Music ministry focuses on the Word
Music ministry focuses on the Word
“My song will silence never, I’ll worship him forever.”*
These words sum up how Charles Bonow feels about his life and his ministry of presenting service concerts on organs in WELS churches across the country.
“I definitely am not the world’s best organist or the most talented person, but to have the opportunity to get people into the Word through my offerings of music is the greatest privilege,” says Bonow, a member at St. John, Lewiston, Minn.
Since this ministry’s beginnings in 1984, Bonow, a former pastor, has presented service concerts to nearly 550 churches in 24 states and Canada. He has developed eight programs that follow different themes from God’s Word. These concerts, conducted during normal worship times, begin with a devotion and then include a series of Scripture readings interspersed with organ selections and congregational singing.
His goal: to reach people with the gospel through his devotions, the Scripture readings, and the words of the hymns.
The role of the music, he says, is to help worshipers “better understand and reflect upon the meaning and message of the words they are singing and the spiritual applications for their lives.”
Bonow wrote many of the organ interludes himself. “I try to proclaim the Word more fully through the music I make and play by working to reflect the mood and convey the thought [of the Bible text],” he says. “You can play the most difficult Bach fugue and if it doesn’t direct people to the Word, you’ve just done an exercise in art.”
A student of Paul Manz, Bonow has played on organs ranging from “little itty-bitty organs that people donated . . . to really beautiful, grand, monstrous organs.” He adjusts his programs and music to fit the instrument. “I’ve never said no because of the organ,” he says.
After playing at different churches almost every Sunday, Bonow has plenty of stories to share. He especially remembers one Sunday when he was scheduled to play in Randolph, Wis. A windstorm had gone through the area the night before. Trees were leveled, barns were torn down, and debris was everywhere. Bonow was wondering how many people would come. “What was so heartwarming was that the church was filled to the rafters . . . with people singing praises to God of how he had spared them,” he says.
This fits right into Bonow’s prayer for his ministry: “That God use me in his service to bring [people] to Christ, not just to hear pretty music.”
For more information, visit www.charlesbonow.com.
*From “O Glorious Love”
These words sum up how Charles Bonow feels about his life and his ministry of presenting service concerts on organs in WELS churches across the country.
“I definitely am not the world’s best organist or the most talented person, but to have the opportunity to get people into the Word through my offerings of music is the greatest privilege,” says Bonow, a member at St. John, Lewiston, Minn.
Since this ministry’s beginnings in 1984, Bonow, a former pastor, has presented service concerts to nearly 550 churches in 24 states and Canada. He has developed eight programs that follow different themes from God’s Word. These concerts, conducted during normal worship times, begin with a devotion and then include a series of Scripture readings interspersed with organ selections and congregational singing.
His goal: to reach people with the gospel through his devotions, the Scripture readings, and the words of the hymns.
The role of the music, he says, is to help worshipers “better understand and reflect upon the meaning and message of the words they are singing and the spiritual applications for their lives.”
Bonow wrote many of the organ interludes himself. “I try to proclaim the Word more fully through the music I make and play by working to reflect the mood and convey the thought [of the Bible text],” he says. “You can play the most difficult Bach fugue and if it doesn’t direct people to the Word, you’ve just done an exercise in art.”
A student of Paul Manz, Bonow has played on organs ranging from “little itty-bitty organs that people donated . . . to really beautiful, grand, monstrous organs.” He adjusts his programs and music to fit the instrument. “I’ve never said no because of the organ,” he says.
After playing at different churches almost every Sunday, Bonow has plenty of stories to share. He especially remembers one Sunday when he was scheduled to play in Randolph, Wis. A windstorm had gone through the area the night before. Trees were leveled, barns were torn down, and debris was everywhere. Bonow was wondering how many people would come. “What was so heartwarming was that the church was filled to the rafters . . . with people singing praises to God of how he had spared them,” he says.
This fits right into Bonow’s prayer for his ministry: “That God use me in his service to bring [people] to Christ, not just to hear pretty music.”
For more information, visit www.charlesbonow.com.
*From “O Glorious Love”
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