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What does a church do when there is no one to play the piano or organ? 

The Grace & Glory Church in Providence, Rhode Island, has dealt with that situation by singing mostly a cappella. During my recent visit, several different members confidently led the congregation in singing at various times throughout the service without keyboard support. The people joined in heartily, adding their own harmony and at times, rhythmic handclapping.

Another church, the Middletown-Portland, Connecticut church, copes differently with the same situation. For the last 15-20 years, according to Sister Pat Mainetti, they have not had a regular pianist or organist.  Rather than sing a cappella, their church chose to purchase Hymns Alive, a 33-CD set recorded by Susan Maehre of the SDA Hymnal on piano and organ. This resource supplies their service with organ and/or piano accompaniment to any hymn they would like to sing.  Kyle Slingo, a highschooler who is very active in the church, invited me to the Middletown-Portland Church to observe what they do.

Trained by Nick Mainetti, Kyle has run the PA for the church since he was about 12. As any young person would do, he utilizes the most up-to-date tools wherever possible. He currently has a 35-watt amplifier, a wireless microphone, and a 5-CD changer for the Hymns Alive CDs. He hopes to be able to import Hymns Alive into iTunes on a computer in the future for greater ease of use.

Kyle also showed me his “church iPod nano” and his “school iPod” which he uses to to provide service music each Sabbath. On his “nano” he has Hugs for Gramma and other music collections that he knows his church will enjoy which he uses for special music. On his other iPod, he has his own selection of Christian contemporary music that is available for preludes, offertories, and postludes. He understands quite well his church family’s level of tolerance for his CCM repertoire and generally is able to choose selections which they all feel comfortable with. (If not, Pat raises her eyebrow at him; he gets the hint, and fades to another piece.)

During the worship service (which starts at noon, by the way), I sat down with the congregation while in the balcony Kyle ran the sound system and provided music. The hymns were cued up to begin the introduction as soon as the elder finished announcing each hymn. Transitions were smooth. Also, the volume level was appropriate, not so loud as to drown out the singing of the small congregation, but strong enough to offer good support. If my eyes had been closed, I might not have known that the accompaniment was not live! There is, of course, a certain of spontaneity that only a live accompanist can add. But in my opinion, this church is doing a noteworthy job utilizing technology to fill in for the lack of musicians!

An organ and a recently-tuned piano still grace the front of the sanctuary just in case someone shows up who can play. If that describes you, please visit—or better yet, join their church! But until then, they will keep “singing with Susan” and very nicely, thank you.

NOTE: As she was recording, Susan Maehre varied each verse slightly so that when you use the recording as accompaniment, it sounds “live”. It took her two years to record all the hymns! Learn more about Hymns Alive at the website listed in the sidebar.