MFM005: Sound Advice for the Church Musician with Danny Sweatt
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Advice to the Church Musician
In this session of the Music For Ministry Podcast, I chat with Pastor Danny Sweatt who is the senior pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Lilburn, GA. He is a published author, a contributor to numerous periodicals and a frequent conference, college and camp speaker.
Rev. Danny M. Sweatt received his training at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. For over forty years he has served churches in Florida, Illinois and Georgia with his wife Ellen.
In this session, Pastor Sweatt and I chat about:
- Growing up in Pensacola, FL
- The benefits of a Christian home
- His early days of schooling
- Settling the question of salvation at age eleven
- How music was fostered in school and church in his life
- Singing in choral groups and choir
- Pursuing a degree in music
- Playing the trumpet but preferring the voice
- His musical heros: Frank Garlock, Dr. Dwight Gustafson,
- Seeing a pattern of energy, dedication, and Christian commitment
- Qualities of his heroes: character, leadership, competence, and humility before the Lord
- His call to the ministry
- In order to be effective in music you must be trained
- Twenty-four years of experience as a music pastor
- Challenges he faced in the early years as a minister of music:
- Lack of good music and the experimenting with styles of music
- Two things that have impacted church music: Sale-ability of music and the desire to please people
- Thoughts on the writing of his first book on music
- Advice to the church musician : receive good training, understand biblically the subject of music and worship
- Basic concepts: Aiding the congregation in worshipping the Lord and praising the Lord through music
- Audience is the Lord not people
- Be around good people – have mentors
- Church music from a pastor’s perspective
- Future subjects of interest: Church Administration and Organization & Staff Relationships
- The establishment of a music academy in the local church
- Contact info
Items mentioned in this podcast:
- Singer’s Studio
- Berean Baptist Church
- Bob Jones University
- Dr. Frank Garlock
- Dr. Dwight Gustafson
- Berean’s Music Academy
Thank you, Pastor Sweatt, for sharing your story with me on the Music for Ministry Podcast
Have a great day and make Music for Ministry your passion too!