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SECTIONALS BY SCHEDULE
Below are the breakout sessions, which we call “sectionals,” for our 2025 Annual Conference. These sessions are offered by a variety of presenters on a variety of topics.
Jump to a session:
Session A (Monday 2:00 pm)
“Indian Melodies” by Thomas Commuck
Carol Scott
This Sectional will be streamed live for Digital Conference participants.
The first known published music by a Native American composer, “Indian Melodies” (1845) by Thomas Commuck is a collection of 120 hymn tunes. The presentation will include Commuck’s story as a Narragansett Indian, a Christian and a member of the Brothertown Indians, descendants of several New England native tribes who formed a new community. Ten of Commuck’s tunes will be introduced, some with appropriate historic texts, and some with contemporary words. We’ll discuss the style of the music, the role of Thomas Hastings as editor, and the potential of Commuck’s tunes for church use, and as inspiration for arrangers and composers.
New Songs by Kate Williams, and more from Unbound
Kate Williams & Adam M. L. Tice, FHS
Kate Williams has become a regular collaborator for writers including Adam Tice, David Bjorlin, and Hannah Brown. This sectional will feature her tune collection, as well as other new texts and tunes from a variety of writers and composers published on GIA’s Unbound platform.
Fishing on the Other Side, new texts by Lydia Pedersen; Water Drops from the Living Well, new hymn tunes by Iteke Prins
Lydia Pedersen & Iteke Prins
Sponsored by Virginia & Mark Meyer
Fishing on the Other Side, new hymn texts by Lydia Pedersen. An eclectic collection of hymn texts written in response to specific occasions or pastoral needs.
Water Drops from the Living Well by Iteke Prins. A collection of hymn tunes set to texts by Hymn Society members, E. Downing, J. Reynolds, M. Bittner, D. Merrick, F. Crider, and J. Thornburg.
Singing Ecumenism: Editing the Duke Chapel Hymnal
Zebulon Highben & Kelly Dobbs-Mickus
Sponsored by David English
Singing together in worship is an expression of Christian unity. The study of congregational song is an exploration of Christian identity. Who are we, together, when we gather for worship? How are we formed and shaped by the songs that we sing? What, in fact, are the songs that we sing, considering that cherished ecumenical hymns have myriad textual and musical variations across traditions, and that different Christian traditions have peculiar core repertoires of assembly song?
Every hymnal, in a sense, represents an effort to respond to such questions. The Chapel Hymnal: An Ecumenical Collection of Congregational Song, forthcoming from Duke University Chapel and MorningStar Music/ECS Publishing Group, seeks to respond to these questions through the lens of Duke Chapel’s identity as a vibrant center of ecumenical Christian worship rooted in the love of God in Jesus Christ. Assembly song at Duke Chapel centers the Biblical psalms and the broad communal core of Christian hymnody, while also celebrating the particularities of diverse Christian traditions and cultures through inclusion of their unique hymnic repertoire in worship.
This sectional will: describe the process used to establish robust editorial criteria for The Chapel Hymnal, and share those criteria; highlight the hymnal’s advisory panel of scholar-practitioners (including numerous Fellows and members of THS) representing diverse Christian traditions; introduce the hymnal’s psalter, newly translated and pointed for chanting; model the hymnal’s potentially novel paradigm for presenting songs from the global South; and review the research used to determine core repertoire—both ecumenical and “tradition specific”—featured in The Chapel Hymnal.
Here I am. Where Are You? The spiritual practice of discernment in music ministry
Tracy Pratt Stuchbery
Sponsored by Karl Moyer
How do we approach the work of discernment in our music ministry? How do we do the work of discerning, with humility, the unique musical landscape of the communities that we find ourselves serving? What is our role in shaping that landscape? How do we respond to the growing diversity present in our pews, culturally, theologically and in expressions of faith?
The holy work of discernment requires spending time in a place of questioning and unknowing. It is liminal space, and it is often uncomfortable.
This breakout session is an invitation to consider Discernment as a spiritual practice in our work as music directors. With prompts from the facilitator, participants will take time to consider where they are theologically, spiritually and musically (Here I Am) and then to consider where the community is (Where Are You?).
This breakout session hopes to provide encouragement and generate ideas for those who find themselves in a place of discernment where their worshipping community is being transformed and changed; where the past no longer is and the future is yet to be. Participants are encouraged to come prepared to share their stories, experiences, and questions.
