Adler Ministry Group: Words

Music Notes: Guard My Heart

Michael and Linda Adler have long been veterans in the Christian music industry. The Minister of Music & Worship at Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Michael and his wife have recorded as members of TRUTH as well as with acclaimed artists like Sandi Patti and Dennis Jernigan. They have been a part of the Oral Roberts Television Ministry, Promise Keepers and Billy Graham Crusades. Until recently, however, the Adlers, who have been married 24 years, had never recorded an album by themselves. Celebrating the release of their first duo album Guard My Heart, they will lead a special Easter worship service at

Guard My Heart includes two original songs the Adlers wrote together and hymns like "How Deep the Father's Love," which Michael rearranged with a unique folk sound. One of the songs that touches the couple most, "Ten Again," explores how looking back at their four children often makes them wish they could experience the freedoms of childhood again. The song resolves with the realization that it's not youth that allows new opportunities with God but simply the willingness to step out in faith. "At whatever age I am, I can begin again," Michael explains.

The Adler's vision for the music at this month's worship gathering, which is titled "God and Man at Table: an Easter Observance of the Lord's Supper," is peaceful and reflective. "It will be a worship-driven Lord's Supper service directed toward the Passion Week in a very intimate, candle-lit room," Michael explains. "We are looking forward to making this season even more meaningful by creating a special worship environment."

ChristWay was recently privileged to have Michael Adler join us for our annual Music Ministry Seminar. Prior to the Seminar I had heard great things about Michael and his gifting, but he far exceeded our expectations in his professionalism, knowledge, and sincerity. Michael directed a group vocal improvement session and our vocalists are still talking about it. They are employing the techniques that he introduced and often request that he return for more instruction and inspiration. We will invite Michael Adler back and our goal will be to make sure that as many vocalists as possible benefit from his great teaching and effective ministry.


.......words from the heart.

Devin Stephenson
Worship Pastor
ChristWay Church of God

Dear Michael,

Your "Ten Principles..." which appeared in... CHURCH MUSICIAN TODAY was far and away the best document of its kind which I have ever seen in 25 years of music ministry. Would you be so kind as to allow us to reprint it for the music team at First Family Church here in
metro Kansas City? We would, of course, give you credit for it, and be
eternally grateful.

Lyndell Leatherman, instrumental music director

I knew they would be impressed! Yes, they were BLESSED! You two are truly gifted, attractive and effective. I cannot imagine anyone present not being moved by "The Prayer" and Patriots' Dream of America the Beautiful; then; another powerful blessing at lunch - Michael's God Bless America! Thank you both for making the term and meaning come alive in His name.

Our district closes its conferences with the annual business meeting required of us by Rotary International. One of our traditional and pleasant tasks includes the approval of a variety of resolutions pertaining to recognition and appreciation of those individuals and organizations that contributed significantly to the conference's success. It will be my pleasure to sign and forward your formal certificates of appreciation separately and soon. Yes, we are fans!
Please stay in touch and know that Lorrie and I along with the hundreds of Rotarians and guests present at the Pell City Center will be forever grateful for your talented participation and loving message so beautifully presented. Lorrie and I remain in awe of your great voices and the incredible strength of your presentations.

Warmest regards,

Michael and Linda not only have wonderful talent, but they have hearts
for God and people. They recently led the worship music for our Summer
Celebration with passion and purpose. They are folks you never tire of
listening to and worshiping with. We look forward to their return real
soon.


Blessings, Larry Gore
Administrative Pastor
Santuck Baptist Church

Go to YouTube and enter any of the following in the YouTube search bar:
-"the Prayer" Adler
-"O Holy Night" Shades Mountain
"12 Days' Shades Mountain
"miracle" shades Mountain

September 16, 2008 Hey Michael and Linda,

We enjoyed having you both at FBC MIddleburg for our choir and orchestra retreat. The worship concert was absolutely inspiring and a great time of refreshing for all. You both are amazingly gifted and helped us to enjoy being together in the Lord's presence. Your work with the choir and worship team will pay dividends for years to come. On Sunday, everyone could tell we'd been on retreat with the Lord! Thank you for investing your hearts and God-given talents in us. We will be forever grateful and look forward to another opportunity in the future! Bless you and your family...

