Michael Schmid

I serve as lead pastor of St. John's Lutheran in Napa, California. I thank my Lord for the talents he has given me in piano, keyboard, and organ. I am also thankful for the privilege of being able to create new songs for the church's use. My songs are reflective of my faith, and frequently arise from my personal experiences of God's working in my life. Most often I start with a biblical passage and the idea of a tune, and then it begins to flow from there. In am interested not only in creating new works, but presenting some of the great texts and hymns of Christian worship in a new way.

One of my songs, �Living Stones� is included in �The Best of the Best in Contemporary Praise & Worship Songbook,� published by Fellowship Ministries.(www.thefellowship.com ). My song �Ablaze,� written for the current Mission Movement in the LCMS by the same name, was performed at the 2004 Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) Leadership Conference for leaders of the LCEF and the LCMS. "Ablaze" is included in the new Ablaze DVD "Crossing the Jordan" put out by LCMS World Mission, and is offered as an Ablaze resource on their website. "Embrace" was the theme song of the 2006 California-Nevada-Hawaii District (of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) Convention). Another song, �Baptized in His Name� was used at a Hymn Festival at an District Convention of the Iowa East District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

I started True Vine Music (www.truevinemusic.com) as a means of distributing my songs to the church for free. I am new to Sibelius and am in the process of converting my songs to the Sibelius format. You can find all of my songs on my other website.