For the next several weeks, I plan on posting a pictoral essay of sorts on my worship journey. I will usually post this on Monday evening. I had most of this written last night when my computer decided to reboot itself and I hadn’t saved. Through this you’ll see my musical influences and I’ll share about my philosophy of music and especially that which we sing in church. Hope you enjoy this journey over the next several weeks.
I literally grew up listening to music. It has always been part of my life. Just ask my mom and dad. Most kids have imaginary friends, I had imaginary record players. One day we were going to Grammy and Pop’s and I said “Mom, you’re sitting on my record player.” It was imaginary and she had no clue that it was there. Until I got married I always fell asleep listening to music.
One of my earliest favorite songs was The Brown’s, “The Three Bells.” It’s probably what fueled my love of three part harmony. We listened to old-time country. I remember listening to Chet Atkins and others. Another part of my early music influence was church music. The two churches I grew up in (Pocono Lake Wesleyan and Orefield Wesleyan) both used the same hymnal. Just about every Wesleyan Church I have attended used Praise and Worship, which is a wonderful gospel hymnal. I was introduced to many of the gospel songs of our Wesleyan heritage.
One of the songs that was not from that hymnal that I remember singing was “H
eaven Came Down.” I remember singing that with my family when we were asked to sing in church. I’ve been singing in church since I was little. Not only did I enjoy singing up front, but I always enjoyed singing with the congregation. It was usually my favorite part of the service as a boy. I grew up in church, going to Sunday School, Worship, Youth Service at 6:00 PM and then the Sunday Night service at 7:00 PM and then to Prayer Meeting on Wednesday night. That wasn’t the only church we experienced, because there was VBS (a whole two weeks), revivals (a whole week by the time I remembered them), family camp, youth camp and other special services. I’m not complaining, being in church is part of my heritage and it has made me who I am today. Even now I have a hard time canceling services. During that Sunday evening youth service (that everyone attended, including the adults) we sang choruses out of “Youth Favorites.” If I recall correctly, my favorite song was “He Owns the Cattle On a 
Thousand Hills” and it was #12 in that book.
eaven Came Down.” I remember singing that with my family when we were asked to sing in church. I’ve been singing in church since I was little. Not only did I enjoy singing up front, but I always enjoyed singing with the congregation. It was usually my favorite part of the service as a boy. I grew up in church, going to Sunday School, Worship, Youth Service at 6:00 PM and then the Sunday Night service at 7:00 PM and then to Prayer Meeting on Wednesday night. That wasn’t the only church we experienced, because there was VBS (a whole two weeks), revivals (a whole week by the time I remembered them), family camp, youth camp and other special services. I’m not complaining, being in church is part of my heritage and it has made me who I am today. Even now I have a hard time canceling services. During that Sunday evening youth service (that everyone attended, including the adults) we sang choruses out of “Youth Favorites.” If I recall correctly, my favorite song was “He Owns the Cattle On a 
Thousand Hills” and it was #12 in that book.
In addition to listening to country music and the music of the church, I remember listening to some of the early gospel groups. We had a live Blackwood Brothers album that I listened to and I remember this record from the Blue Ridge Quartet. There were also the gospel concerts. I remember going to one at Muhlenburg College. It featured the Freemen Quartet (a local group), a little known artist (at the time) (it was one of her first American tours)from Sweden named “Evie.” The next group was the Envoys or
the Vicounts (I can’t remember which.) Then the Keystones (several who went on to sing with the Oak Ridge Quartet and Imperials) and then the Downing Family. I remember it was a long night of music, but I do remember enjoying it.
Another influence was school. In third grade, I learned how to play the song flute. Later that year we had to pick an instrument to play in band. I originally picked the clarinet, but mom and day convinced me to choose the trumpet. I can’t say playing my trumpet was my favorite past-time. I did manage to stick it out until junior high and actually played it all the way through high school. In seventh grade, my band instructor asked if I wanted to switch to french horn for concert band. I did and played trumpet for marching and jazz band and french horn for concert band.So that about wraps up the early years. You can see some of my early influences up through junior high. Next week, we’ll look at the high school years and on…
