About Rich
Rich Richards, is a multi-instrumentalist, song-writer, arranger, composer, multi-media painter and potter who is versed in classical, jazz, folk and blues. Rich holds degrees in piano performance from The College of Wooster, in Wooster, OH and the Cleveland Institute of Music in Cleveland, OH. While at CIM, he studied piano with Daniel Shapiro and audited numerous art history courses at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Between
Wooster and CIM, Rich studied with Prof. Franz Massinger at the Hochschule für Musik in his mother’s home town of Munich, Germany. He has written music for jazz combo, choir, brass, flute and piano duos and solo piano. In addition to composing instrumental music, he also is a songwriter who has written over 50 songs.
At his core, Rich is an educator and professional observer. He has taught piano, guitar and banjo privately for over 25 years ranging from ages 5 to 75. His love of early childhood and youth development in music led him to be not only be certified as a “MusikGarten” teacher but a co-founder of “Little Birds” teaching studio in Greensboro, NC.
Rich is an oarsman (who is a weekend coach for the Triangle Rowing Club in Raleigh) and also enjoys swimming, cooking, cycling, architecture and yoga. He also loves spending quality time with his son, Olsen who loves soccer, tennis, rock climbing, theater, fly fishing and cello.
Approach to Worship
My approach to worship and worship leadership, as an artist and musician is one that is rooted in scripture and belief through experience, humility, encouragement, confidence, relevance, creativity, community, collaboration, dedication, and effort.
For centuries, we have been called and charged with putting worship at the center of all that we do in our faith communities. In its focus on worship, the church affirms particular things, lives a particular way, and has over the years gathered particular music and spaces to bless and nourish its life. Our liturgy says that “we sing with all the faithful of every time and place,” and we have a body of music and text (our “new” Glory to God hymnal) that helps us do that. It is also at times easy for worship to become a playlist of familiarity, but the Biblical witness and our own experience tell us that God usually has the playlist of creation on “shuffle” mode: The Songs of Life come at us with the wonder, challenge, and disturbance of surprise.
In my opinion, healthy worshipping congregations hear and sing music from “both sides” of the spectrum; that is, music written or adapted for the church’s worship specifically, as well as music originating from other directions, perhaps as spiritual offering but not necessarily with an eye to religious ritual. At the same time, it is true that certain music and texts DO belong particularly to the church’s worship. We may listen to the organ only at church, for instance, but that is no strike against the organ any more than listening to sermons only at church is a strike against sermons.
Worship leadership is something that I am very passionate about and have spent many years critically thinking about in terms of how we humans - broken with faults, sin and disturbance - lead our worshipping communities in faithful, honest, authentic and creative ways to honor God and one another. This, I believe, is done through heavy doses of humility, collaboration, flexibility, grace, strength, intentional listening, courage, and continuing education.
About Rich
Rich Richards, is a multi-instrumentalist, song-writer, arranger, composer, multi-media painter and potter who is versed in classical, jazz, folk and blues. Rich holds degrees in piano performance from The College of Wooster, in Wooster, OH and the Cleveland Institute of Music in Cleveland, OH. While at CIM, he studied piano with Daniel Shapiro and audited numerous art history courses at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Between
Wooster and CIM, Rich studied with Prof. Franz Massinger at the Hochschule für Musik in his mother’s home town of Munich, Germany. He has written music for jazz combo, choir, brass, flute and piano duos and solo piano. In addition to composing instrumental music, he also is a songwriter who has written over 50 songs.
At his core, Rich is an educator and professional observer. He has taught piano, guitar and banjo privately for over 25 years ranging from ages 5 to 75. His love of early childhood and youth development in music led him to be not only be certified as a “MusikGarten” teacher but a co-founder of “Little Birds” teaching studio in Greensboro, NC.
Rich is an oarsman (who is a weekend coach for the Triangle Rowing Club in Raleigh) and also enjoys swimming, cooking, cycling, architecture and yoga. He also loves spending quality time with his son, Olsen who loves soccer, tennis, rock climbing, theater, fly fishing and cello.
Approach to Worship
My approach to worship and worship leadership, as an artist and musician is one that is rooted in scripture and belief through experience, humility, encouragement, confidence, relevance, creativity, community, collaboration, dedication, and effort.
For centuries, we have been called and charged with putting worship at the center of all that we do in our faith communities. In its focus on worship, the church affirms particular things, lives a particular way, and has over the years gathered particular music and spaces to bless and nourish its life. Our liturgy says that “we sing with all the faithful of every time and place,” and we have a body of music and text (our “new” Glory to God hymnal) that helps us do that. It is also at times easy for worship to become a playlist of familiarity, but the Biblical witness and our own experience tell us that God usually has the playlist of creation on “shuffle” mode: The Songs of Life come at us with the wonder, challenge, and disturbance of surprise.
In my opinion, healthy worshipping congregations hear and sing music from “both sides” of the spectrum; that is, music written or adapted for the church’s worship specifically, as well as music originating from other directions, perhaps as spiritual offering but not necessarily with an eye to religious ritual. At the same time, it is true that certain music and texts DO belong particularly to the church’s worship. We may listen to the organ only at church, for instance, but that is no strike against the organ any more than listening to sermons only at church is a strike against sermons.
Worship leadership is something that I am very passionate about and have spent many years critically thinking about in terms of how we humans - broken with faults, sin and disturbance - lead our worshipping communities in faithful, honest, authentic and creative ways to honor God and one another. This, I believe, is done through heavy doses of humility, collaboration, flexibility, grace, strength, intentional listening, courage, and continuing education.
