Presbyterian Association of Musicians launches its first podcast
‘Sounding Board’ is for those ‘who want to grow in their ability to lead God’s people with thoughtfulness, creativity and faithfulness’
LOUISVILLE — “Sounding Board,” a new podcast that the Presbyterian Association of Musicians will launch on Tuesday, aims to reach those who love the church, care about the quality and integrity of worship, and want to grow in their ability to lead God’s people with thoughtfulness, creativity and faithfulness.
Subsequent editions of “Sounding Board” will drop on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. Upcoming guests include the Rev. Dr. Ron Byars, Dr. Arreon Harley-Emerson, the Rev. Dr. Margaret Aymer, Joel Schoon-Tanis and Tom Trenney.
The first guest of hosts Jeremy Roberts and Sarah Abushakra is the Rev. CeCe Armstrong, Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly and the associate pastor at St. James Presbyterian Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Find “Sounding Board” on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
The podcast is designed for worship leaders, church musicians, pastors, choir directors, seminary students, music educators, creative artists serving in congregational settings, and anyone engaged in planning, leading or imagining worship. “We aim to reach those who love the church, care about the quality and integrity of worship and want to grow in their ability to lead God’s people with thoughtfulness, creativity and faithfulness,” PAM said.
“Sounding Board” began as a collaborative effort within PAM to “create a resource that meets worship leaders where they are — busy, curious, passionate and hungry for connection.”
PAM says it recognized the need for a format that would:
- Provide ongoing formation between conferences
- Lift up the voices of leaders, practitioners, and thinkers in church music
- Respond to questions coming from congregations
- Create a space for honest, grace-filled conversations about worship.
Each episode aims to:
- Explore issues facing worship leaders
- Highlight creativity and best practices in church music
- Tell stories from practitioners doing meaningful work
- Offer encouragement, ideas and resources
- Keep worship anchored in theological depth, pastoral care and artistic excellence.
The hosts posted a 32-minute conversation last week to introduce themselves and their vision for the podcast. Roberts is a worship leader, musician and educator who has long served in the PAM community. Abushakra is a conductor, educator and church musician with a passion for nurturing spiritual formation through music. With help from Media Pros Productions, they began recording installments of “Sounding Board” last month at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
“I did not have podcaster on my 2026 vision board,” Roberts said.
Both traced their musical and faith histories during their introductory conversation. “My church let me start leading [music in] worship with I was 13 or 14,” Abushakra said. “Before I knew it, I was playing every week.”
When she was a freshman studying piano at Coastal Carolina University, a faculty member told her a “nice Presbyterian church nearby” was looking for a pianist. “I knew nothing about the Presbyterian Church [back then], Abushakra said, “but I did know on Wednesday nights they had a meal and would feed this poor college student.” That church was Celebration Presbyterian Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which Abushakra would serve for 12 years over two separate stints.
“It was the perfect first church for me,” she said.
At one point, a guest preacher asked if she’d ever attended PAM’s Worship & Music Conference at Montreat Conference Center. “I went for the first time in 2015,” Abushakra said. “I mark that year as a real turning point in faith and musical formation, and it changed the trajectory of my life.”
Roberts is a cradle Presbyterian and the son of a retired PC(USA) pastor. “I was born three weeks before my dad graduated from Princeton Seminary,” he said. “He’s always said he doesn’t remember his seminary graduation.”
His father felt called to inner-city ministry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Roberts grew up singing gospel music in the children’s and youth choir. “We might have sung a gospel song and then gone straight to “Holy, Holy, Holy!” he said. “I loved growing up in that mix of musical styles. It was a beautiful way to first experience church and God.”
As a middle schooler, he accepted an invitation to accompany one of the church choirs for a few minutes each Sunday. “I tell people [my musical career] was like a snowball from there,” he said, “rolling down the hill and picking up steam.”
In high school, he asked the church organist about her practice habits. The church manse he and his family lived in was next to the church, and so this organist invited Roberts to come to the church on a Saturday morning where she’d show him some rehearsal techniques.
“That sparked my interest in the organ, and I’ve always been in love with congregational singing,” he said. He completed his undergraduate degree, then earned a master’s degree from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, where he took courses in both the Old and New Testaments, systematic theology and pastoral care. “I’m so grateful for how they melded that education,” he said.
“People have seen things in us and have given us opportunities,” Abushakra noted. “We get to talk to a lot of great guests on this podcast. We touch on our responsibility to give opportunities to others who may not see the talent that they have.”
“CeCe is our first guest. It’s such a great conversation,” Roberts said. “There’s lots of great stuff to come.”
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