 The Fellowshipof United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts
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David R. Davidson Bruce Vantine Safiyah Fosua Les Oliver Becky Waldrop Mark Hayes Robert J. Ray Jason Warley Felix Hell Lynn Renne Marilyn Winterberger Howard Helvey
Alison Adam is a Scot living and working in London. For several years, she worked for the Iona Community, with their worship project, the Wild Goose Resource Group. Now from her London base, she continues in the same line of work, but on a freelance basis, under the name of WORSHIP WORKS. She is a member of the Iona Community. This work has taken her around the world, from the Philippines to the U.S.A. and Canada, leading at conferences and workshops on worship and song. In her work, Alison aims to help congregations explore fresh approaches for worship and she uses the varied and exciting resources of the Iona Community as her main source of inspiration.
Class Offerings: "Why Iona? Why Wild Goose?"
Other Convocation participation: Song leader of "Come All You People: Gathering Music of Iona," Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 8:00 a.m.
Daniel T. Benedict served as Worship Resources Director in the Center for Worship Resourcing for The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church for twelve years. A writer, teacher, and liturgy specialist, he co-authored Contemporary Worship for the 21st Century and authored Come to the Waters. He has a new book coming out in 2007 titled Shaped by the Liturgy. He served on the Baptism Study Committee and more recently on the Holy Communion Study Committee that created This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion. He has completed a certification program in digital culture ministry. Dan's passion is for integrating liturgy and contemplative spirituality, teaching and resourcing worship leaders, and presiding in worship. He is past secretary for the Consultation on Common Texts that produced the Revised Common Lectionary. He is married to Mary O Benedict, the father of two grown children, and a grandfather. In his leisure time, he enjoys retreats, gardening, walking the beaches, cooking, and surfing the Internet.
He is author of Come to the Waters: Baptism and Our Ministry of Welcoming Seekers and Making Disciples (Discipleship Resources, 1996); Contemporary Worship for the 21st Century: Worship or Evangelism (with Craig Kennett Miller); Shaped by the Liturgy.
Class Offering: "The Season of Creation: Expanding the Christian Calendar,"
Thursday, 9:00–10:00 a.m.
Brenda Bernstorf is manager of Cokesbury Music Service, serves as a member of the Abingdon Press Music Review Board, and has led workshops for Abingdon Press, Integrity Music, and Praise Gathering Music. She has nearly twenty years experience directing church choirs, working with praise teams, and leading worship. Currently, she is leading worship at Glencliff United Methodist Church in Nashville. Brenda holds a B.S. in music from Asbury College and an M.B.A. from Trevecca Nazarene University.
Convocation Participation: Small to Medium Size Choir Reading Session, Thursday, 9:00 a.m.
Lori Borger combined her passion for and professional experience with theatre, music and children in a career at Manchester UMC that spans all three areas. She is the Director of Drama Ministry and Coordinator for MUMC's Children's Music and Contemporary Music Programs. Lori directs the Music Makers Choir (4th & 5th), Joyful Noise (H.S. Praise & Worship Team) and sings with and is vocal leader for One Voice, MUMC's Adult Praise & Worship Team. Lori started MUMC's Drama Ministry program in 1993. It has grown to involve over 100 people of all ages. "Acts of Faith" is the resident core team that provides sketches for worship, reader's theatre, and other productions throughout the year. Theatre is a family thing for the Borgers - Lori's husband, Bill, is a director/actor/set designer; their daughter, Brianna, is currently appearing as Anna with the Broadway tour of "The King and I" in Asia, and their son, Tom, is a playwright/actor. Lori believes that Drama Ministry done with excellence is one of our most powerful tools for bringing the Word of God to life and reaching people both inside and outside the church on a personal level.
Class Offerings: DRAMA MINISTRY: Bringing the WORD to LIFE? – Thursday, 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at Manchester UMC
Michael Burkhardt is Internationally known for his innovative and inspiring hymn festivals and for his creative work with children. He is in frequent demand as a clinician, recitalist, and hymn festival leader.
He currently serves on the faculty of Carthage College (ELCA) in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as Director of Choral Activities, College Organist, and Artist-in-Residence. Prior to his appointment at Carthage, he was a faculty associate in organ at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.
Dr. Burkhardt is a graduate of Carthage College, Kenosha, Wisconsin. He earned his M.M. degree from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, and his D.M.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Arizona State University.
Dr. Burkhardt has performed and led seminars at both national and regional events for the American Guild of Organists, the Hymn Society, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and the American Choral Directors Association. He made his symphonic hall debut in 1999, leading a Lutheran Hymn Festival as organist-conductor at the Meyerson Symphony Hall in Dallas, Texas. In the fall of 2003 he toured in South Korea, presenting hymn festival-organ recitals and service playing-improvisation seminars.
He is author of Singing with Understanding, a curriculum using the great hymns, folk songs, and spirituals of the church to share faith stories and to teach the elements of music and worship. He is also composer of a setting of the liturgy for Eucharist, A New Song. His numerous organ improvisations, choral octavos, and handbell compositions, as well as a recording of his organ improvisations, are available through Morning Star Music Publishers of St. Louis, Missouri.
Class Offerings: " Rise, Children, Gonna Praise the Lord: Children in Worship"; "The Child Voice"; "Organ Masterclass: Service Repertoire and Hymn Playing"
Other convocation participation: Hymn Festival, Monday, 7:15 p.m. at Centenary UMC; Morning Star Reading Session, Tuesday, 4:00 p.m.
