Some people study music; Marshall Haning lives it, teaches it, and offers it back to God every Sunday. As an Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Florida, Marshall spends his weekdays shaping the next generation of choral music educators, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in choral music education, research methods, and related topics. But when Sunday morning arrives, all of that expertise finds its truest home — leading our congregation in worship. For Marshall, music in the sanctuary is never a performance; it’s an offering.
Before his collegiate teaching career, Marshall taught high school choir and music theory in the public schools of North Carolina. He holds degrees from Case Western Reserve University, the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, and Kent State University. His research interests range from music education curricula to informal and nonformal approaches to teaching music, nonperformance music courses, and assessment in music education. He is well-published in scholarly journals and frequently presents at state, national, and international music education conferences. He is also in demand as a choral clinician and adjudicator, having served across the United States and in Africa, Australia, and Europe.
Marshall’s church music ministry didn’t begin at FBC. He has led worship and music at Church in Silver Lake in Silver Lake, Ohio; Hay Street United Methodist Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Westlake United Methodist Church in Westlake, Ohio. Each of those congregations helped shape a worship leader who understands that the most important instrument in any sanctuary is the gathered voice of God’s people singing together. We are grateful that God brought Marshall’s gifts — and his heart — to FBC Gainesville.