LPM Curriculum Online

The LPM curriculum evolves with time to meet the changing needs of church musicians. We will keep you updated on future revisions.

In the past, LPM coordinators were given the "green LPM book" with the curriculum in it. As you might imagine, it was a very large three-ring binder that was difficult to transport. The board felt that online delivery of this curriculum was a natural evolution for us. When future revisions are made, they can be more easily and quickly distributed to coordinators.

As of May 2009, the curriculum is available from Ellen Johnston. Call Ellen if you have questions (804-353-1819; ellenjohnston95@hotmail.com).

Other supporting materials (such as "Starting & Running a Local LPM Program" and accompanying handouts) are available on the Documents page of this website.

In addition to the overviews of the various courses that have been available for some time, now short samples of each course can be viewed. Click here to see the overviews and samples.

Revised vs. Rewritten
It has been brought to the board’s attention that there seems to be some confusion concerning some of the LPM curriculum. Hopefully this notice will clarify things for all.

In anticipation of being made available through Leader Resources (leaderresources.org) the entire first edition (the giant green binder) LPM curriculum was revised in 2006-2007. Just what does this mean? To include all partners in LPM, each course was made more ecumenical by taking out specific references to Episcopal and Lutheran resources -- such as using only Hymn tune names and not hymnal numbers. Standards and benchmarks for better tracking of actual learning, and teaching strategies to assist the instructor and involve students more were also included. Additional cross-references, indexes, and resources were provided.

The following courses did not go through that process but have been totally rewritten: this means that they have not only new authors, but also new subject content and more concise material. These courses are: Liturgy, Hymnody and Philosophy. Standards and benchmarks were also included in these new courses to conform to the other courses format.

Therefore to teach the latest versions of the LPM curriculum, one needs to be using those available from Leader Resources. Use of previous courses (those with a copyright before 2006), particularly the three rewritten, does not allow for LPM certification.

One point of confusion needs to clarified. The LPM curriculum is being offered for online delivery at this time. LPM classes are NOT being taught online at this time. The national board has discussed offering the option of taking LPM classes online, and is beginning to evaluate possibilities of such classes.