Music in Christian Worship explores Charlotte Kroeker's conception of church music as sung prayer. Kroeker's lifelong experience with church music has allowed her to see that church music as sung prayer requires faithful theology, quality music, and accessibility for parishioners. Church music is interdisciplinary, requiring astute theologians, knowledgeable and competent musicians, and pastoral sensitivities for working with congregations.
In addition to addressing the overarching issues in sacred music and the church, Music in Christian Worshipdemonstrates that music as sung prayer requires much more than music alone and approaches church music from a unique perspective, stressing the theological, musical, and pastoral aspects of sacred music. Kroeker's work contains essays by various philosophers, theologians, musicians, and historians who have contributed much to the creation of dynamic music for worship. The result is a work that truly demonstrates how music can effectively serve the liturgy.
Charlotte Kroeker, PhD, is director of church music initiative at the Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and a trained performance pianist and teacher.