1/20/07: This week marks the countdown to the Calvin Worship Symposium. I'll be leading a Thursday seminar with Paul Ryan called The Art of Worship Team Leadership, Fri/Sat workshops on The Worship Team's "Other" Instruments and Where Can I Find that Song?, as well as helping to lead a few worship services. I'll be busy, but not so busy that you can't say hello!

1/5/07: I just did my post-New Year count down, and it seems that I have over 400 songs, compositions and arrangements to my credit. Certainly you can find something you like...

12/22/07: Lest anyone thinks I'm an ivory tower composer who has lost touch with the working musician, take a stroll over to my church's website where you'll find a worship blog that has recordings from recent services and things I've written for the church bulletin. And of course, my musical diary is always an open book.

12/3/07: Anyone up for a roadtrip to Austin, Texas? I'll be speaking at the Transforming Culture symposium in Austin, April 1-3. It looks like a fantastic line up, including Jeremy Begbie, Andy Crouch, Eugene Peterson and G.R.usalem's own John Witvliet. Register at a discount before January 1.

11/24/07: This time of year is a time of giving. In that spirit of giving I'm making available a bunch of piano accompaniments from the Greg Scheer Songbook: A City On a Hill, My Soul Will Glorify the Lord, Sing to the Lord a New Song, House of Praise, I Will Wait Upone the Lord, and Let His Name Be Lifted Up. By the way, you can still buy the CD--and it still rocks.

11/14/07: Looking for Advent music? (part 2) Here are some songs on my site that you can use: The text “On Jordan’s Bank The Baptist’s Cry” can be paired with the tune PUER NOBIS (“O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright”). “O Sing a Song of Bethlehem” sounds beautiful in a pop rock style. Have your choir sing my jazz ballad arrangement of “Lo, How a Rose." Try my recastings of the classic carols “The King Shall Come” and “A Great and Mighty Wonder.” Finally, my recently composed "I'll Be a Witness to the Light" has become a favorite Advent song in some churches.

11/1/07: Looking for Advent music? Check out my article "A New Thing: modern music for Advent" in the Nov/Dec 2007 issue of Worship Arts, pages 7-9.

10/20/07: On Saturday Nov 3 at 3:30pm the St. Ambrose University Choir will sing my new piece "Spring and Fall: to a young child" in the Allaert Auditorium on the St. Ambrose campus. I fully expect it to be a wonderful performance. Sadly, I can't be there because I'll be leading The Art of Worship Team Leadership workshop with Paul Ryan at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, IL, so please applaud the choir extra hard for me!

10/6/07: I just finished adding my choral catalog to the scriptural song index. You're welcome.

9/22/07: Today is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. I've always wanted to write music for a school alma mater or fight song. In 1998 my song "As the Deer" was the runner up tune in a search for the Bryant High School alma mater. I've been looking for a way to avenge that bitter defeat ever since. And finally my day has come! I just read the press release announcing that my music was chosen in the Illinois Central College fight song competition. You can listen to it at my music blog. In celebration of this momentus compositional victory, I am making all the music on this website available for free download. Oh that's right, all the music on this website is always available for free download...

9/15/07: Have you always wished you could search all the music at gregscheer.com by scripture? Your wish is my command. The new scriptural song index has all of my congregational songs listed. The songs from my choral catalog will be added soon.

9/14/07: I just returned from speaking at a delightful day-long conference of the Association of Christian College Music Educators in St. Louis. Next up is the Contemporary Worship Institute in Kansas City (Oct 3), The Our Community in Worship: Tie that Binds with the American Baptist Church of Michigan (Oct 19), and The Art of Worship Team Leadership with Paul Ryan at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, IL (Nov 3). I'd love to have you join me at one of these!

8/26/07: So you think Greg is a two dimensional composer, able to produce only music for choir and congregation? Think again! I offer you a swinging rendition of Go Down Moses for jazz combo. The chart is scored for 2 trumpets, alto and tenor sax, trombone, optional flute and rhythm section. Still want more proof? You'll find lots of variety at my musical diary. The latest post is a recording of a composition for string orchestra, but you'll find everything from punk to a college fight song.

8/18/07: I had another wild weekend of updating my website. This time I worked on my choir page. You will now find over 30 scores for choir, many of which have MP3 demos and most of which will only set you back $15 for your whole choir.

8/17/07: The leader's edition of Sing with Me just came out. In it you'll find lots of my arrangements.

7/16/07: This weekend I went crazy updating my website. There are now over 50 congregational songs with descriptions, scripture references, PDF files and in many cases MP3s. That'll keep you busy for a while...

7/13/07: I've got three songs in the new Augsburg Fortress collection Wade in the Water: "Lord, We Sing to You," "Maybe the Rain" and "The Beauty of Holiness." At a mere $9.95, you'd be foolish not to buy it!