Singing EarthCare in a Climate Crisis
C. Michael Hawn, FHS
This sectional will provide an overview of creation theology from the time of Francis of Assisi (“All Creatures of Our God and King”) through the most recent hymns, demonstrating the changes in theology reflected in various eras and cultures.
Songs of Resistance: Voices of Victory, Peace, and Protest in the Bible and Today
Amanda C. Miller
This session will introduce attendees to my upcoming book and study, Songs of Resistance: The Bible’s Voices of Victory, Peace, and Protest. It pulls together my vocational experience as a biblical scholar, a minister, a musician, and an activist. Through the study of six different genres of biblical song, we will explore the role of musical and poetic passages throughout the Bible, and in particular how they connect with different aspects of lived human experience, both ancient and modern. From songs of worship and lament, to poems of love and proclamations of a more just social order, this study will listen intently to the voices of our ancestors in faith, and guide readers to consider how this legacy of music and community carries on today. The presentation will include some musical selections, as well as time for discussion and a Q&A period. The table of contents is as follows:
Introduction: The Power of Music in Cultures Ancient and Modern
Ch. 1: Singing the Stories of War: The Song of Deborah and the Song of the Sea
Ch. 2: Singing in Defeat: Psalms and Lamentations
Ch. 3: Singing of Delight and Desire: The Song of Songs
Ch. 4: Singing in the Labor of Birth: The Mothering Songs of Hannah and Mary
Ch. 5: Singing a New Community: The Christ-Hymn of Philippians 2
Ch. 6: Singing Through the Apocalypse: The Songs of Revelation
Conclusion: Singing a Brighter World into Being
Session B (Tuesday 11:15 am)
Pastoral Musician Burnout: Faith Crisis, Clinical Diagnosis, or Both?
Kensley Behel
This Sectional will be streamed live for Digital Conference participants.
Pastoral musicians are an understudied and underserved population. A recent study found that 83.8% of American pastoral musicians experienced one or more factor of burnout. Some research claims that burnout is the result of a lack of faith and even a myth, while other research has found burnout to be the result of many factors including working with “ill-behaved clergy.” Can faith, community, and/or singing help with burnout? We’ll discuss the latest research to find out. Following this presentation, participants will be able to identify burnout, discuss the signs of burnout, and implement basic tools to prevent burnout.
We Sing with Holy Mary
Alan Hommerding
This new collection of hymns and songs honoring the Mother of God is ecumenically sensitive and broad in scriptural/theological scope. Building on inherited scriptural and liturgical texts, influences from more recent Mariological scholarship and reflection are also present, including a “Mary at the Margins” section. Diverse text writers and composers are represented throughout.
A Treasury of Faith, Lectionary Hymns, Old Testament, Series A, new tunes by Roy Hopp to texts by Gracia Grindal; We Gather Together new hymn texts by William Pasch
Roy Hopp & William Pasch
Sponsored by Martin Seltz in memory of John Ferguson
A set of new tunes by Roy Hopp set to Gracia Grindal’s comprehensive set of hymn texts based on the Old Testament lectionary texts of Series A.
A set of new texts by William Pasch with an appendix of tunes by both William Pasch and Robert J. Weaver.
Episcopal Cancionero
Gary Cox, Yuri Rodríguez & Laurie Zant
Sponsored by Peter Irvine
The Office of Latino Ministries of the Episcopal Church has produced a songbook which includes popular Latino song, traditional hymnody, liturgical music, and new compositions. It includes Spanish-language and bilingual (Spanish and English) songs. Participants will hear the rationale and history for this project of many years and will be invited to sing along with a diverse selection from the cancionero.
Joyfully Sing! A New Sacred Choral Music Education Curriculum for Children
Mark Doerries & Cynthia Berryman
Sponsored by Glen & Judy Brown Richardson
Joyfully Sing!, a new curriculum that teaches children to sing and read sacred music, combines the best practices of contemporary music education with the Church’s song. Developed over the past decade with the Notre Dame Children’s Choir at the University of Notre Dame, the curriculum is an ecumenical approach that weds a Kodály-inspired educational philosophy with sacred repertoire. Designed for children from preschool through high school, the incremental curriculum employs a sound-before-sight methodology where children gradually associate playful and reverent sacred melodies with notation.
To safeguard the artistic, intellectual, and social accomplishments of the Hungarian people, Zoltan Kodály, composer and music educator, advocated for children to be the stewards of the musical heritage found in their folk music. In sacred contexts, music transmits shared theology, ethics, and a sense of belonging across time. For over a millennium the Church entrusted the propagation of its sacred music to child choristers who sang Gregorian chant, the music of Palestrina, Bach, Mozart, Fauré, Britten, Vaughan Williams, and many more. Texts included liturgical settings of the mass to seminal theological tenets such as Ubi Caritas (Where charity and love prevail), Sicut Cervus (Like as the hart desireth the waterbrook), and If Ye Love Me.
