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 The Verse
A monthly newsletter |
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The Hymn Society
in the United States and Canada | January 2011 |
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Greetings!
I'm excited to share with you the first issue of our new monthly email newsletter! We'll be able to share news about recent and upcoming events in a more timely way and stay in touch more frequently. The Stanza will still be mailed to members on the regular scheduled and it will also be posted on the website. Our aim is to spread information about The Hymn Society in multiple formats so that we can let as many people as possible know what's happening in our terrific organization. Please forward this newsletter to colleagues and friends and help us expand our network!
As you read this first issue, please offer your feedback and let me know what links or other information we need to add.
We are sending the newsletter not only to our members but also to friends who have shared their email addresses with us.
Looking forward to your suggestions!!
Sincerely, Deb Deborah Loftis 
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Annual Fund contributions
Thank you to our members!! During the fourth quarter, sixty-six of our members made contributions to the Annual Fund totalling $11,545.00. An appeal to our Life Members resulted in gifts totalling $10,025.00 of the above amount. We are so grateful for your generosity! |
 | | July 17-21, 2011 |
Summer Conference Update
Details of our conference are shaping up. Each month we'll feature another aspect of the conference, so be watching for updates and make your plans early to attend!
 Our plenary speaker on Monday will be Dr. George (Tink) Tinker, Professor of American Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions at Iliff School of Theology in Denver. He is an enrolled member of the Osage Nation. His plenary will focus on an American Indian perspective on our responsibility to care for the earth.
 Dr. I-to Loh, FHS, will present two lectures on the sounds and images of Christ and suffering in Asian hymns. Dr. Loh is the former President of Tainan Theological College and Seminary where he also served as the Department Head of Church Music and Professor of Worship, Church Music and Ethnomusicology. He currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Church Music and Liturgy at the Southeast Asia Graduate School of Theology, a consortium of over twenty seminaries in Asia. Dr. Loh will also lead a sectional on the new edition of the Asian hymnal, Sound the Bamboo (GIA).
We expect to have online registration ready by mid-February. When that's done, you'll be able to click on the conference logo and go straight to the conference materials on the website. The conference brochure will be included in the Winter issue of The Hymn.
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News of Members
Congratulations to Carl Daw, FHS and Timothy Dudley-Smith, FHS who have been named Fellows of the Royal School of Church Music. Read more at Royal School of Church Music Awards
We remember James Abbington in the death of his father, Wilbur James Abbington, Sr. on December 14 and Sally Ann Morris in the unexpected death of her partner, Mary Bryan Matney, on December 29, 2010.
Deb will attend the Calvin Symposium on Worship in Grand Rapids, January 26-29, to provide an exhibit of Hymn Society resources. Hymn Society members presenting at the conference number no less than 13 so we'll be well-represented!
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Recent Hymn Festivals
Look for updates each month on recent festivals that have come to our attention. The Stanza will continue to provide a cumulative list semi-annually. If your congregation or community holds a hymn festival, please the office know about it and send copies of the program if possible. October 10, 2010--Oberlin College's historic Finney Chapel was the site for the Fifth Biennial Northern Ohio Hymn Festival: "African American Theology in Praxis: Singing God's Story...and Ours!" highlighting the African American hymnological traditions of spirituals, gospel, and jazz, as well as traditional historic hymn melodies. The Festival Director was The Reverend Nolan Williams, Jr., chief music editor of the African American Heritage Hymnal. The planning committee was co-chaired by The Reverend Greg McGonigle, Director of the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life at Oberlin College, The Reverend David Hill, Pastor of The First Church in Oberlin (UCC), and Mary Louise VanDyke, F.H.S. well known to Hymn Society members for her work with the Dictionary of North American Hymnology. October 17, 2010-"When in Our Music God Is Glorified." Mel Hurst assembled the very popular hymn festival once again at Humbercrest United Church, Toronto, Ontario. This year the hymns were ancient and modern - some classic hymns of the faith, and some 'hot-off-the-press' works composed by local hymn writers who have attended the recent hymn writing workshops sponsored by the Southern Ontario Chapter of The Hymn Society. In addition to the Humbercrest United Church choir, the event featured former CBC radio broadcaster Judy Maddren as commentator, Barton Woomert, trumpeter, and Fred Kimball Graham, organist. October 27, 2010 - Eleanor Whitsett presented a hymn festival "Presidential Hymn Favorites" at First Church of the Nazarene, Bethany, OK. Assisting her were narrators Pat Womack, Don Whitsett and soprano, Margaret Ann Adams. October 31, 2010 - "When Morning Gilds the Skies," the 25thanniversary Reformation Day Hymn Festival was held at LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, MI. Included in the festival was a commissioned hymn concertato on LAUDES DOMINI, composed by guest organist and conductor, Richard Webster from Trinity Church on Copley Square, Boston, MA. The festival was planned and organized by Larry Visser, Minister of Music/Organist, and Merle Mustert, Chancel Choir Director, and included the singing of several of Webster's hymn concertatos for congregation, choir, brass quintet, and organ.
Advent and Christmas festivals will be reported in February's issue.
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