Lutheran Music Missions
The driving force behind Lutheran Music Missions (LMM) is in the name. LMM is first and foremost a mission oriented ministry. The fact that Missions is plural is no accident. LMM is a wide ranging, multifaceted group of specific missions connected by one common bond, music. God has blessed the staff of LMM with gifts and talents in the field of music. With humble hearts, the staff is committed to using those gifts to glorify Him and to serve the Church according to His will. LMM will always be identifiably Lutheran. During the Reformation, Luther's Church became known as the "singing church" because Luther used music as it had never been used before. By integrating congregational participation into the worship format, Luther himself was the founder of alternative worship choices.
LMM is a mission oriented ministry for the following two reasons. First, the LMM staff is dedicated to providing materials and resources to any congregation or individual who requests them at no cost or obligation. LMM is not a commercial endeavor. LMM will freely distribute these materials in order to meet the needs of congregations searching for alternative musical choices in their worship formats. Secondly, alternative worship services are being used as evangelistic tools to reach out to the unchurched. Churches are advertising their alternative services in their communities in order to attract new worshipers. If LMM can offer new musical choices that will bring the unchurched into a service where the Gospel is being preached, the ministry is truly mission oriented.
The vision for LMM and its programs are unique in today's Lutheran church. The resources available to churches that want to add alternative worship formats to their programs are very limited. The amount of education being offered with these resources is practically nonexistent. LMM is dedicated to assisting any congregation in enhancing their worship program.
The growth and popularity of alternative worship services in the last decade cannot be ignored. However, LMM is not suggesting or advocating the elimination of traditional music in Lutheran Worship. Four part hymn settings, pipe organs, choirs and handbells are part of the fabric of our Lutheran heritage and should never be lost. Alternative music choices and worship styles should always be an addition to a churches established worship program. As the new millennium begins, LMM will provide a variety of new and exciting musical choices while remaining true to its Lutheran heritage.