Taylor W. Burton-Edwards is the Director of Worship resources with the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tennessee. He is an ordained elder in the North Indiana Conference, and he holds the master of divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a master of arts in peace studies from Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. He joined the staff of the General Board of Discipleship in September 2005. His wife, Dr. Grace Burton-Edwards, is chaplain at St. Richard’s School (Indianapolis, IN) and congregational development/church planting consultant to the Diocese of Indianapolis (Episcopal Church USA). Taylor and Grace have two boys, Jacob (14) and William (10).
Class Offerings: "Non-Lectionary Models for Worship Planning" and "Word AND Table: Preaching from a Dual Center."
Bill Carroll is in his twenty-third year on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music where he serves as Director of Choral Activities and Chair of the Division of Vocal Studies. A native Mississippian, Dr. Carroll holds the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Choral Conducting from the University of ster of music in choral conducting and the master of sacred music from Southern Methodist University, and the bachelor of music in piano performance from Millsaps College.
Convocation Participation: Hinshaw Reading Session, Wednesday, 4:00 p.m.
Cornerstone Chorale and Brass provides a unique spiritual experience, offering words of inspiration in a rich musical setting by awakening our sense of compassion; encouraging individuals to live their faith at a higher level of commitment; challenging us to reaffirm our beliefs and values; and inspiring us to act to build a better world.
Created and conducted by Dr. Bruce Vantine, The Cornerstone Chorale and Brass is a paid professional touring ensemble that selects performers through nation auditions. Noted for its highly effective, dramatic and inspirational programs, Cornerstone offers a unique format that combines music and narration in a seamless texture. Cornerstone often serves as a catalyst for community cooperation by bringing together clusters of churches, joined by the arts community, corporations and service clubs, to sponsor a concert to benefit a local charity. For more information on Cornerstone, visit www.cornerstonechorale.org.
Concert: Thursday, 4:00 p.m., Manchester UMC.
Philip Cox-Johnson holds a bachelor of music in vocal performance from Wheaton College Conservatory of music and a master's degree in church music from Scarritt Graduate School. He has served as choir director and elementary music and art teacher. Phillip is a fiber artist and dyer, whose company, Gospel Colors, specializes in art for worship settings. He has given workshops in the fields of church music, the use of symbols and colors in liturgy and worship, as well as many hands-on workshops in various surface design techniques with fabric and dyes. Phillip has created the worship settings for various regional, national, and international conferences. In addition to the work that he does with his company, Gospel Colors, he serves as Director of Worship Arts at Broadway Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Phillip was commissioned by FUMMWA to create a work of liturgical art as a gift to Centenary UMC. The art work will be featured during the Hymn Festival Monday night.
Class Offering: "Making the Commissioned Work for Centenary UMC,"
Thursday, 9:00–10:00 a.m.
Crossings, a non-profit arts organization under the direction of co-founder Dan Rubright, produces multi-genre music and mixed media performance throughout the St. Louis region. The group’s participation in Tuesday night’s worship service at Christ Church Cathedral will feature cello, guitars, percussion, bass, and vocals and will incorporate original and traditional melodies in a unique and soulful presentation featuring top musicians from St. Louis. The styles will span folk, jazz, pop, “Christian," and gospel. For more information about Crossings, see www.crosingsconcerts.org.
Worship leadership:– Tuesday, 6:00 and 7:30 p.m. at Christ Cathedral.
David R. Davidson was appointed Director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus in 1994 after serving eighteen months as interim director. He is Director of Music at Highland Park United Methodist Church and adjunct instructor of choral conducting at Perkins School of Theology at SMU. He served as Director of Music at Highland Park Presbyterian Church from 1985-2003.
During Mr. Davidson's tenure with the Dallas Symphony Chorus, he has prepared the chorus for Pinchas Zukerman, Eduardo Mata, Andrew Litton, Kazimierez Kord, Robert Shaw, Richard Hickox, Claus Peter Flor, John Nelson, Zubin Mehta, Gunther Herbig, Eve Queller, and Kate Tamarkin. The chorus has made ten recordings with the Dallas Symphony. Mr. Davidson prepared the chorus for six performances of the Mahler Symphony No. 8 with the Israel Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta. In 2003, Mr. Davidson directed the Dallas Symphony in acclaimed performances at the Stefansdom in Vienna, Smetena Hall in Prague, and the Liszt Conservatory in Budapest. In the summer of 2006, Mr. Davidson conducted the chorus and orchestras in performances of the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Rio de Janeiro.
2006 is the tenth anniversary of Davidson's conducting the Christmas Celebration Concerts after stepping in at the last minute in December 1996 to conduct the final four Christmas Celebration Concerts. He conducted Messiah on the 1999 Classical Subscription Series and made his debut in Carnegie Hall in June 1998, conducting the Texas Festival Chorus and the Inter School Orchestra in a performance of the Mozart Requiem.
Davidson is a nationally recognized choral clinician throughout the United States.
Class Offerings: Convocation Choir, Intensive Monday Class, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Adult Choral, Tuesday and Wednesday, 1:00-2:15 p.m. and 2:30-3:45 p.m.
Safiyah Fosua is the Director of Invitational Preaching Ministries for the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tennessee. She was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and reared in rural Oklahoma. Her academic background includes a bachelor of arts degree from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; a master of divinity degree from Oral Roberts Seminary, Tulsa, Oklahoma; and a doctor of ministry degree in Afrocentric pastoring and preaching fromUnited Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio.