Joyfully Sing! seeks to elevate the role of children singing the sacred music of the Church and to encourage congregations to invest in the musical acculturation of children and young adults. Artistic Director and Director of Education Mark Doerries and Cynthia Berryman will introduce the curriculum to Hymn Society attendees and discuss ways to adapt it to the unique needs of each congregation.
Singing for our Lives: Music, Spirituality, and Activism Among Queer Communities During the Height of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
Thomas Kurtz & Jim Mitulski
Drawing on years of research, teaching, and speaking on topics at the intersection of music, Queer history, and activism, Reverend Jim Mitulski and musicologist Thomas Kurtz will present a lecture/performance and Q&A discussion exploring how the relationship between music and spirituality literally and figuratively served as a voice for social change among Queer communities that faced systemic exclusion during the dark years of the AIDS crisis. Dr. Kurtz will begin by investigating how modes of musical expression including sound, lyrics, and performance practice are inextricably linked to understanding history as activism among Queer communities. Following this portion, Rev. Mitulski will speak on his experience as the Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church San Francisco between 1986-2000 while focusing on the musical influences during his tenure. The latter half of this presentation will highlight three church musicians who will perform excerpts and describe the impact of music-making during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Afterwards, the audience will participate in a Q&A session with Dr. Kurtz, Rev. Dr. Mitulski, and musicians.
Music with Others: A Sacramental Understanding of Ethics and Justice as Performed in Congregational Music
Megan Mash
Sponsored by C. Michael Hawn, FHS
This sectional addresses all aspects of this year’s conference theme. The primary question I will address is, how does performance studies inform the ways we live out our baptismal vocation through congregational music to advocate for justice? Baptism will be the aspect of faith that helps center this conversation. Baptism reminds us who God is calling us to be throughout our life. Our baptismal vows give us an identity and a vocation, that when lived out, calls us to be advocates for justice. The use of performance studies allows us to examine how we perform congregational music, through the lens of our baptismal vocation, to create pathways to advocate for ethics and justice in solidarity with those in the community. We cannot be advocates for justice without being in conversation with our community. Congregational music is a formative, community activity. An expanded understanding of congregational music incorporates a multitude of ways to be an active participant, recognizes the different actions performing encompasses, and explores the many ways that participation in worship makes meaning. What music should we be singing to ensure it aligns with our mission, promotes justice, and expresses love to God and our neighbors? This question will be explored in a way that provides practical information for performing congregational song and singing specific examples. The holy act of singing unites communities together in a unique way to advocate for justice because of the vocation received through the sacrament of baptism.
Session C (Tuesday 2:00 pm)
Emulating Hispanic Styles on the Keyboard for Worship
Peter Kolar
This Sectional will be streamed live for Digital Conference participants.
Sponsored by Glen & Judy Brown Richardson
A vast majority of Hispanic liturgical repertoire is guitar-based, such that leading these songs entirely from the keyboard can be a daunting challenge. From cumbia and bolero to salsa and vallenato, Hispanic styles provide a captivating if not complex study in rhythmic and harmonic structures. This session provides a basic understanding of how these quintessential styles function and how they can be authentically emulated on the keyboard in a worship context. With knowledge of their inner workings, you’ll experience a variety of Latin-American styles modeled with fluent authenticity for your Spanish-singing congregations.
The Lay Of The Land: Up-To-Date Results from Worship Leader Research
Marc Jolicoeur & Adam Perez
Though the emergence of the term “Worship leader” (WL) is relatively recent (40–50 years), the term has become ubiquitous for describing persons who lead the musical portions of worship services, especially those that practice some form of contemporary praise and worship (CPW). Few research studies have examined worship leaders directly. What do WLs think about the songs they lead, the industries that provide those songs, and the WLs’ own role in the spiritual formation of their congregations? The Worship Leader Research team (WLR) has spent the last several years unpacking the results of a wide-ranging 2021 survey that looked into these questions with WLs from across North America. In this sectional, the WLR team will present emerging longitudinal results from a winter 2025 survey and explore new insights into WL mental health and wellness. The session will include a presentation of data as well as an opportunity for conversation about the implications for all church musicians.
