Fall 2009 | Volume 68, No. 1

Making music for the church - Darby Hughes

by Southwestern News Staff

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Master of Arts in Worship
Current Student

Darby Hughes admits that only a few years ago, he had no desire to serve God as a music minister. Although he loved music, the image of a contemporary Christian performer seemed more appealing than that of a church musician.

Music has been a part of Hughes’ life since his childhood. At age 8, his parents made him take organ lessons, which he put aside as soon as possible. In the middle of his teenage years, however, he began to teach himself the piano and organ. Today, he plays the piano, organ, guitar, mandolin, and other instruments, and he produced two albums before coming to Southwestern.

Hughes’ views about music ministry began to change when he was invited to play in a Christian coffee house in Fremont, Calif. The pastor of the church that opened the coffee house asked Hughes what he intended to do with his music. Working in the Christian or secular music industries were options, Hughes said.

“Have you ever thought,” the pastor replied, “about the fact that the church is the place where God has designed ministry to take place, and that maybe you should work in the church?” At the time, Hughes was not interested in this possibility, but he testifies that God used the conversation to point him toward the church. He soon recognized that God created ministry to be done in the church, and that doing music among people you know and are accountable to is better than traveling from concert to concert without building relationships.

Today, Hughes and his wife, Karyn, are new parents, and he is in his final semester in the Master of Arts in Worship pro-gram at Southwestern. His classes at the seminary, he says, have taught him not to focus too much on musical style in the church.

“They are always teaching us to direct the congregation ... away from what kind of music we do and back to God and his purposes for worship,” Hughes says. During his training, he has learned how to structure and lead worship services. He has also gained experience through an internship at his church, which is required by his degree program.

“My passion in music, specifically, is in song writing,” Hughes says. The albums he produced prior to seminary combine a contemporary flavor with a touch of “ethnic influences,” such as jazz, folk, and country. Last spring, a song writing class challenged and trained him to compose “worship songs in a more artistically creative way.”

“I really like to develop contemporary music that is more musically educated and musically intelligent,” Hughes says. He has been trying to compose hymns that combine a contemporary style of music with a biblically based message that progresses throughout the song.

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