After 39 episodes, podcast host Ben Brody hosts his final episode. He reflects on the conversations, learnings, and inspiration he's found since his first interview conducted in 2016.

Benjamin Brody serves as Chair of the Music Department, Professor of Music and Director of Church Music Studies at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. At Whitworth, he teaches courses in church music and music appreciation, and serves as Director of Campus Worship.

A life member of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, Professor Brody served as President (2020-22), and convened the working group that produced Singing Welcome: Songs and Hymns for Refugees and Immigrants (2017). A hymn tune composer, Professor Brody has authored two collections of hymn tunes, Come, O Holy House, And Worship: Hymns and Songs of Benjamin Brody (GIA, 2017) and At the Weaving of Creation: Fifty New Tunes by Benjamin Brody (GIA, 2024 forthcoming). His hymn tunes have appeared in over a dozen hymnals and published hymn collections.

Professor Brody holds Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in choral conducting from the University of Washington, and studied music education and church music as an undergraduate at Whitworth.

Guest Adam A. Perez earned a doctor of theology in liturgical studies with a secondary area in religion and the arts from Duke University Divinity School. He holds a B.A. in music education from Trinity Christian College (Palos Heights, IL) and a master of arts in religion and music from Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School (New Haven, CT). After finishing his Th.D., he served as a postdoctoral associate and as music and arts consultant to Goodson Chapel at Duke Divinity School.

A euphonium player by trade, Dr. Perez has served in various worship and music contexts spanning a wide variety of traditions as planner and leader; Adam has served in choral settings as a conductor and tenor and as a guitar-wielding contemporary worship leader. Dr. Perez also hosts the podcast The Worship Nerds that connects worship leaders with worship scholarship.

As a historian, Dr. Perez’s research is focused on the development of praise and worship theology and music, especially its transmission beyond Pentecostal and Charismatic communities and into global mainstream practice. His scholarly work has appeared in the journals Liturgy, Religions, The Hymn, The Journal of the Society for American Popular Music, Reformed Journal, Christian Scholar’s Review, among other places. He is a contributing author to the following volumes: the Oxford Handbook on Music and Christian Theology (forthcoming), the Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Liturgical Theology (forthcoming), Flow: The Ancient Way to Do Contemporary Worship (Abingdon, 2020), and Essays on the History of Contemporary Praise and Worship (Pickwick, 2021). His current collaborative research project on worship leaders and the worship music industry can be found at www.worshipleaderresearch.com. 

Mark A. Miller has a passion for building community through music and believes that everyone is a child of God. He adheres to Cornel West’s belief that “Justice is what love looks like in public.”

A graduate of Yale and Juilliard, Mark is Professor of Church Music, Director of Chapel, and Composer-in-Residence at Drew University. He is also a Lecturer in Sacred Music at Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music and Divinity School, and Minister of Music of Christ Church in Summit, New Jersey. Previously, he provided musical leadership for Marble Collegiate Church and The Riverside Church (both in New York City).

Guest Daniel Charles Damon (b. 1955) is an internationally published writer of hymn texts and tunes. Until his recent retirement, he was pastor of First United Methodist Church in Richmond, California. Dan is Associate Editor of Hymnody for Hope Publishing Company. He is also a jazz pianist and has played in many hotels and clubs in the San Francisco Bay area. He was recently named a Fellow of The Hymn Society.

Dan has presented his work at national conferences of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada and the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. His paper "A Cry for Justice in Hymnody" appeared in the Autumn 2010 edition of The Hymn.

Guest Richard Leach is a leading contemporary writer of words for hymns. Using traditional forms, he creates striking new texts with biblical and theological integrity. His work is included in hymnals and hymnal supplements from a wide spectrum of denominations including the Church of Scotland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Christian Reformed Church, the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA and others; and in many independent hymnals and hymnal supplements.

Guest Hannah C. Brown has served as Pastor in the United Church of Christ since 2007 and began publishing hymn texts with GIA in 2022. She is interested in cultivating worship experiences that are heart-centered, interactive, and accessible to folks of a wide range of ages and abilities. She has a passion for creative and faithful adaptations of church structures and traditions.

Interview with Adam Tice who most recently served as the text editor for the 2020 Mennonite hymnal, Voices Together and is now the Editor for Congregational Song at GIA Publications, Inc.

Interview with Seaver College of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California Professor of Religion David Lemley. He is the recent author of the book "Becoming What We Sing: Formation through Contemporary Worship Music".

Interview with composer, author, and clinician Kate Williams who serves as the Vice President of Sacred Music at GIA Publications, Inc.

Interview with composer and Assistant Director for Worship and Chapel at Baylor University, Carlos Colón.

Interview with organist, hymn text writer, and hymnal editor Alan Hommerding.