A new supplement for the Episcopal Church
David Schaap
The Hymnal 1982 was published 40 years ago, and it’s been over 25 years since the church’s last official full supplement. Selah is stepping into this long gap to provide the church with a resource that provides the congregational song from the last decades that churches can use in their varied worship. Schaap, a decades-long Episcopal church musician as well as president/senior editor of Selah, has drawn from his extensive experience in both along with recommendations from a large pool of Episcopalians to create a collection that will let the church catch up to what most Hymn Society members already know: the church’s song is alive and well.
CRUMBS & BANQUETS: A Legacy of Sacred Song
Rusty Edwards
Let’s sing some songs from my new book, CRUMBS & BANQUETS: A Legacy of Sacred Song. The book will include some new hymns, plus older songs, co-written by Dave Brubeck, Peter Erskine, Shirley Murray, Carlton R. Young and more!
Reckoning with the Doctrine of Discovery Today: How Our Sacred Songs Can Move Us Towards Indigenous Solidarity
Conie Borchardt & Doe Hoyer
Sponsored by David English
In 2024, the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery and Music that Makes Community partnered together to release a playlist collection of paperless community singing songs for congregations and communities to sing and embody the work of repair and solidarity with Indigenous communities. In this workshop, we will share songs and stories from our Sacred Lands Playlist: Volume 1, and invite hymn writers to contribute to a second volume of sacred songs, Hymns for Sacred Lands, to be released in 2026.
The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery promotes an organizing model that recognizes the interrelatedness of cultural and structural change, towards growing the movement for Indigenous justice. Our playlist is a cultural change resource, to speak the truth about our shared history and integrate the values and vision of decolonization. Singing in this community-building way is intended to help strengthen our shared commitments to engage the work of repair and structural change organizing with joy, connection, and renewed purpose.
Music that Makes Community (MMC) practices communal song-sharing that inspires deep spiritual connection, brave shared leadership, and sparks the possibility of transformation in our world. We offer resources, training, and encouragement in the dynamic power of singing to connect others and ourselves. Rooted in both Christian contemplative and activist traditions, MMC envisions a liberative culture that empowers individuals and communities to claim and use the power of singing to heal our spirits, nurture our common lives, and work for justice. We aspire to create spaces that are laboratories of learning, discovery, and communal joy.
The Dissonance of Prophetic Preaching: Congregational Song as a Tool to Preach Social Justice While Maintaining the Unity of the Church
Stephen Fearing
Sponsored by James & Kathleen Hart Brumm
This sectional will explore the research findings of the presenter, whose D.Min. thesis utilized collaborative congregational song and hymn writing as a tool for preaching social justice while maintaining the unity of the church in divisive political times. The research was conducted during two four-week sermon series during the 2024 US Presidential Election. The first straddled Election Day and explored “Loving Your Neighbor in an Election Season” and the second was an Epiphany sermon series focused on the lack of affordable healthcare. Both sermon series included “home-grown” hymns written in collaboration with a scripture-study group at Rev. Fearing’s congregation in Greensboro, North Carolina, a left-leaning “purple” congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The findings will be presented along with a selection of hymns written for this research intervention. A Q&A will follow where we’ll share best practices for utilizing congregational song to be “repairers of the breach” in increasingly politically volatile contexts.
Local Community Hymnals are Different
Peter Rehwaldt
Sponsored by Joanne Reynolds
It’s one thing when a hymnal is prepared for a denomination or large community of believers, and something else entirely when a local congregation prepares a hymnal. This sectional will explore two such local projects: Bethphage Hymnal of 1922 crafted by the Swedish Lutheran leaders of Bethphage Mission, a facility to care for developmentally disabled children in Nebraska; and Mawl a Chân/Praise and Song of 1952, a Welsh/English language hymnal published by Welsh United Presbyterian Church of Detroit, MI. In addition to looking at the contents of each book, we will delve into the community context that made it important for these groups to publish their collections of hymns, both for themselves and for any other similar groups who might benefit from them.
Session D (Tuesday 3:30 pm)
The Unholy Act of Singing – Grosser Gott Wir Loben Dich: The Hymnal of National Socialism
Andreas Teich
This Sectional will be streamed live for Digital Conference participants.
Sponsored by Martin Tel
Our 2025 conference theme, “We Believe: Faith, Community, and the Holy Act of Singing” seeks to explore the core values of The Hymn Society. We believe that congregational song shapes faith, heals brokenness, transforms lives, and renews peace. But what if someone didn’t? What if a committee sought to create a hymnal which supported a dangerous political ideology?
