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 The Verse
A monthly newsletter |
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The Hymn Society
in the United States and Canada
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March 2015
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Maybe all of them? Holidays, contests and changing seasons all remind us that life is moving forward. As March spins into April and brings us that most-life giving event, Easter, may you be mindful of the joy of life and find reasons to sing!
The Hymn Society is moving forward also with energetic activities and plans. We are in the midst of our search for the Director of the Center for Congregational Song, reviewing the materials of excellent candidates. We're racing toward our summer conference in New Orleans and the international conference in Cambridge. Our Endowment campaign continues as we make friends and develop relationships outside our membership and spread the word about our work and dreams. All of this requires energy, but it also gives energy. I hope you're planning to come along with us this spring and summer -- we have a lot to sing about!
Deb
Deborah Loftis
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Lifting Hearts - Joining Hands - Raising Voices: The Campaign for The Center for Congregational
S ong
The search continues for our new Director of The Center for Congregational Song.
We have narrowed the field of candidates and are entering the second stage of our search process with an outstanding group of applicants. The pool of applications we received were quite strong -- and quite varied in background and skills, so choices were hard to make. Please keep this process in your prayers as we seek just the right person to take on this important responsibility.
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2015 Annual Conference in New Orleans
The Hymn Society Annual Conference
Loyola University, New Orleans
July 12-16, 2015Online Registration is now open!!
Lovelace Scholarship Applications
Due April 1, 2015
Be sure to spread the word to students in your world that the Lovelace Scholarship is a great opportunity to enjoy four days of singing and learning and making new friends.
First year Lovelace Scholarship are available to current students at the collegiate level and beyond and also to those who have graduated from such programs within the past three years.
We are again offering up to five partial scholarships for Second Year (or Returning) Lovelace Scholarships. Persons who have received a Lovelace Scholarship within the past 4 years are eligible for this scholarship even if they are no longer students. First Year Application Second Year Application
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Emerging Scholars Forum at New Orleans Conference
The deadline for Emerging Scholar applications is approaching. Be sure to get your materials in by April 1, 2015. The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada invites current graduate students and those who have graduated within the past three years to submit proposals to present their research effort on congregational song during the Annual Conference at New Orleans, Louisiana, July 12- 16, 2015. Submissions are to be guided by the research parameters of Practice, Philosophy (Theology), History, and/or Context of congregational song. Up to three presentations will be selected for presentation in a sectional entitled, Emerging Scholars Forum. One research paper will be selected to win the Emerging Scholar prize of a $150 gift certificate redeemable at the conference bookstore at the annual gathering and consideration for publication in The Hymn.See the attached form for application details. ESF application
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New Conference Event for New Orleans: Children's Program!
During the summer conference in New Orleans, we will be piloting a new program for children of conference attendees. For a reasonable registration fee, the program would provide daytime (9am-5pm), music-centered programming for children ages 8-13. The program would be led by one of the Society's own members, Megan Mash. 
Megan is currently the Music Minister at Sebastian United Methodist Church in Sebastian, Florida. Megan received her Master of Sacred Music degree, magna cum laude, from Perkins School of Theology (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, where she studied organ with Larry Palmer, conducting with David R. Davidson and church music with Michael Hawn and Christopher Anderson. Megan is an active member of The Hymn Society of the United States and Canada, The American Guild of Organists and Choristers Guild. We will need 10-12 children to pilot the program, so please contact Geoffrey Moore (gmoore@smu.edu) if you are interested. Spots are starting to fill up and will be available until filled on a first come, first served basis.
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New Hymn on Human Trafficking
Jim and Jean Strathdee recently collaborated with Shirley Erena Murray, FHS, to create two new settings of a hymn for a conference in January on human trafficking, children and the gospel. The two musical settings, one by Jim and one by Jeanne are very different -- one easier for a congregation, the other well-suited for a solo voice. Hope Publishing Company has posted both settings in their online hymnody section of the website. LicenSing has posted pdfs and mp3s of the hymn. You can find the settings under the title, "Who Would Steal a Life."
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| HSGBI Short Guides Available
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2015 Joint Meeting with HSGBI and IAH: Hymns in Liturgy and Life
Well, you missed early registration price break, but there's still time to register for the joint hymnological conference. It only happens once every six years, so don't let this pass you by!