7/3/07: There's still time to register for the Worship Teleseminar. My session on global worship takes place on Tuesday, July 24, 8-9pm (EST), but there is a great line up of speakers throughout the summer that you won't want to miss. And it's free!

6/17/07: My setting of the Charles Wesley text "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" won an honorable mention in the David C. Lam Christian Hymn Society International Hymn Tune Competition. Read the press release or download a PDF file of the music. In other runner-up news, my song "One Generation Will Call to the Next" was included in a booklet that was handed out to some 14,000 people who attended the CRCNA's Sesquicentennial Celebration this past weekend. That's the good news. The bad news? My name was spelled wrong.

6/14/07: I just returned from a week of leading worship with C.J. Grier and Jacqui Lewis at the 2007 RCA General Synod in Pella, Iowa. Some people have asked me about the song of justice and joy, "From the City to the Country," that we sang Monday. Here it is in a PDF format leadsheet and an MP3 demo. Feel free to ask me about any of the other songs.

5/20/07: Are you looking for music to celebrate the CRC sesquicentennial? Look no further! You may already know about my song "One Generation Will Call to the Next" which is one of the official sesquicentennial celebration hymns. First Christian Reformed Church of Barrie has even blogged about using it in their worship. Now there's a simple choral arrangement of the song that provides a great way to introduce it to your congregation. But wait--that's not all! Act now and you can download Bert Polman's winning sesquicentennial text "Grace through Every Generation" set to a brand new tune. Now that's cause for celebration!

5/16/07: On Sunday evening I returned from two wonderful weeks in Uganda. Soon I will be posting some audio blog reports at the CICW website that describe the trip and let you hear some of the worship I experienced.

5/16/07: My article “Singing the Psalms in Modern Worship” appears in the latest issue of Reformed Worship (June 2007, Number 84) on pages 46-47.

4/6/07: I am now a member of LicenSing. So be nice--any time you use one of my songs, please report it to LicenSing or CCLI.

3/30/07: I've been asked to join a team of worship leaders to do worship training in Uganda at the end of April. Want to learn more? Read "Cheeseballs for Uganda."

3/7/07: Check out some new, seasonal music: "What Wondrous Love" for SAB Choir and Piano would be perfect as a Lent anthem, and "Feed Us, Lord" is a congregational song that can be introduced during Lent and used as a communion song throughout the year. Get 'em while they're hot!

2/17/07: Three of my new piano arrangements for accompanying congregational singing have been added to the CICW website: "Guide My Feet," "Just As I Am, without One Plea" and "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty." Are they free? Oh yeah.

2/14/07: If you're looking for song ideas for Ascension Day, read my new article "Ascension Songs: Looking Beyond Your Hymnal" in the latest Reformed Worship (Number 83, March 2007, pp10-13).

3/5/07: This website is mainly for my church music, but those of you in the Grand Rapids area will get a chance to hear another side of me. On March 15 at 7pm, my Brass Quintet in Three Movements and 12 (for viola and cello) will be performed at the "New Music at Calvin" concert.

2/4/07: I'm taking advantage of being snowed in for the weekend: I've added an "Art of Worship" page where you can read the latest reviews (incluing a new one by Bob Kauflin) and download resources that go with the book. I've also added some new posts to my music blog.

1/12/07: Byron Borger recently wrote a great review of The Art of Worship. After you're done reading the review, head on over to his Hearts & Minds bookstore to order a copy for yourself. And finally, if you're attending the Calvin Symposium on Worship at the end of the month I'd love to have you attend one of my sessions, come hear me play bass with Keith Getty, or just say Hi.

1/12/07: Does Greg rock? This Saturday night you can find out. Come hear me play keyboard and guitar with The New Midwest at Quinne & Tuites in Grand Rapids. Show starts at 9pm.

12/27/06: I've finally taken the plunge and started a blog. But don't worry, I won't embarrass my family and friends with the dark secrets and minute details of my little life. Instead, it will be a place for me to post songs and demos that are freshly written, on my mind, or still in process. So feel free to take a peek into The Musical Diary of Greg Scheer.

12/26/06: Rick's people at Sadleback called my people at Baker (I love to say that) and the next thing I knew I was writing an article called "The Changing World of Church Music" for Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox. It's now online.

12/22/06: The wait is over--The Art of Worship is hitting the streets this week! What are people saying about it? Terry York says "Reading The Art of Worship is like witnessing a baptism... Scheer 'buries' the band and 'resurrects' a team of servants to new life in the name of full-orbed ministry, musical exellence, and community responsibility." Robert Webber calls it "a very practical tool." John Witvliet writes that the book "demonstrates that we never have to choose between integrity and relevance in preparing to lead God's people in worship." Greg Scheer says "The Art of Worship makes a great stocking stuffer!"

