MBC’s Shiflett sees SBU workshop as opportunity to help next generation
By Allen Palmeri
Staff Writer
January 25, 2005
JEFFERSON CITY — The 30th annual Church Music Workshop at Southwest Baptist University Feb. 3-5 represents the latest opportunity for Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Worship Specialist Bill Shiflett to connect with a God-sized, long-range goal.
Shiflett is on the lookout for 1,000 new music ministers in Missouri over the next 10 years, and his participation as a clinician in Bolivar is simply another avenue by which he can witness God at work in the lives of worship leaders.
“The bottom line to being effective in this position is not necessarily just to provide events or to do things that minister to our churches, but to also be thinking about the next generation,” Shiflett said. “I want to continue to work with our colleges to find the next generation of worship leaders.”
Shiflett said he has allocated more money from his Worship budget to the SBU conference, which has in turn allowed them to bring in more clinicians. Clinicians include: Robert Wagoner, large church/worship consultant for LifeWay Christian Resources; Craig Curry, professional musician and composer/arranger who spent 12 years as pastor of worship at First Baptist Church, Wichita, Kan.; Roger Breland, director of the Center for Performing Arts at the University of Mobile, Ala., and founder and director of Truth, a premier Christian ensemble; Wilson Borosvskis, a native of Brazil who has served as minister of music at First Baptist Church, El Dorado, Ark., since 1982; and Shiflett, who was asked to teach.
“They are now calling upon us to help them in terms of teamwork, which I think is great,” he said.
Shiflett mentioned that he is working closely with William Brown, dean, Geneva Casebolt College of Music, Arts and Letters at SBU, and Martha Hicks, associate professor of music, to help make the Bolivar conference a success.
“It’s going to be a good, solid event, and I would encourage ministers of music to attend it across the state,” Shiflett said.
Cost is $80 from the Thursday-through-Saturday sessions. For more information on how to participate, call (417) 328-1633.
“It’s a great example of the old and new working together,” Shiflett said.