Safiyah writes weekly lectionary-based preaching helps and articles for the General Board of Discipleship’s worship web page and has written for Upper Room publications, Cokesbury’s Daily Bible Study, Urban Ministries, Inc., and contributed to the recent Women of Color Study Bible. Abingdon Press published her first book, Mother Wit: 365 Meditations for African-American Women, in the fall of 1996, followed by Jesus and Prayer in 2002.One of her sermons, “Talking to a Dead Man,” appears in The Wisdom of the Word-Faith: Great African-American Sermons. She is the associate editor of the Africana Worship Book. Safiyah is a member of the Consultation on Common Texts, which produced the Revised Common lectionary, the Association of Clinical Pastoral Educators, the World Evangelism Council’s Order of the Flame, and an associate member of the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education and the Academy of Homiletics.
Dr. Fosua is a clergy member of the Greater New Jersey Annul Conference. Her pastoral experience includes ministry in the large downtown church, the unique ministry of the rural circuit, and the ministry challenges of the small inner-city congregation. She is marred to the Rev. Dr. Kwasi I. Kena. Prior to her current appointment, Safiyah and her husband spent a number of years as missionaries in Ghana, West Africa. The couple has two adult sons and two grandchildren.
Class Offering: "Liturgy as Communal (Subversive) Witness" (Preaching from the Center)
Mark Hayes is an internationally known composer, arranger, concert pianist, and clinician whose choral and instrumental works are widely acclaimed and performed throughout the world. His personal catalog includes more than 500 compositions and arrangements, which are distributed by several leading publishers. He is well-known for his unique choral settings, which draw from diverse styles such as gospel, jazz, pop, folk, and classical to achieve a truly “American sound.” Hayes earned a bachelor of music degree in piano performance, magna cum laude from Baylor University. He is a recurring recipient of the Standard Award from ASCAP, and his album, "I've Just Seen Jesus," received the Dove Award, the equivalent to a Grammy in gospel music. He served as adjunct professor of composition at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, during 1992-1993. Hayes’ works have been performed at regional and national ACDA and MENC conventions. His new work, Te Deum, for mixed chorus and orchestra, was premiered in April 2004, and will be premiered at Carnegie Hall in May 2007.
Class Offerings: "Keyboard Improvisation Tips for the Church Pianist" and
"Using a Praise Band in Blended Worship"
Other Convocation Participation:
Piano concert, Tuesday, 9:00 p.m.
Reading Session of Mark Hayes’ Most Popular Anthems,Tuesday, 4:00 p.m.
Felix Hell was born on September 14, 1985, in Frankethal/Pfalz, Germany. He took his first piano lesson at the age of seven, after having heard the C-Major Prelude, WTK-I, of J.S. Bach. He played it from memory after a few days listening to it and observing the piano player. Only eight months later, September 1993, he took his first organ lesson. Already in spring 1994, just seven months after his first organ lesson, he participated in the Federal German competition for young musicians, “Jugend musiziert,” and received two first prizes in organ playing. The following years Felix Hell continued to take first prizes in the German competition “Jugend musiziert”.
In September 1999, Felix Hell enrolled at the Juilliard School, New York, where he had been awarded a merit-based full tuition scholarship, studying organ with Matthew Lewis and piano with Frank Levy. Since September 2001 Felix has been studying, again under full tuition scholarship at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia under the tutelage of Dr. John Weaver and Ala Morrison, with additional coaching by Professor Martin Jen (Yale University), Professor Sutherland (Peabody Conservatory), and a master class with Marie-Claire Alain, Paris.
In May 2004, Felix graduated with a bachelor of music, entering the history of the Curtis Institute of Music as the youngest organ major ever to graduate from this world-famous conservatory. Since September 2004, Felix Hell is enrolled in both the master of music and the Artist Diploma programs at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, studying under the guidance of Donald Sutherland, attending additional courses held by Joan Lippincott, Princeton, and Gillian Weir, London.
From the very beginning Felix has maintained a very busy recital schedule in Germany, the U.S.A., and abroad. More information about Felix can be found at his website: www.felix-hell.com.
Organ Recital: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., at the Cathedral Basilica.
Howard Helvey serves as organist/choirmaster at Calvary Episcopal Church in Cincinnati and maintains a national and international presence as a concert pianist, conductor, composer, arranger, and speaker. As a pianist, Mr. Helvey regularly collaborates with distinguished artist Richard Steinbach in concerts and recordings of four-hand piano literature. Performance highlights have included concerts in San Francisco, Chicago, Madison (WI), Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Aspen, Cincinnati, Toronto, London (England), and - by invitation - as duo artists at the 2000 national meeting of the Music Teachers National Association convention in Minneapolis. Widening their exposure through television appearances in the United States and Canada, the Steinbach/Helvey duo has offered performances to a broad and diverse community. The year 2001 saw the international release of the critically-acclaimed CD recording Piano Duo, which included the brilliant and rarely-performed masterwork "Eight Variations on an Original Theme in A-flat Major" by Franz Schubert. (The CD is available for purchase at Calvary in Hannaford Hall, or to purchase a copy of PIANO DUO from Amazon, click here.) The duo's orchestral debut took place in April 2003 as they performed the Mozart Concerto in E-flat Major for Two Pianos at the University of Southern Mississippi. The Steinbach/Helvey duo is managed by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists.
Known particularly for his published choral music, Mr. Helvey's compositions have been featured on various recordings, national network and PBS television broadcasts, in such distinguished concert venues as New York's Carnegie Hall, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and numerous locations throughout Europe and Asia. Drawn particularly to folk-based melodies and ancient hymn tunes, Mr. Helvey often incorporates them into his own writing. His choral arrangements of folk-based material have been acclaimed as "engaging" (Choral Journal), "definitive" (Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians), "magical" (The Hymn) and - in response to his occasional inclusion of jazz elements - "fun and certain to be of interest" (The Diapason). Besides receiving commissions from numerous church and university choirs, Mr. Helvey has recently completed projects for the renowned Turtle Creek Chorale of Dallas and for the Wisconsin Chamber Choir. In 2002, he received a John Ness Beck Foundation Award for his distinguished contribution to sacred choral music.
