing would have priority.

3. What, if any, difficulties might there be obtaining a visa? What does that process entail?

  • I've been through an assessment with an attorney from LA, and it seems like the process would be quite straightforward. First, we would apply for an R-1 visa (temporary religious visa), and then, after 2 years of experience, we would apply for an EB-4, which is a permanent residency type of visa. The only difficulty would be the R-1 visa timeframes, which could take from 6 months to 1 year to be issued.

4. The CRC has a rich liturgical heritage that includes congregational and choral singing and used to include a majority of Psalms and other Scriptural texts. Are you competent or interested in developing competence in the singing and playing of liturgical music as well as contemporary music? Would you consider leading a church choir or becoming an organist as well as a guitarist?

  • That's a very precious question, and I love the fact that you want to preserve the beautiful heritage of historic Christian music - I'm on the same team! So, first I'd like to make a distinction in terminology so I can be clear in my answer, otherwise, I would confuse myself! You probably know all of those things, but for the sake of clarity, I'll be specific. Liturgy is a pattern that a service can follow. A good Christian liturgy includes some specific elements like "Call to Worship", "Song of Confession / Contrition", "Confession/Assurance of Grace", "Prayer and Supplication", "Preaching", "Song of Application", "Communion", "Benediction" and many others. Those elements are theological in nature, and they are to be an expression of what God expects us to do when we congregate and minister His means of grace, from scripture.

    The touching point between liturgy and music are the lyrics. The lyrics of a song will determine whether that song can be used as a song of contrition, application, etc. Also, a good song also has a melody and harmony that carries the lyrics adequately.

    And then comes the genre distinction. In general, in church music, we tend to divide into two big groups: classical, which is usually accompanied by organ, piano and orchestral instruments and follows a set of rules (usually from the baroque and classical periods), so those instruments would be played according to the period (forgive me if I'm not being precise in my understanding here). And the second big group is contemporary, which is pretty much our modern way of playing music, which can be divided into almost infinite modern genres. Then, those big groups differ musically, not necessarily lyrically.

    Because of that, both classical and contemporary music can be liturgical. Also, there are so many possible combinations as:

    - playing a classical piece on the guitar

    - playing a contemporary piece on the organ

    - playing an old classical hymn with a contemporary arrangement

    - playing a new hymn from the Gettys, with a classical arrangement

    - etc...

    I understand that classical Christian music can be sometimes referred to as liturgical music. With that in mind, my answer to the first question would be: I believe I'm sufficiently competent to play classical hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs on the guitar and piano, and conduct/rehearsal orchestral instruments for that purpose. Furthermore, I would be interested in developing that competence even further. I'm not sure if I would try and become an organist though, because I believe that the role of Worship Director would rather involve collaboration with the existing organists, also supporting the training of other musicians to become organists instead, giving them the necessary tools. But I would be delighted to prepare all the arrangements and sheet music for those instruments. In terms of leading a church choir - yes absolutely, to the extent that it aligns with the mission/vision of the church.