Choirs still sing despite music publishers’ finale

When its closure was announced last month, Brentwood Benson became the latest in a line of major church music publishing houses closing their doors. Last year saw the bankruptcy of Lorenz Corp., which had purchased choral giant Word Music in 2017. Then a few months ago, Lifeway released its last box of new choral offerings for churches.

Longtime worship leader Kirk Kirkland, who also has worked as an arranger and recording vocalist for both Lifeway and Brentwood Benson, said the closures are a blow for small churches. “For that to go away, I know, is going to impact the church. Where are they going to get what they need?”

A blow perhaps for churches that still have choirs. Fewer than half had choirs as of 2012. A decade later, the numbers are far smaller. And Covid sidelined most of those groups, at least for a season.

Yet, some churches still find a role for large groups of volunteers singing every Sunday, sometimes in addition to their smaller worship team.

Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur restarted their choir after several years using only a worship team. Incoming worship leader Chris Gregg took on the challenge “in response to understanding the DNA of our church and its people. Tabernacle has a rich history of using choir and orchestra in worship and many in the church were looking to serve in that capacity again.”

Gregg’s approach was to make the “large-group worship team,” as some churches are calling their choirs now, multigenerational.

“Many congregations need ‘permission’ to worship, to connect with someone from their peer group that is giving their hearts in song. When Tabernacle sees three generations of a family praising the Lord and singing, all our people–from kids and youth to senior adults–can now ease into being a part of something bigger than themselves,” Gregg said.

“The choir and orchestra allow us to avoid focusing on one specific person as we worship the One who deserves all the attention.”

As for resources, given the closure of major publishing houses, Gregg is not worried. Arrangers were moving to online delivery before the demise of “sheet music.” “Most of them knew that it was coming and have started to create other avenues for their music to get distributed,” Gregg said.

Daniel Semsen is one of a handful of smaller, independent publishers attempting to fill the void. He and his wife, Christy, created new products for Word Music until Word’s parent company filed for bankruptcy last year. Semsen, worship leader at Village Church in Burbank, Calif., knew that churches would still need the products these companies offer, so he started Semsen Music, a digital-only publishing house, where churches can download and print their own copies.

“We need new music,” Semsen said. “We don’t want to just get it from Praisecharts or use old music. We want well-crafted music that fits a certain purpose.

“We love the choir so much” he said. “We don’t want it to go away.”

– By Baptist Press and Illinois Baptist staff