A Song of Renewal for the Lenten Season
Felicia Patton is a lifelong Chicago native and worship leader at Urban Village Church. Felicia received an undergraduate degree from North Park University followed by two graduate degrees from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 Chorus: Give me a clean […]
11th of February 2019
What “The Sound of Music” Taught Me About Congregational Song
Blogger David Bjorlin is a worship pastor at Resurrection Covenant Church (Chicago), a lecturer in worship at North Park Theological Seminary (Chicago), and a published hymnwriter. A Deeply Disturbing Fact On a recent trip to Ecuador to visit my dear friends Chris and Jenny, I discovered a deeply disturbing fact about their […]
5th of February 2019
Reflections on The Porter’s Gate Songwriting Retreat
Blogger Rylan A. Harris is Minister of Worship & Arts at Ray of Hope Christian Church in Atlanta, Georgia while he pursues a Master of Religious Leadership with a concentration in Music and Worship at Candler School of Theology. He is a graduate of Hampton University in Virginia. …sitting around the table music sounds so sweet, ‘til […]
7th of January 2019
Giving Advent and Christmas a Post-Op Performance Evaluation
Author – Adam Perez is a doctoral student in liturgical studies at Duke Divinity School. I hope that you, dear reader, had a wonderful season of music and worship during Advent and Christmas. In my experience, it is the most difficult season of the year for worship planning. It is tiring to navigate all the… […]
4th of January 2019
2019 – Hopes, Dreams, and Introductions
As we worked toward the launch of The Center over a year ago, we developed a set of guiding stances for the work of The Center for Congregational Song. I’d like to highlight a few of those guiding stances that I think speak to what we hope to accomplish in 2019. HOPES We […]
20th of December 2018
“Sing! An Irish Christmas” Concert Review
Author – Brian Hehn is the Director of The Center for Congregational Song I had the pleasure of being invited to attend the Getty “Sing! An Irish Christmas” concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. last weekend. As an organization that prides itself on congregational song, the Getty brand always has congregational singing […]
3rd of December 2018
When Secular Is Sacred
Author – Brian Hehn is the Director of The Center for Congregational Song When the “other” sings the Gospel As someone who is a life-long church musician but who cut(s) his teeth on Ben Folds Five, the Goo Goo Dolls, Nirvana, Ray Charles, The Beatles, and other secular pop/rock artists, I quickly became fascinated with […]
13th of November 2018
Lessons and Carols for the Small Congregation
Author – Ginny Chilton Maxwell is Music Minister at Church of the Ascension in Norfolk, Virginia, where she serves as organist, choirmaster, and elementary music teacher. Lessons and Carols My church has a tradition of doing a service of Advent Lessons and Carols every year. To me, the term “Lessons and Carols” brings to […]
5th of November 2018
Congregational Song’s Potential Challenges in the (near) Future
Author – Adam Perez is a doctoral student in liturgical studies at Duke Divinity School. The Future of Congregational Song “What do you think the future of congregational song will be like?” This question was posed to me recently. Though the future is difficult to predict (I was hoping for flying cars by now), […]
2nd of November 2018
Singing Coritos: An interview with Rosa Cándida Ramírez and Analisse Reyes
**This article was originally published by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. For the original article, click here. Singing coritos {short songs} in Spanish and English is hospitable in worship. It also opens up worshipers to new understandings of God. By: Joan Huyser-Honig, Rosa Cándida Ramírez, Analisse Reyes Rosa Cándida Ramírez is pastor of compassionate ministries at First […]