12/9/06: I just received word that I won this year's Iowa Choral Directors Association and Iowa Composers Forum choral commission for new choral piece for a high school level choir that will be premiered in Mason City in July at the ICDA's yearly summer symposium. It will be a setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins' text "Spring and Fall, to a young child," which is something I've always wanted to set to music.

11/12/06: The Art of Worship--an international sensation! BakerBooks has struck a deal with YWAM Publishing Korea to release a Korean-language edition of the book. Pity the person who has to translate phrases like "Harmony Sandwich" and "Utilitarian Pop Modulation." Speaking of statistically improbable phrases, amazon.com has compiled some interesting facts about my book that even I didn't know. For example, the book is quite a deal at 6,259 words per dollar. No wonder it has rocketed to position 484,474 on Amazon's sales charts on the strength of pre-release purchases alone.

9/16/06: I'm a winner! I received an honorable mention in the CRC Sesquicentennial (150th) Hymn Contest for my song "One Generation Will Call to the Next ." It will be made available through the denomination at some point in the future. For now you can read about the contest, Bert Polman's winning text, and a little tiny mention of me at the bottom of this Calvin press release.

9/16/06: I'm a loser! The other two songs I submitted to the contest lost. But don't despair--my loss is your gain. You can download the leadsheet or demo of "Deeper than the Sea," a praise song based on Psalm 36:5-9. Or move into more adventurous territory by reading or listening to "People of the Lord." It's a Genevan Psalter-style setting of Psalm 78:1-7 in 7/8 time. (And I wonder why it didn't win...)

9/10/06: "May the Mind of Christ My Savior" was just published in Faith Alive's Sing with Me song book. The song book also contains a number of my arrangements. You'll have to wait until 2007 for the accompaniment edition, which will contain over 30 of my arrangments.

9/10/06: Speaking of publications, my contemporary song suggestions are included in the recently released Call to Worship Year C lectionary aids. It was great to be able to contribute to a resource I use regularly.

8/26/06: I know a lot of you have hoped I would provide recordings of more of my songs. So last night I recorded a bunch of rough demos of my praise songs. Here they are: One Thing, May the Mind of Christ My Savior, Lead Me to the Rock, I Surrender All to You, From the City to the Country, Eternal Family, The King Shall Come, My Keeper, Prairie Prelude, and A Great and Mighty Wonder. Mind you, these are rough, one take recordings. Someday I'll record another "real" CD of songs, but for now a quick recording of my guitar and voice will have to suffice.

8/11/06: I handed in the final page edits of my book today. Why don't you just head over to amazon and pre-order it?

7/12/06: Look for some of my articles to appear this summer: "Worship Composition: Looking Back, Looking Forward" in Perspectives (you can read the full text online) , and "Hands around the World: An Introduction to African and Latin American Percussion in Worship" in The Hymn.

7/1/06: I just finished a two week seminar with Jimmie Abbington entitled "The Many Languages of African American Worship and Music." It was wonderful.

5/26/06: I promised the people who attended my workshop "Songs for Ascension: Looking Beyond Your Hymnal" at the conference With a Shout: What Difference Does the Ascension Make for Everyday Life? that they would find the piano music for "Let His Name Be Lifted Up" at my website. For a limited time I'm making the piano music and the flute music availabe to all gregscheer.com visitors. Also, feel free to listen to this mp3 or buy the Greg Scheer Song Book CD. Enjoy!

7/7/06: The BakerBooks catalog just came out, and guess what's included in the "coming soon" section? The Art of Worship, available in stores everywhere Fall of 2006!

archived 5/25/06

Tuesday, May 16th at 7:30 p.m. in the Linn-Mar High School Auditorium the Linn-Mar Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Joshua Reznicow will premiere "5," my new composition for string orchestra.

On May 25, I'll be leading a breakout session at the conference With a Shout: What Difference Does the Ascension Make for Everyday Life? at Calvin Seminary. So if you're looking for interesting Ascension songs, join me at "Songs for Ascension: Looking Beyond Your Hymnal"

archived 5/12/06

Page 23 of the recent issue of Reformed Worship (Vol. 79, March 2006) features my arrangement of "Holy, Holy, Holy" that will appear in the forthcoming "Sing with Me" songbook." Read about the songbook and hear the arrangement here.

Check out the new website design! I've eliminated the frames, created a navigation bar and have tried to clean things up in general. I don't expect that it will be perfect right off the bat, but I hope it will streamline the process so I can do what I do best--give you free music!

archived 4/29/06

If you're looking for hymns that can be used during Holy Week (or are so far ahead in your planning that you're working on Lent of next year) take a look at Meditations on Lenten Hymns.

archived 2/11/06