Are ministers and musicians allies or rivals?
Eileen Guenther, the national president of the American Guild of Organists, authored a new book about cooperation between ministers and church musicians. —RNS photo by Kim Jackson
Eileen Guenther, the national president of the American Guild of Organists, reveals behind-the-scenes church struggles in her new book, Rivals or a Team? Clergy-Musician Relationships in the Twenty-First Century.
Guenther, an associate professor of church music at Washington’s Wesley Theological Seminary and the former organist at Foundry United Methodist Church, talked with Religion News Service about her findings and advice. Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: You titled your book Rivals or a Team? From your research, which is a better description of most clergy-musician relationships?
