Koerts Music

People often ask me how I have time to write music and keep my day job. (I don’t think I write all that much music; but I guess some people think I do.) It’s true: you make time for what you enjoy. And I enjoy writing music. Truthfully, it’s my No. 1 hobby. The main thing that keeps me excited about writing music is the fact that I often get to see it be used in a specific way. W...

If you follow this blog at all, and if you know I’m a piano player, then you already know the answer to this question: Yes. I found myself agreeing with this video on the issue. Honestly, I don’t think this is an issue in most mainline churches today, and I certainly don’t want to create an issue out of nothing. I do, however think it’s good to think about these things. AK...

Great choirs have great accompanists. The extent of a choir’s success, to a large degree, is dependent upon it’s accompanist. The choir accompanist plays a vital role in the overall choral ensemble. As a musician, there’s always room for growth and development. There are some excellent resources out there for church choir accompanists. (An excellent recommendation is Choral Ques...

That is the question. I’m a big A.W. Tozer fan. I’ve read many of his books over the years and much of my spiritual growth as a younger Christian was due to his writings. But he did strongly speak out against the use of drama in church, calling it a “violation of sincerity,” among other things. Drama, of course, is not a substitute for the Word of God, and it could never re...

Preparing for worship in church music ministry is essential. Part of that preparation involves developing a service order, or order of worship. Your worship order is a means of communication to those who are involved in your church’s services. Someone recently asked me to provide examples of our worship order at Mikado Baptist Church. Below you’ll find a couple of examples from this la...

Have you ever been asked that? Undoubtedly, if your particular field is unfamiliar, you’ll get asked this question quite a bit. It’s obvious what a minister of music (or whatever the title: worship leader, music pastor, choir director, etc.) does on Sunday, but it seems like a logical question to ask: “What exactly do you do during the week?” It’s a good question. An...

Is it possible to effectively “minister” through music without any distractions? A friend of mine recently encouraged church musicians to avoid as many distractions as possible; to “get out of the way” and let the message (of Christ) go out uninhibited and unencumbered by whatever novelties or dressings an artist might be tempted to add to their song. Noble advice. But is...