Dear Modern Protestant Pastor

I've recently been reading The Gift of Music: Great Composers and Their Influence by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson. This book is a collection of short biographies (really, biographical essays) on the lives and works of many of Western classical music's greatest composers. The spiritual lives of the composers are a large focus of the book. In the chapter on Bach, Smith makes the statement (as have many others) that "if there had not been a Luther, there would not have been a Bach." This started me thinking: if modern protestant pastors love Luther so much, and enjoy sharing that love with others who are like-minded, why are they ignoring the music of Bach, who (like they) found his spiritual heritage in the Reformation?

New Territory: Organ Offertories

During my recent trip to the state music teachers' conference, I picked up a couple of organ books by Gordon Young: Organ Voluntaries: Eleven Short Solos for Church or Recital, and Eight Organ Voluntaries on Familiar Hymn Tunes, both published by Theodore Presser Company. They are clearly a different style from what I usually play for the service (which would be Baroque-esque preludes or hymn arrangements), but majestic and perfect for Sunday mornings. From the first volume above, I recently played "Antiphon," a two-page selection with simple pedal points, modified by yours truly to be played with the left hand, since our church "organ" is actually a keyboard--no pedals available. Whether you have pedals or not, this is a lovely piece; and its form is conducive to repeats as needed, which makes it perfect for an offertory. I'm looking forward to checking out other pieces by Young in the coming weeks!