It's all very well saying don't use CDs but beggars cannot be choosers. If an organist IS available, it's possible the church can't afford to pay the going rate - which if you're in the Musicians Union, in the UK, can be phenomenal!

It is perfectly likely that there is no-one in the congregation who feels confident enough in their playing to accompany a choir or the congregation.

I've lead congregations in singing, but never instrumentally. I have far more confidence in my voice than I do in my ability to play an instrument.

I've been in a choir for a total of 34 years and sung to many varieties of instrument - as someone who was used to singing along with an organ, it was very difficult to make the change to a guitar and it took a lot of practice. The change to orchestra is equally confusing after rehearsing with a piano for 3 months.

Certainly in the UK, it's a vicious circle - there is a finite number of church organists available and they're hard to find and keep, so fewer churches are using organ music, choosing to have a guitar group or similar. Because of this, people are not learning to play the church organ, but instead are playing guitars and electric keyboards - none of which can be even vaguely described as a church organ. In London, the swirling, heaving Metropolis, you'd expect there to be more than three people offering organ lessons... The Incorporated Association of Organists lists 6,000 members but not all of them are organists. Divide that by the 16,000 Anglican churches, then they don't go far. They go even less far if you add in all the other denominations.

LTS