Such is the case with Grosser Gott Wir Loben Dich, the 1941 hymnal of the German Christians, the Lutherans who aligned themselves with the policies of the National Socialist Party under Adolf Hitler. In this sectional, I will discuss the underlying theology behind the hymnal and the layout of the hymnal which drives that theology. Then, I will evaluate how the hymnal treats the hymns of Paul Gerhardt. I chose Gerhardt because he is the foremost hymn writer for German Lutherans.
This historical overview will serve to remind us that not every act of congregational singing is a holy act.
Singing Unity: Performing and Embracing our Ecumenical Call
David Anderson
Sponsored by C. Michael Hawn, FHS
Through the holy act of singing, pastoral musicians are at the forefront of being practitioners of oneness for their communities and beyond. This session examines our Christian call to unity and communion considering varied musical repertoires and corporate ecumenical prayer practices. A special preview of newly translated Taizé chants in English will be included.
New hymn tunes from Patrick Michaels
David Schaap & Patrick Michaels
Patrick Michaels has been a prolific writer of exceptional hymn tunes over his long career. His hymns—both texts and tunes—are found in a variety of denominational hymnbooks and hymnal supplements, and in his many single-author collections. This newest collection includes his tunes for the texts of contemporary poets including Richard Leach, Adam Tice, Mary Louise Bringle, David Bjorlin, Carl Daw, John Bell, Thomas Troeger, Ruth Duck, Shirley Erena Murray, and Brian Wren. Come and sing the inspirational and profound texts of these poets in lively and diverse and musical settings!
Sing the Journey Deep
Debbie Lou Ludolph & Kathryn Smith
Sponsored by Martin Seltz in memory of Lorraine Smith Brugh
Come explore Inshallah’s second songbook Sing the Journey Deep and reflect on the stories related to its 53 songs. Imagine these songs in rehearsal or worship, nurturing faith, building community, and celebrating the Presence of the One who is the Singer, the Singing and the Song. Consider how the organizational structure of this songbook: Opening to the Sacred, Dwelling in the Stories, and Living the Practice, might apply to your choir rehearsal, your worship practice, and your everyday life., affirming that singing together can be transformative. Discover the Holy in singing that stretches to meet the complicated times in which we live, toward the flourishing of all!
Songs of the Spirit: Exploring how Music Weaves Through Latin American Religious and Community Life
Horacio Vivares, Laura D’Angiola & Gerardo Oberman
In many Latin American cultures, music is not just an art form but a deeply embedded aspect of religious and communal life. Through communal singing, congregations create shared spiritual experiences, reinforce their collective identity, and navigate cultural and social dynamics. The relationship between music and communal life in Latin American churches reflects the broader interplay between faith, culture, and community.
This workshop will delve into the profound connection between faith communities and their musical traditions in Latin America. Participants will journey through the rich tapestry of religious music, from traditional hymns to indigenous rhythms and melodies, including a wide array of styles and regional variations specific to each country, to discover how singing and music contribute to spiritual practices and community building while learning about their historical and cultural contexts.
“Power in the Blood”
J. Michael McMahon
How widely have hymns and songs in recent congregational song resources included references to blood, and how has this image been used in relation to life and death, sacrifice and atonement? What are the theological, ecumenical, and pastoral implications for communities that sing these texts?
Cultivating Peace Through Music
Nathan Myrick
For the past 3 years, I have led an international partnership with Al-Akhawayn University in Morocco that explores the act of music-making as a model for cultivating peaceful relationships across religions and cultures. The program has been an unqualified success, and I believe The Hymn Society would be an exceptional place to share the results of the project and to extend the model into intra-religious peacebuilding in the US. Would the practice of making music together with those who we disagree with in our own religion (think theologically or politically) open up more productive dialogue? My research suggests that it does, and I would love to share that with the Society.
Session E (Wednesday 1:30 pm)
Found in Translation: The Role of Mission Hymnody on the Formation of the Brazilian Baptist Identity
Maria Monteiro & Armindo Ferreira
This Sectional will be streamed live for Digital Conference participants.
This presentation considers the complex issue of missional hymnody by focusing on the contents of the two official Brazilian Baptist hymnals, published one century apart: Cantor Cristão (first published in 1891) and Hinário para o Culto Cristão (1991). We will discuss three ethnomusicological concepts — “negotiation of proximity” and “the ethics of style” (Rommen, 2007) as well as “musical localization” (Ingalls et al., 2018)— in connection with this repertoire, and share our conclusions as to why these “foreign” songs have found such fertile soil in the hearts and minds of our fellow missionized Brazilian Baptist siblings. In addition, we hope to demonstrate how the singing of the hymns published in these two hymnals contributed to the cultural delineation and formation of a distinctive Brazilian Baptist identity. Singing included!