With love,
Jonathan Morrell
Assoc. Pastor of Worship
FBC Middleburg, FL

Twenty-four years in production is how one might describe “Guard My Heart,” the newly released CD by Michael and Linda Adler. Michael Adler has been minister of music and worship at Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, in Birmingham Baptist Association since 2001.
The recording process is not new to the Adlers but being the focus of the project is. The couple has recorded as members of Truth and alongside Christian music giants such as Sandi Patti, Day of Discovery, Dennis Jernigan and others. They’ve participated in countless church recordings as well. But when asked, “Do you have a record of just the two of you?,” they had to answer no.
After 24 years of leading worship and performing together in a partnership of ministry, the Adlers felt the time was right for a duet project.
“God has blessed us with a broadened platform as we are now contracted with LifeWay to serve as worship leaders for their Festivals of Marriage conferences, and now it is finally time for us to broaden our ministry by producing a CD,” he explained.
Linda Adler described “Guard My Heart” as an “eclectic mix” designed “to minister to people in their everyday lives.” The CD includes 11 songs of various styles including a touch of bluegrass, gospel, classical and pop. She said their cover of Nichole Nordeman’s “Gratitude” has especially spoken to her heart in the wake of hurricanes that devastated the Gulf Coast.
The couple wrote three songs on the CD. Michael Adler described how “Ten Again” came about. “One of my quiet places in life is as I’m mowing the lawn. One day, not long ago, I was deep in thought pushing the mower up an incline, and our 9-year-old, Jake, came up to me and mouthed that he had something to tell me. He was so excited about a new bug he, his brother and friends had found. I smiled, took in the wonder of the new bug and watched them run back to explore more unknown worlds. ‘Ten Again’ was born in my mind at that moment. The lyrics and melody poured out of me over a two-week period, and Linda added some beautiful melodic ideas.”
The Shades Mountain Baptist Church Worship Choir is also featured on three songs. While the Adlers traveled to Nashville to record at Dick and Mel Tunney’s Dream in Color Studios, the Shades Mountain Baptist choir recorded in the comfort of home in the church’s new music suite. Michael Adler described the choir “as the most faithful and consistent group of singers we have ever worked with.” The CD had its debut Oct. 9 as Michael and Linda Adler and the choir shared selections during the morning worship services.
The couple is also looking forward to the new opportunities brought by LifeWay’s Festivals of Marriage. The Adlers will lead worship at four conferences over the next six months. “While we’re still doing music, it will be a different kind of ministry for us,” Linda Adler noted, adding that she looks forward to future opportunities where she and her husband can share insights from their marriage in workshop settings.
Michael Adler, a Minneapolis native, and Linda Adler, a Phoenix native, met somewhere in the middle of those two distant cities when they both attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. He recalled that they were paired up on the Oral Roberts television show because they were the two shortest cast members.
That pairing turned into a marriage that has lasted 23 years and produced four sons, Luke, Chris, Jake and Brady.
For more information, visit www.adlerworshipministries.com.

Church worship workshop set in Birmingham

With 23 years in music ministry, Michael Adler believes that becoming a servant leader and empowering other musicians creates a more fulfilling worship service for the entire church congregation.

Adler, the Minister of Music and Worship at Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, in Birmingham Association has also learned the importance of offering music that attracts people from various age and interest groups. “Many churches are doing one hour of contemporary and one hour of traditional church and you are basically making two churches,” he said. “My premise is that you can do it all together and suddenly the body of Christ becomes a body together again.”

Because church congregations usually span a broad range of ages and interests, Adler believes blended worship services would reach a wider audience. “The question is often asked, ‘Are you a praise and worship church?’” he noted. “Every church should be a praise and worship church. It is not a matter of style, it’s a matter of are you worshiping and are you praising.”

On April 25–26, Alabama Baptist music ministers will have an opportunity to learn practical tips to strengthen their blended worship programs at the “Audience of One” worship workshop at Shades Mountain.

Co-sponsored by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions’ office of worship leadership and church music, the conference will include daytime breakout sessions on worship leadership, technical ministry, student choirs, instrumentalists and children’s worship.

Workshops will be led by church music professionals including the University of Mobile’s Roger Breland, founder of contemporary Christian group TRUTH, and Kim Noblitt, CEO and founder of G3 Worship, a worship resource for churches.

Conference attendees will also experience a concert featuring Shades Mountain’s 150-voice worship choir and orchestra and Ram Corps, the University of Mobile’s 21-piece brass and percussion ensemble.

Unlike most worship conferences, Audience of One will seek to reach churches that want to offer traditional and contemporary songs during worship. “We are going to be napologetically blended,” Adler said. “Everything we do has a contemporary heart to it because we want to remain relevant to this generation, but we don’t want to jettison the spiritual depth of our traditional hymns.”

He added, “We want to give that church in the middle demographic tools to help build bridges so that praise and worship is not a tally sheet of hymns versus choruses —simply praise and simply worship.”

Sessions will include information on making musicians and pastors partners in worship, working with student ministries, using various instruments in worship, giving stages a contemporary look and solving sound system problems.

Keith Hibbs, an associate in the SBOM worship leadership and church music office, said, “I think the title of the conference is really the best explanation. The phrase comes from Kierkegaard, a German theologian, who believed that worship was a drama in which God is the audience of one —meaning worship is for God’s benefit.”

“Everything we are doing is going to have a contemporary flavor but we are not going to throw out the old,” Adler said. “We hope when music ministers leave that they will (have) an entire new set of tools to help their church participate in worship across all demographics.”

For more information on the workshop, visit www.aooworship workshop.org or the Audience of One Web site at www.audience-of-one.org to hear audio samples. The registration deadline is April 11.

GUARD MY HEART Is a work of great love and personal expression, as evidenced by the choice of titles. It is also evident in the vocals, which seem very personal and warm. DICK TUNNEY is the producer and also does the keyboard work, which is of exceptional high quality. THE NASHVILLE STRING MACHINE plays the orchestrations. All the tunes on the album were written by other professionals except the album title song, cut #6, GUARD MY HEART, and cut #9, TEN AGAIN, both written by Linda and
Michael. These are probably among the best tunes on the album. They
are sensitive and delicately written. Also included on this fine CD is
THE PRAYER, by Carole Bayer Sager/David Foster. It is a very tender and
emotional rendition.