Mr. Helvey holds a bachelor of music degree in composition from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master of music degree in composition and piano performance from the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. Designated an undergraduate Chautauqua Scholar, he pursued additional studies in piano at New York's Chautauqua Institution. Mr. Helvey has studied piano with Raymond Herbert, Jan Houser, Richard Morris and Dolores Gadevsky; and his composition teachers have included John Cheetham, Thomas McKenney, Darrell Handel, and Frederick Bianchi. As one passionate about effective congregational hymn-singing, Mr. Helvey received additional training in hymn-accompanying and organ improvisation from Gerre Hancock. Professional affiliations include membership in The American Guild of Organists and The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.Convocation Participation: Beckenhorst Reading Session, Wednesday, 4:00 p.m.
Class Offering: Multimedia Worship Seminar, Thursday, 9:00 a.m.
Class Offering: Handbell and Reading Session, Thursday, 9:00 a.m.
Bishop Scott Jameson Jones serves as bishop of the Kansas Area. He was born May 23, 1954, in Nashville, Tenn. He was raised in Illinois, Indiana, and Colorado, before graduating from the University of Kansas. When asked where he's from, Bishop Jones often answers, "I'm from all over."
Bishop Jones was ordained a deacon in the Kansas East Annual Conference in 1978 and an elder in 1987 in the North Texas Annual Conference. He has lived in Texas since 1977, when he went to Perkins School of Theology as a student.
During his ministry in Texas, Jones served local churches for 11 years. He was pastor of First UMC in Prosper, Texas, from 1986 to 1991; First UMC in Howe, Texas, from 1991 to 1995; and First UMC in Commerce, Texas, from 1995 to 1997. During his local church ministry, Jones was adjunct faculty at Perkins, teaching United Methodist history.
One of Bishop Jones' passions has been to help The United Methodist Church focus on its mission. In 1997, Jones returned to Perkins as McCreless Assistant/Associate Professor of Evangelism and served as director of the Center for the Advanced Study and Practice of Evangelism. He has spent the past seven years preaching and teaching around the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Class Offering: "Preaching from the Center" (Preaching from the Center), Thursday, 6:00 p.m.
Other Convocation Participation: Preacher and presider of the closing Communion celebration at Manchester UMC , Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Catherine Kapikian is the founder and director of the pioneering Henry Luce III Center for the Arts and Religion at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. She is a member of the faculty in the interdisciplinary field of art and theology. An acclaimed and commissioned artist, her work, inclusive of paraments, vestments, banners, tapestries, and fiber with wood installations, can be seen in a variety of worship spaces in every major Christian denomination, in interfaith military chapels, and in synagogues. Many of her large-format works, such as needlepoint tapestries behind altars, are designed by her and fabricated by members of the community in what she calls “participatory aesthetics.” In this manner, the installation becomes the work of the people. In addition to teaching, giving workshops, and supervising resident artists at the Center for the Arts and Religion, she writes and publishes articles in the field of art and theology.
Class Offerings: "Overview of the Visual Arts in the Christian West: Implications"; "The Vocabulary of the Visual: How Do We See?";• "Unraveling the Creative Process"; and "Projects in Participatory Aesthetics for the Church."
Joseph M. Kay is president of Music Manager Software, located in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has served as both a full-time and a part-time Minister of Music for over thirty-five years. In 1990 he founded Music Manager Software to develop resources for church and school musicians. The software is being used by thousands of music directors internationally. Master Music Manager!™ is an integrated program consisting of modules for membership, music library, reference recordings, inventory and supplies, personal address book, calendar, accounts manager and other items. WorshipManager™ and its predecessor, HymnIndex!™ references over 35 hymnals and songbooks, allowing the worship planner to select music by any category, Scripture reference, key, or theme. Kay is recognized as a pioneer in the area of computer resources for music directors, and he has led seminars for church and school musicians throughout the the United States and in Europe at the international MENC conference.
Class Offering: "Music Manager Software - Computer Resources for Your Music & Worship Ministry," Wednesday, 2:30-3:45 p.m.
S T Kimbrough, Jr. is a native of Alabama and for many years a member of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church. He has served churches in Alabama, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Germany. He holds a doctorate in Old Testament and Semitic languages from Princeton Theological Seminary and is a graduate of Birmingham Southern College and The Divinity School of Duke University. Kimbrough is an internationally known author/scholar/musician, who has published numerous books and articles on biblical, theological, liturgical, musical, and Wesleyan subjects. For a number of years, he served as Associate General Secretary for Mission Evangelism at the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) of the UMC, where he founded the Global Praise Program, which gathers and publishes congregational song from around the world. He has been involved in many of the new mission initiatives of GBGM in Nepal, Mongolia, Cambodia, Thailand, Lithuania, Lativa, Russia, Senegal, and Cameroon.
Dr. Kimbrough has also taught on leading theological and university faculties in the U.S.A. and abroad, including Princeton Theological Seminary; Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn, Germany; New Brunswick Theological Seminary; the Illiricus Theological Faculty of Zagreb (formerly Yugoslavia); Wesley Theological Seminary; the Theological School of Drew University; and he has been a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton since 1985. He has conducted the seminary choirs at Duke’s Divinity School and Princeton Theological Seminary; and he conducted a chorale of youth from twenty-five nations in Bonn, Germany, for more than ten years.
He was one of the editors of the liturgical Psalter in The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) and was also a member of the Wesley hymn consultation for the hymnal. Kimbrough is also an internationally known musician, hymnographer, recording artist, and editor of numerous books of global song including: Global Praise 1, Global Praise 2, and Global Praise 3. He is a regular contributor to scholarly journals, and is the editor of The Proceedings of the Charles Wesley Society, an organization of which he was the founder and first president, and which he still serves as Director of Publications.
