Denomination Publishers- the bane of church musicians?

Mary Hess writes, "In the past many churches simply looked to their denominational publishers for authoritative content, assuming that whatever the publisher sold must be doctrinally sound and educationally appropriate.  Setting aside for the moment a judgment about whether or not that process has worked well, we can say that it does not work at the current moment.  Communities of faith are simply too diverse, and situated in too many different contexts, for print publishers to be able to produce such materials in a timely, cost-effective, theologically sound, and pedagogically appropriate way."  [Mary Hess, Engaging Technology in Theological Education:  All that We Can't Leave Behind, (Lanham, MD:  Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2005), 127-128.]

This discussion sparked some thoughts and memories.  I have mentioned on this blog about my church music ministry position and background some.  For a little more background, I was part of an exploratory committee in junior high/high school as my congregation's youth represenative on a committee exploring whether or not to begin a contemporary worship service and what this might look like.  Ultimately, the church decided to offer a contemporary worship service each Sunday morning along with two more "traditional" worship services.  This may not seem like much to many of you Minnesotans, but to have 3-services in an ELCA congregation in Western Washington is a big deal, and automatically places your congregation in a special group of congregations. 

The contemporary service was constructed in such a way that it was different then usual praise and contemporary services at different churches of different denominations.  The service at First Lutheran was ultimately called "Celebrate the Walk," and was intended to have a consistant flow and common thread throughout the worship each week tying the confession and litany and music with the lessons and message for that given Sunday (usually following the common lectionary).  The model for our contemporary service was distinctly Lutheran (and remains so today at FLC).  It was such a welcome addition and example of worship that the Synod bishop asked that our setting becom the informative norm for what a Lutheran contempoary service might look like, and so First Lutheran for a time was widely engaged in helping other churches discern whether their context might benefit from such a uniquely Lutheran service in a new way. 

Now, the point of this blog's subject is denomination publishers.  My opinion of Augsburg Fotress in the realm of academic and scholarly work is high.  In music, not so much.  Augsburg approached FLC about possibly using the church's created settings for examples for the larger church, but then after FLC had prepared the materials Augsburg decided not to make them available nationally.  They believed that the model of contemporary worship was a "fad" and that the FLC take would not work in the larger church. 

They are welcome to their opinion, but this act I believe restricted the church's ability to make its resources and ideas available to more churches and congregations, thus restricting open access.  I also believe the decision was short-sighted.  As the service now enters its eighth year, and has helped the church continue to grow its attendance and membership.  Augsburg's version of contemporary music is including "Shine Jesus Shine" in the ELW.  (Not to point out, that "Shine Jesus Shine," is arguably not contemporary anymore as it was published in 1987).  This sad recognition can be seen when searching for contemporary music materials in the Augsburg bookstore at Luther Seminary.  My mom, was here visiting in the fall.  She is the music director at First Lutheran, and is the worship band leader.  She wanted to check what materials Augsburg would have on hand.  It turns out their contemporary music offerings are limited to worship books such as "The Other Song Book II" which was published over a decade ago. 

I offer this series of thoughts to show a case study of how, in our very own church, the ELCA, with our very own publisher, Augsburg Fortress, we are just as guilty in not being able to keep up with the church in its musical diversity, and as a way to provide open access to new and creative ways of worship. 

[Note:  Lutheran Songs Today is a nice exception to this problem, but, the record shows, it is not affiliated with Augsburg Fortress in anyway.]