Exploring the Hymns of Susan Palo Cherwien
Jennifer Baker-Trinity & David Sims
Sponsored by Jacque Jones, FHS, in Memory of Ruth Duck, FHS
In 2024 Augsburg Fortress published Living in Wonder, the fourth collection of hymn texts by the late Susan Palo Cherwien (1953-2021). It offers 21 hymns as well as comprehensive indices to her entire body of hymnody. This and Cherwien’s previous collections offer worshipping assemblies and hymn lovers new hymns for being formed in faith and in the holy act of singing together.
The William Bradley Roberts hymnary
David Schaap & William Bradley Roberts
Sponsored by C. Michael Hawn, FHS
The collected hymn tunes of William Bradley Roberts over a lifetime of church leadership as musician and priest. Texts for all times of worship and church life.
Twelve Years of Miller and Thompson
Lindy Thompson & Mark Miller, FHS
Sponsored by Jacque Jones, FHS, in Memory of Ruth Duck, FHS
Composer Mark Miller and lyricist Lindy Thompson share the remarkable story and songs that resulted from their serendipitous meeting. Learn about their writing process, sing through their catalog (I Choose Love, Home by Another Road, Stillness) and hear some pieces that are in the works.
The Diverse Spiritualities of Congregational Song
Carl P. Daw, Jr., FHS & Alfred Fedak
Sponsored by Lucy Goman
Worship planners are accustomed to connecting the hymns and songs they select with the scripture readings and/or the theme of each service. Unfortunately, such important and commendable attention can become too focused on the needs of individual services and lose sight of larger patterns involved in hymn selection. In particular, routinely favoring one kind of hymn (for example, hymns that emphasize feeling) can lead to neglect of other styles of hymnody that foster the development of a wider range of spiritualities.
Expanding the categories identified in Urban T. Holmes III’s A History of Christian Spirituality, this sectional will consider both the negative and the positive aspects of the range of spiritualities likely to be found in any worshiping assembly. Each of these qualities will be illustrated and experienced by the singing of relevant hymns and songs, including a number of familiar ones that may not have been considered from this perspective.
Although the conceptual framework governs the choice of what is sung, the overall experience of this sectional is intended to provide an opportunity for engaged singing that leads to new insights and appreciation for the importance of congregational song in deepening and expanding singers’ spiritualities.
Denominationally distinctive? A fresh look at Reformed and Presbyterian congregational singing
Jonathan Hehn
A recent, major survey on worship created by the presenter and distributed to Presbyterian and Reformed denominations over the last year promises to shed new light on practices of congregational singing in those traditions. This sectional will use the data from that survey to ask an important question: “Is Reformed and Presbyterian congregational singing still denominationally distinctive?” That is, can we look at current practices of congregational singing among these denominations and recognize those practices’ connection to the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition’s theology and practice?
It is a gift to the Church that, in this age of ecumenism, Christians across denominations share a significant body of congregational song. However, recognizing that denominations also rightfully cherish their individual theological and musical identities, it can be a good thing to magnify the particularities of various denominations. Asking the question “is Reformed and Presbyterian congregational singing denominationally distinctive” provides an opportunity to explore not only the textual and musical idioms of Presbyterian/Reformed congregational singing, but also to explore what implications the aesthetics inherent to these idioms have on their ethos.
Participants will be presented with real data from the survey, will sing through various examples of congregational song represented in that survey, and then will be led in a guided discussion on whether/how these examples reflect or challenge the history, theology and traditional musical ethos of the Reformed/Presbyterian family of churches. In other words, is North American Presbyterian/Reformed congregational singing still denominationally distinctive, or not?
Hyming and Hawing: Solemn High Camp and Other Irreverencies
Edward Moran
A lighthearted survey of humorous hymn texts both ancient and modern that cannot today be sung with a straight face by choirs or congregations, including such titillatingly transgressive titles as Isaac Watts’s “Blest Is the Man Whose Bowels Move,” Michael Forster’s “The World is Full of Smelly Feet,” and my own “Psalter for Fallen Plaster.” The sectional is designed to upend traditional notions of sacred music as essentially a dour enterprise. Participants will be encouraged to cast aside their inhibitions and sing these irreverent texts con gusto.