Class Offering: "Gifts from the World: The Use of Global Music in Worship" (Monday Intensive Class, 9:00 a.m-3:00p.m.)
Cleophus J. LaRue, Princeton Theological Seminary’s Francis Landey Patton Associate Professor of Homiletics, specializes in the theory and method of African American preaching and worship. An ordained minister in the National Baptist Convention of America, Dr. LaRue is the former pastor of two churches in Texas as well as the former interim pastor of churches in Harlem and Jamaica Queens, New York. He is frequent speaker in churches and seminaries throughout the country and is a member of the Academy of Homiletics.
LaRue received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Baylor University and his M. Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton. He is the author of The Heart of Black Preaching and Power in the Pulpit: How America’s Most Effective Black Preachers Prepare Their Sermons. He is the editor of This Is My Story: Testimonies and Sermons of Black Women in Ministry.
Class Offerings as part of the Preaching from the Center Track:
"How Does One Get Better at Preaching?" Tuesday, 1:00-3:45 p.m.
"The Use of Imaginative Preaching," Wednesday, 1:00-2:15 p.m.
Other convocation participation: Morning Plenary Sessions, Tuesday and Wednesday,
8:45-10:00 a.m.
Barbara K. Lundblad currently holds the Joe R. Engle Associate Professor of Preaching position at Union Theological Seminary in New York, New York. Dr. Lundblad holds an M. Div. from the Yale Divinity School, where she graduated cum laude and was awarded the Tew Prize and Daggett Prize for scholarship and the Beebe Preaching Prize. She also holds a B.A. from Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
Dr. Lundblad has taught and lectured in Homiletics at numerous seminaries, including Chicago Theological Schools, Princeton Theological Seminary, Auburn Theological Seminary, and Yale Divinity School. She is the author of Transforming the Stone: Preaching through Resistance to Change (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001) .
Class Offering as part of the Preaching from the Center Track:
“Sermon as Meeting Place" (Wednesday, 2:30-5:15 p.m)
Other convocation participation: Morning worship preacher, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 11:00 a.m.
Kevin McBeth is the Director of Music at Manchester United Methodist Church, in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. He serves as full-time administrator for the Music Department, which includes twenty choral and instrumental ensembles, involving five hundred children, youth, and adults. He is also the Music Director of the St. Louis Metro Singers, a post he’s held since 2001. Over the past ten years, he has conducted honor and festival choirs in seven states. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the Assistant Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus.
A native of Houston Texas, Kevin is a graduate of Houston Baptist University; and he has done graduate studies in choral conducting at the University of Houston. In addition to being a published composer and author, he was choral music editor for Abingdon Press. Kevin has served on the boards of several music organizations, including the Iowa Choral Directors Association, the Missouri Choral Directors Association, and the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers. He is currently serving as the Repertoire and Standards Chairperson for Music in Worship for the Southwest Division of the American Choral Directors Association.
He has made three appearances at Carnegie Hall, most recently conducting the John Rutter Requiem to a capacity audience. Choirs under his direction have performed at both state and division ACDA conventions. In the fall of 2002, the national Religious Music Week alliance named him as one of the top ten church music directors in the country. The music critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has also recognized Manchester United Methodist Church for its outstanding music program.
Class Offerings:
"Working with Youth Choirs: The Cup’s Half Empty"; "Working with Youth Choirs: The Cup’s Half Full"; and "Youth Choir Reading Session."
Dean B. McIntyre is the Director of Music Resources at the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tennessee, a position that includes responsibility for development of musical and worship resources, planning and leading field events related to music and worship, continued development and expansion of GBOD’s music website, and the MethodistMusicians e-mail listservs. He has a Pd.D. in fine arts from Texas Tech University, a master's degree in post-secondary music Education, and a bachelor's degree in organ performance.
McIntyre has published works for organ, handbells, and adult and children's choirs with a number of publishers, and has authored Song Leading, a book on congregational singing for Discipleship Resources. He is the compiler of Hymns for the Revised Common Lectionary, an annual publication of Discipleship Resources. He is a member of ASCAP and a Life Member of The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts.
Class Offering: "Licensing and Copyright for Church Musicians"
Mark Miiller currently serves on the faculty at both the Drew Theological School and the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University, where he teaches music and worship. He also is Director of the Gospel and Youth Choirs at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City. From 1999 to 2001, he was Music Associate and Assistant Organist of The Riverside Church in New York City.
Mark is well known throughout The United Methodist Church as a worship leader, teacher, and performer of sacred music. Abingdon Press has written that he is a "rising star in the field of Protestant music." Since 1997 Mark has performed concerts and directed conferences at churches both across the United States and internationally.
Mark is a lifelong United Methodist and the son, grandson, brother, and cousin of United Methodist clergy. He is an active layperson in the church, having been elected as a lay delegate to both the 2000 and 2004 General Conferences, and having served on the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women ( 1997- 2000) and the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns ( 2001-2004). In this quadrennium, he is the Vice Chair of the Committee on Rules of Order and Plan of Organization for the General Conference, 2008. He is a member of Covenant United Methodist Church in Plainfield, New Jersey, where is the chair of the Staff-Parish Relations Committee. In June, he was the featured presenter on Evangelism and Worship at the Arkansas Annual Conference; and he directed music for the Central Pennsylvania Annual Conference.
