Upon learning that I, Dr. Delton Alford, would have the opportunity to teach a course in the School of Ministry CIMS series, I was delighted to immediately begin preparation for Ministering Through Music. My task was made even more rewarding when I discovered the video-teaching sessions were going to be edited for book publication. The ideas, reflections and recommendations presented in this book represent years of experience as a church musician, teacher, administrator, writer, music minister and worshiper. My first meaningful experiences in music were related to church worship and ministry. I made an early commitment to be involved in music and music ministry in response to the call of God on my life.

From those youthful performing experiences at the keyboard or in the church choir, band and various ensembles, I began to understand something of both the privileges and responsibilities of music ministry. Subsequent opportunities in higher education, as teacher, administrator and conductor afforded time for growth both as musician and minister. Practical issues relating to performance standards and techniques for volunteer church musicians were addressed through writing, arranging and conducting activities. A commitment to excellence in ministry and in music has been a lifelong pursuit made more intense by my growing awareness that the role music plays in Kingdom work is perhaps more important now than at any previous time.

Although many different aspects of ministering through music are addressed in the text that follows, I have emphasized the importance of the role of true worship in the life of twenty-first-century believers. My own development as a worshiper has grown immensely in the last decade of my Christian experience. True worship is a high calling, and God is deserving of our highest praise. Hopefully, this book will encourage and enable both author and reader in increasingly effective music ministry to the “ worship generation.”