We Believe: Faith, Community, and the Holy Act of Singing

Sponsored by Margaret McCamant in Honor of Robin Knowles Wallace, FHS

This is also the Lovelace Silent Auction Pickup Window

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?

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Organ Institute sessions are open only to those who included this add-on during registration.

Sponsored by

Andreas & Tracy Teich

Nine more sponsorship spots available!

Sponsored by Andreas & Tracy Teich

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