Composing for the church is one of Mark's passions. In February of 2002, the Mark Miller Anthem Series was launched by Abingdon; and in March, 2003, Abingdon Press published his hymn collection, Amazing Abundance: Hymns for a Growing Church. Mark's organ work, Toccata on "God Rest Ye Merry" was featured on National Public Radio's program Pipe Dreams in 2002. In January 2004, James Earl Jones was the narrator of his original work, Let Justice Roll: Song from a Birmingham Jail, which was also featured on NBC's program, Positively Black. Mark received his bachelor of arts in music from Yale University and his master of music in organ performance from Julliard.Reading Session: "Zion Still Sings for Every Generation," Monday, Pre-convocation Event,
1:00-3:00 p.m.Convocation Participation: Small- to Medium-Size Choir Reading Session, Thursday, 9:00 a.m.
Robert J. Ray, composer, conductor, and clinician, is Professor of Music and Conductor of UM-St. Louis Community Chorus at the University of Missouri at St. Louis. He is a graduate of Northwestern University; and in May, 2003, he received an honorary doctorate of music from Vincennes University.
As a pianist, he has performed as a soloist with the Seoul Philharmonic, the Champaign-Urbana Symphony, and others. As accompanist, he has worked with legendary singers Robert McFerrin and the late William Warfield.
Ray is constantly in demand as a clinician and conductor. In St. Louis, he annually conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, along with the Symphony’s In Unison Chorus in a special
St. Louis style “Gospel Christmas” and Black History concert. As a clinician, he travels the
world giving lectures, workshops, and presentations on African American music styles.
Ray’s compositions are known nationally and internationally. The Gospel Mass, Gospel Magnificat, and He Never Failed Me Yet are regularly performed in Europe, Asia, South Africa, and South America.
Class Offering: "Performance Practices in African-American Sacred Vocal Music"
Lynn Renne has held many positions – as organist, director of handbell choirs, children's choirs, and adult choirs. Along with her musical accomplishments, she has served on the leadership teams of The Upper Room Spiritual Formation Academies, spiritual leadership convocations: leadership team in worship design. She is the South Indiana Annual Conference Worship Coordinator and has served the American Guild of Organists as dean of local chapter, state chair, and coordinator of the regional convention.
Class Offering: "Nourishing the Soul for Worship: Upper Room Worshipbook 2006," Wednesday, 2:30-3:45 p.m.
Ron Rienstra is an adjunct faculty member and doctoral student in worship and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. He previously worked at Calvin College, where he helped to develop and administer the worship apprentice program, an intensive praxis-based course of leadership training.
The author of Ten Service Plans for Contemporary Worship, Volumes 1 and 2 (Faith Alive Publications), he writes and speaks widely on issues related to worship and contemporary culture; and he is a contributing editor to Reformed Worship. He also administers a worship resource blog for the BCUSA at http://worshiphelps.blogs.com. He is an ordained pastor in the RCA.
Class Offerings: "Finding Good Literature in Contemporary Worship Song" and "The Recruitment, Care, and Feeding of a Worship Team"
Dan Rubright is the Music Director of Art and Soul Café, housed at Christ Church Cathedral. He holds both a master's degree and a bachelor's degree in jazz performance from Webster University School of Music, St. Louis, Missouri. He also serves as adjunct professor of music and media at Webster University in St. Louis. He frequently works as a freelance guitarist for many organizations, such as the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theater of Saint Louis, the Fox Theater Orchestra, and the Muny Orchestra.
Dan composed the original music score for the 2000 Emmy Award-winning documentary, Oh Freedom After While, which aired nationally on PBS. He co-produced three CD’s: The Lone Wild Bird, What Wondrous Love, and Whole New Light with jazz guitarist Steve Schenkel. The two have performed new renditions and arrangements of traditional sacred music and original compositions. They have appeared in and around St. Louis in numerous churches, conferences, and special events. Under Dan's direction, Crossings will be the soul music provider for Tuesday night’s worship service.
Musical leadership: Tuesday’s Worship at Christ Cathedral, 6:00 and 7:30 p.m.
Lydia Ruffin is the founding Artistic Director for Art & Soul Café at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis. This innovative program is designed to explore the sacred through an interactive experience of music, dance, visual art, and multimedia in a cathedral setting. Lydia also leads the music at the Episcopal Church’s national conference "Start Up! Start Over!" and leads a community-based singing group called "Womansing." She is also currently performing in a theater production called Long Road to Freedom based on the Underground Railroad
A native of Laurel, Mississippi and a graduate of Mississippi State University, Lydia has enjoyed a varied career as a musician. The clear, folk-like quality to her singing and her skill with the acoustic guitar have served her well in the church, on the coffee house and club circuit, and in the studio. Her critically acclaimed solo CD, Mimosa, brought Lydia back to her musical roots after years of performing vocal swing music with the popular group "Spatz" in St. Louis, Missouri.
Class Offering: "Art & Soul Café; A Multisensory Spiritual Exploration"
Musical leadership: Tuesday’s Worship at Christ Cathedral, 6:00 and 7:30 p.m.
Arnold Sherman, currently living in Tyler, Texas, is a freelance composer and co-founder of Red River Music. His undergraduate work in music education was done at Montgomery College, Rockville, Maryland, and Baylor University, Waco, Texas. Arnold is the founder and Director of the East Texas Handbell Ensemble. A clinician and guest conductor, he has led choral and handbell workshops, festivals, and reading sessions throughout the United States, Canada, England, Japan, and the Bahamas. Arnold teaches the "Composing for Handbells" class each summer at Concordia University, Mequon, Wisconsin. He has been a recipient of an ASCAP Standard Award every year since 1992. Arnold has numerous choral and handbell pieces in print and is an active member of the AGEHR, where he has served as Area IX Chairman.
