MBC staffer McMillan honored to receive Casebolt music award
JEFFERSON CITY – Tanya Franks McMillan, worship ministry assistant for the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) since 1990, was given the Geneva Casebolt Award for Excellence in Music Ministry Feb. 2 at Southwest Baptist University (SBU).
The award, which has been presented annually since 1986, is typically presented to a minister of music who has spent years of diligence in the field. Casebolt is a businesswoman from Kansas City and a former SBU trustee who died in 1996. The music center at SBU is named for her.
“I was absolutely overwhelmed,” McMillan said. “I never, ever dreamed that I was even someone that would ever be in the running for it.”
McMillan is a 1982 graduate of Hannibal-LaGrange College (HLG) with a bachelor of church music degree. She went on to obtain another bachelor’s degree and become certified as a music teacher, which she did for two years before going to work in the business office at HLG. Eventually the Lord led her to apply at the Baptist Building and toward the end of 1990 she wound up ministering in the church music office.
“Through the years at MBC I have had many ministry opportunities,” she said. “Probably some of my most fond memories are those of Older Children’s Music Camp.”
McMillan has directed children’s choirs for more than 30 years.
“Children’s choir remains my passion,” she said. “I began directing my first choir when I was 18 and I didn’t have a clue about what I should do. Hopefully over the years I’ve gained a little knowledge. I truly believe that children are the future worship leaders and we have an obligation to train them both musically and spiritually.”
Receiving the award from Bill Brown, dean of the Geneva Casebolt College of Music, Arts & Letters, was a genuine thrill for McMillan.
“It is a real honor to be recognized for something that I love to do,” she said.