I played a worship service some years ago where the "special music" person had to cancel at the last minute. The pastor of the congregation rushed up to the organ and whispered frantically, "Play something spiritual!!" I don't remember what I actually played, but that phrase has bounced around in my head from time to time ever since.

What were his expectations at that moment? Something soft? Something slow? Something familiar? I would like to think that as a musician everything I bring to the service is somehow "something spiritual." But what does that really mean?

Each generation may see the concept as something different. At a 100th birthday celebration of our aunt, the gathered family worshipped together at her local church. This dear lady loved music and art and lived a life of service. After the Word, her musician friend, a fine pianist, played one of her favorites, Debussy's "Clair de Lune" from memory. It was without a doubt "something spiritual." And why? That musician brought something beautifully constructed, something sensitively played, and he brought it lovingly. A younger worshipper might have considered a more contemporary hymn tune or composition to be "more spiritual." But the qualities of the music and the musician remain the same.

Many times worshippers think of something spiritual as something soft and slow. However, just the opposite may be true. In times of despair, times of trouble as well as great joy, a substantive instrumental or keyboard sound can lift the spirits and give a sense of God's attentive hand.¹

What in my preparation will assist me in bringing something spiritual to the service?

• Practice hymns and other service music until it can be played effortlessly.

• Always be prepared to play longer than is necessary--that extra music was what I used in that "frantic" situation.

• Try to memorize as many hymns as you can. They will often come to mind in just the "right" meditative spot in the service.

• Practice modulations and improvisations as a way to "stretch" the music. You may discover creativity you didn't know you had!

Some excellent resources on hymn playing and learning to modulate can be found at

• the American Guild of Organists' on-line store

• Modulation: Traveling Smoothly from Key to Key

• Filling Out a Hymn

• Play Something Quick - Wilda Hutson (published by Harold Flammer, Inc.). The musical examples include short modulations and 16-measure "fill-in" pieces in every key.

• Organ Improvisation for Beginners - Jan Bender (published by Concordia).

What, then, is required of the musician in these situations? "To lift the spirits of those who have come to worship requires a musician who is sensitive to the spirit, in tune with the congregation, and committed to practice and plays with dedication."²