Class Offerings: "Creative Use of Handbells in Worship" and "Beyond Right Notes: A Guide to Handbell Musicianship"
Gary has published more than fifty anthems with various church music publishers and was the sponsoring editor of The Faith We Sing. He has also written several articles for Choristers Guild, Abingdon Press and Worship Arts.
Class Offering: "A Survey of Abingdon Press 'Mini-Hymnals,' "
Tuesday, 2:30-3:45 p.m.
Class Offering: "Sibelius Software," Tuesday, 1:00 – 2:15 p.m."
Jessica Marie Smith, a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, holds a bachelor of fine arts in theatre education with a minor in African American studies. In 2005, Jessica served as the Liturgical Dance Choreographer/Instructor at the Southeastern Jurisdiction's Liturgical Music and Arts Week Conference in Lake Junaluska, NC. Jessica has choreographed for both St. Paul United Methodist Church and Mt. Ennon Baptist Church Liturgical Dance ministries in Maryland. She has also ministered through dance at churches in the Washington D.C. and Richmond, VA, metropolitan areas. In 1996, Jessica was honored to dance with the St. Paul Untied Methodist Liturgical Dance at the United Methodist Baltimore-Washington Conference.
Jessica Smith currently works as the theatre arts teacher at both Yorktown Middle School and York High School in York County, Virginia. She also serves as the theatre consultant for Change the World Productions, LLC, a Christian production company based in Spotsylvania, Virginia. Jessica feels very blessed to work with the Fellowship again and to praise God through dance!
Class Offerings (co-taught with Jason Warley):
"Dance" – Monday Intensive Class, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m
"Dance Like David Danced: Exploring Liturgical Dance Ministry"
"Blessed Ballet: Interpreting Scriptures Through Dance and Theatre Arts"
"From Routine to Ritual: Enriching Your Liturgical Dance Ministry Experience"
"From“Performance to Ministry: Problems in Starting and Sustaining Liturgical Dance Ministries"
Other convocation participation: Participation in Tuesday’s worship at Christ Cathedral, 6:00 and 7:30 p.m.
Gayle Andrews Sullivan is in her seventh year as Director of Music Ministries and Organist at Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Here she provides music for weekly services and coordinates a graded music program of ten musical groups and an annual music series. She is a member of the Nashville Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, has served in several leadership roles, specifically as dean for the chapter in 2003-2004. Belmont’s Sanctuary Choir has led worship music for several AGO Chapter Hymn Festivals and also at the 1999 Nashville Fellowship Conference. Gayle Sullivan is on the adjunct faculty in the church music department of Belmont University. She holds a bachelor of music degree in organ performance from Birmingham Southern College and a master's of church music degree from Scarritt Graduate School.
Class Offering: "Organist’s CPR: Resuscitate Your Worship Repertoire"
Other convocation participation: Worship Organist, Thursday, Manchester UMC, 7:30 p.m.
Marilyn E. Thornton is a musician, storyteller, educator, and preacher/pastor, who loves to tell the story of God's salvation for all people, using various media. Originally from Washington, D.C., Marilyn is the lead editor of African American Resources at the United Methodist Publishing House and the Pastor of Spiritual Formation and Worship Arts at South End United Methodist Church, both in Nashville, Tennessee. She has a bachelor of music history from Howard University (Washington D.C.), a master of violin from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD), and a master of divinity from Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee). Thornton is a local pastor on track for elder's orders.
At South End UMC, she helps to provide leadership for worship through music, drama, storytelling, and preaching. She also plans and supervises opportunities for Christian spiritual formation through education and prayer. In her role at the Publishing House, Thornton provides the leadership for developing biblically sound resources that use African American heritage as a springboard, including Vacation Bible school programs, adult Bible atudies and children's literature.
Thornton is the music editor for Zion Still Sings, the new follow-up publication to Songs of Zion. This collection for the whole church will consist of 220 songs that represent the contemporary practice of African American worship from spirituals to hip-hop.
Marilyn is a contributing writer to the 2006 Upper Room Disciplines and the Africana Worship Book published by Discipleship Resources, and she continues to write for the on-ine Africana Liturgy Project with GBOD. Thornton has taught musical subjects at Howard, Trevecca Nazarene, and Tennessee State Universities. She has performed in schools, churches, museums, and many venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., and for the 2002 Women's Assembly of the Board of Global Ministries in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has developed community arts and parenting programs in D.C., Evanston, Illinois, Ossining, New York, and Nashville, serving for four years on the school board in Ossining, New York.
Marilyn is the mother of three gifted young adults: Cecilia Olusola Tribble (25), the Music and Movement Specialist at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral School in Memphis, TN; Joseph Thornton Tribble (23), a Religion and Philosophy major at Fisk University; and Lavinia Rose Tribble (20), a communications major at the University of Memphis.
Reading Session: "Zion Still Sings for a New Generation,"
Thursday, 9:00–10:00 a.m.
Thomas H. Troeger is the J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz Professor of
Christian Communication at the Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut. He began serving in this position July 1, 2005. From June 1991-June 2005, he was the Ralph E. and Norma E. Peck Professor of Preaching and Communications at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. While at Iliff, he established and directed the school’s doctor of ministry program in homiletics and served a three-year term as dean of academic affairs
Ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1970 and in the Episcopal Church in 1999, he is dually aligned with both traditions. He ministered for seven years as a pastor and then taught homiletics for fourteen year at Colgate Rochester Divinity School/Bexley Hall before coming to Iliff in 1991. After ordination as a priest, he became one of the associate clergy of St. John’ Episcopal Cathedral in Denver.
