Hi,

My name is Walter Schroedter. (Walter is my middle name; my first name is Detlef.) I was born into a Christian home in Edmonton, Alberta. My father was a pastor, and my mother played the church organ and piano. From the earliest time music was a part of our lives. My three siblings and I were made to take piano lessons early on. My mother was my first teacher.

At age 14 I started to play piano in Sunday-school, and as my playing improved, I started accompanying the mixed choir and playing for a girls sextet, with my brother playing the bass guitar. I started singing in the mixed and male choirs of the church, and also sang in the school choir of Sir John Oliver High-School in Vancouver, B.C.

I  continued taking piano lessons until I was 18 years old.  During my years at Bible College, I served for a year as pianist for the College Choir, as well as for the College Male Quartett. During the summer of that year I went on tour with both the choir and the quartett. The choir also cut a record that year (yes, it was records in those days :)).

Since then I have had many opportunities to put my musical talents to use in the churches I have attended or ministered in. For many years now, I have been accompanying congregational singing on the piano, have played for mixed, male and women choirs, and have accompanied soloists.

Perhaps one of my most memorable experiences was directing a musical with a youth choir composed of young people from various churches at the closing meeting of the Association Meetings of the Manitoba Baptist Association in Winnipeg, in the 1980’s.

I continue to accompany choirs, and congregational singing in my present home church in Hamilton, ON, Canada.

Being an accompanist gives me great pleasure. Serving the Lord with my accompanying gives me great pleasure. I am thankful to God for the musical talent he has given me.

I also enjoy congregational singing. I have had many pleasurable experiences of worshiping the Lord together with other believers. One of the notable experiences was singing “How great thou art” at a seminar in Seattle, Washington with about 1000 pastors. Another memorable occasion was singing together with many other pastors and their wives at a Billy Graham School of Evangelism meeting in Toronto, ON. I remember us singing “Shine, Jesus Shine”. There is something powerful about worshiping God together in song with such a multitude of believers. Without a doubt, this is a foretaste of heaven.

But big crowds are not necessary to make congregational singing pleasurable. Having said that, good congregational singing does not happen automatically. When it happens there are usually certain factors that are present. To identify these features is what this site is all about.

I delight in worshiping God in music in fellowship with other believers. I believe that God has enabled me to identify some of those factors which can make those occasions consistently pleasurable, for the glory of God. My hope is that I am able to convey these principles or pointers in a Christ-like, loving manner.

I am open to any input and additional insights in order to improve this site. My desire is that this site will be of benefit to the body of Christ at large.