Music in the worship of the New Testament church is integral, beautiful, and unifying. When Christians join together as a congregation to sing words of praise and admonition with only our hearts and voices, God is glorified, and His people are greatly encouraged (cf. Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). In order for our assemblies to unite in song, there should be a song leader (cf. 1 Cor. 14:26). Good song leaders make for great song services.
When I was a student at SWSBS, our veteran song leader, Bill Reed, spent time teaching the first-year students the basics of music and song leading. Brother Reed noticed that our class lacked song-leading potential, but he did the best he could! Brother Reed has since gone on to his reward, and brother Andy Baker has been tasked to teach song leading to SWSBS students during the third quarter of odd-numbered years. As I write this, we are gearing up to have Andy in town to teach the basics of music theory, along with tone, pitch, harmony, tempo, hand patterns, and so much more. Our students are blessed to learn from one of the best.
Having learned from both brother Reed and brother Baker, I noticed that both of them stressed the content of the words of our songs and the heart of the worshipper (including the song leader) above tempo, pitch, or proper patterns. They held high the truth of 1 Corinthians 14:15, “I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding.”
Brethren, we seek to train men to preach. Additionally, those who come to school at SWSBS will receive practical instruction in and opportunities to serve in various ways that make the church of our Lord wonderful. If you or someone you know is interested in studying the scriptures, learning to preach, learning to lead singing, learning to conduct one-on-one Bible studies, and much, much more, come and see us!