Author of more than a dozen books in the fields of preaching and worship and a frequent contributor to journals, Troeger is also a flutist and a poet whose work appears in the hymnals of many denominations. Much of his teaching and scholarship has focus on the function of the imagination in the life of faith. His books include Imagining a Sermon (Abingdon), Borrowed Light: Hymn Test, Prayers, And Poems (Oxford University Press), Ten Strategies for Preaching in a Multi-Media Culture (Abingdon), Preaching While the Church Is Under Reconstruction (Abingdon), New Proclamation (Augsburg Fortress), Above the Moon Earth Rises: Hymn Texts, Anthems and Poems for a New Creation (Oxford University Press), and his most recent work Preaching and Worship (Chalice Press). Many contemporary composers set his poetic works as anthems for SATB choirs. He hosted the Season of Worship broadcast for Cokesbury and has led conferences and lectureships in worship and preaching throughout North America and in Holland, Australia, and Japan. His hobbies include playing chamber music, cooking, hiking, cross-country and downhill skiing.
Class Offering: "Created to Create: Engaging the Preacher’s Imagination" – Monday Intensive Class, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Debi Tyree is Music Resources Development Editor at Abingdon Press, where she works within a team environment to enable a program devoted to strengthening local church music programs through the publication of practical resources. She is an ordained deacon in full connection in The United Methodist Church and certified in music ministry by The United Methodist Church. Debi is currently serving under appointment to The United Methodist Publishing House, where her work has included serving as editor of the magazine Church Music Workshop, the music leadership series of books, children's musicals, and the new praise and worship website.
She also serves as Minister of Music at Bellevue United Methodist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, where she oversees the worship and music ministry of the church. Prior to her appointment as a Music Editor, Debi had served as Associate Minister of Music and Worship Arts Ministries at Shady Grove United Methodist Church in Mechanicsville, Virginia, where she directed a program of twelve choirs from kindergarten to seniors, as a well as a multifaceted worship arts ministry. Debi is an accomplished vocalist, has performed solo concerts, in oratorios and opera, and is the author of the book, The Reluctant Soloist. She has written a variety of articles and other publications, including the session plans to the Abingdon Press musicals Bethlehem's Best, The Heroes of Lollipop Park, and Las Posadas. Debi compiled and edited the With Hearts, Hands and Voices songbook published by Abingdon Press and served as the project editor for the children's songbook FaithSongs. She is currently working on Happylujah, a pre-reader and early reader songbook to be published in December 2007. One of Debi's gifts is teaching. She is nationally known as a workshop and choral clinician who engages participants in creative ways to discover how they can improve their ministry of church music.
Class Offering: "Choreography for Children's Choirs (and their Directors!)"
Wednesday, 1:00–2:15 p.m.
Bruce Vantine, director and founder of The Cornerstone Chorale and Brass, was associate professor of music at the University of Missouri-St. Louis from September 1980 to August 1993. He holds degrees from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, where he studied under Paul J. Christiansen; Michigan State University at East Lansing, where he worked with composer H. Owen Reed and Jere Hutchenson. He has a doctor of musical arts degree in choral performance from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where he studied with Harold A. Decker. Vantine’s published original compositions and arrangements are performed nationwide.
Director of Cornerstone Chorale and Brass Concert: Thursday, 4:00 p.m. at Manchester UMC.
Becky Waldrop,is the Director of Development at Scarritt-Bennett Center, a conference, retreat, and learning center in Nashville, Tennessee. She is also a painter, former professional needlework designer, liturgical designer, workshop leader, and consultant. She is the director of the Liturgical Design Institute held every August at Scarritt-Bennett Center, which is just completing its ninth year.
Becky designs visuals for worship, including painted banners and paraments. She produced the banners, paraments, and worship booklet art for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of The United Methodist Church and its nationwide events for the exploration of the vocation of permanent deacons held in 1998 and 1999. She designed the cover art for the COSROW devotional booklet at two General Conferences of the United Methodist Church (1996 and 2000), and has produced visuals for the Fellowship of United Methodists in Worship, Music and Other Arts at the SE Jurisdiction Music Week at Lake Junaluska and for the National Fellowship Event in Nashville. She has frequently designed worship art for the Tennessee Annual Conference.
Becky led the worship and designed the worship settings for the Bishops’ Learning Group, a GBOD event in December 2005 in San Francisco. She is married to Michael Waldrop, an elder in the Tennessee Conference. In January 2006, she taught the studio class in liturgical arts at Drew Theological Seminary’s Ministry and Imagination Week.
Worship Visuals: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning worship services at 11:00 a.m.
Jason Warley is highly trained in various forms of dance including jazz, modern, ballet, theater dance, and liturgical. Jason received his training at Herbert H. Lehman College, The Alley School, and Broadway Dance Center in New York City.
He has taught classes at Broadway Dance Center as well as having taught master classes throughout the U.S. and Japan. He is a guest resident choreographer for the Duffy Liturgical Dance Ensemble (Cleveland, Ohio) and has previously been on the dance faculty of The Fellowship of Music and Arts Week at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina (Southeastern Jurisdiction).
Class Offerings (co-taught with Jessica Smith):
"Dance" – Monday Intensive Class, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m
"Dance Like David Danced: Exploring Liturgical Dance Ministry"
"Blessed Ballet: Interpreting Scriptures Through Dance and Theatre Arts"
"From Routine to Ritual: Enriching Your Liturgical Dance Ministry Experience"
"From“Performance to Ministry: Problems in Starting and Sustaining Liturgical Dance Ministries"
Other convocation participation: Participation in Tuesday’s worship at Christ Cathedral, 6:00 and 7:30 p.m.
Class Offering: "Why a Puppet Ministry" – Thursday, 5:00 p.m at Manchaster UMC