The joint meeting of our Hymn Society with HSGBI and IAH will be held at
Robinson College, Cambridge. The conference will begin with registration on Sunday, 26th July 2015 with the Conference program beginning on Monday and concluding on Friday 31st July. Friday evening there is the option of an excursion to Ely Cathedral for Evensong. The Conference theme will be: Hymns in Liturgy and Life. Program schedule
HSUSC Leaders:
Robin Knowles-Wallace: "Congregational Singing and Everyday Life"
Kenneth Hull: "Do We Become What We Sing? Congregational Song and Spiritual Formation"
Geoffrey Moore: " Hymning the Kingdom: Originating - Resonating - Consummating"
Jan Kraybill: Hymn Festival coordinator
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Macalester Plymouth Hymn Contest Winners
Macalester Plymouth United Church of Saint Paul, Minnesota is pleased to announce the winners of the church's 2014 hymn contest. The nineteenth annual contest was a search for a hymn that celebrates God's presence in current social changes and changes in the church. Congratulations to winner Christopher L. Webber for his text, "A Hymn for Peace" and to William Allen Pasch who received honorable mention for his text, "God of Constant New Creation." See the press release for the full texts of these winning hymns. |
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New Hymn Contest
Macalester Plymouth United Church of Saint Paul, MN announces their 2015 hymn contest: a search for a hymn that celebrates the language of love, inclusiveness, commitment, and the love God has for the union of all people regardless of gender. See the attached document for full description and contest rules. The prize is $500. Hymns must be postmarked by December 31, 2015.
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| Reviews of Hymn-Based Compositions
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News of Members
David Haas will be honored by University of Portland (OR) with an honorary doctorate at their graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 3. Haas, Director of the Emmaus Center for Music, Prayer, and Ministry in St. Paul, MN was described in the announcement as "one of the most prolific and influential composers of contemporary Catholic liturgical music since the Second Vatican Council." Michael Joncas, David Haas, Marty Haugen, and Delores Dufner were featured in a one-hour documentary on KSMQ public television station entitled, "On Eagles' Wings: Minnesota's Sacred Music" The program can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-FbUlVDO-k&feature=share
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Recent Events
February 15, 2015 -- Starling Avenue Baptist Church, Martinsville, Virginia, dedicated Celebrating Grace hymnal on Transfiguration Sunday. Paul A. Richardson, FHS, delivered the homily, "Echoing Glory: Singing a Faith That Transforms," and planned the service with resident musicians Ed and Kay Spencer. The hymnals were given to honor the commitment to worship and congregational song of recently-retired pastor David Adkins. March 2, 2015 -- The Atlanta NPR radio station, WABE, aired a story on a recent Sacred Harp singing at Emory University chapel. The link below has not just a story, but also audio clips and photos. In the first photo, seated on the front row is none other that our own Harry Eskew, FHS! The singing was to introduce a new historical reprint of the 1911 edition of The Original Sacred Harp. http://wabe.org/post/shape-note-singers-revive-1911-sacred-harp
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Upcoming Events
Sunday, April 12, 2015 -- Nancy Hardy, President of the Southern Ontario Chapter of The Hymn Society (SOCHS) will lead a program entitled, WORSHIP IN THE CITY, singing and thinking about the pleasures and challenges of faithful living as urban people. Metropolitan United Church, 56 Queen Street East, Toronto. 2:30 refreshments; 3 pm program
Sunday April 19, 2015,-- Samson Tarpeh, will be host a benefit concert to aid the re-opening of the music academy he founded in Liberia, the Agape National Academy of Music. The Academy tragically lost two students and one instructor to the Ebola epidemic that ravaged that country and the Academy was forced to close along with all other schools. Clearance has been given for schools to re-open in Liberia. The concert will be Sunday at 5:00 pm, at the Wesley United Methodist Church in Lexington, KY Anyone wishing to assist with the re-opening costs for ANAM are invited to contact Samson by email: tarpehsamson@gmail.comMay 3, 2015 -- Join members of the Saginaw Valley Chapter of the AGO in the hymn festival, "Made in Michigan." The event takes place at Trinity Lutheran Church, Midland at 4:00pm. Designed and led by Life Member, Andreas Teich, the festival features hymns with Michigan connections. The idea originated with "The Old Rugged Cross" but moved quickly to living text and tune writers such as David Haas, Steve Starke, Roy Hopp and John Kleinheksel. Come and sing with us! You can contact Andreas at Messiah Lutheran Church, 989-893-4444 July 21-24, 2015 -- Baylor University Alleluia Conference. The Alleluia Conference is one-of-a-kind enrichment event features superb clinicans who re-energize and inspire worship leaders, music ministers, children's choir leaders, and keyboard ministers. Hymn Society members serving as clinicians include: John Bell, FHS, Randall Bradley, Stephen Cowden, Brian Hehn, David Music, FHS, Jacob Sensenig, Al Travis. Online registration is open. http://www.baylor.edu/alleluia/
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