The “Centered in Song” launch tour for The Center for Congregational Song is coming to Brooklyn! Join organist, composer, and master song leader Mark Miller for a day celebrating the importance and power of congregational song. There will be sessions on justice in music-making, introducing The Center for Congregational Song, and a closing hymn festival. Come join in the song!
Mark Miller believes passionately that music can change the world. He also believes in Cornell West’s quote that ‘Justice is what love looks like in public.’ His dream is that the music he composes, performs, teaches and leads will inspire and empower people to create the beloved community.
Mark serves as Assistant Professor of Church Music at Drew Theological School and is a Lecturer in the Practice of Sacred Music at Yale University. He also is the Minister of Music of Christ Church in Summit, New Jersey.
Jacque Jones has been writing in various forms all her life and in recent years has taken up the challenge of writing hymn texts. Her hymn text collection Songs Unchanged Yet Ever Changing was published in 2015 by GIA. Jacque has been a member of The Hymn Society since 2003, and is currently serving as its Immediate Past President, having served previously as Treasurer and President. A native of Texas, Jacque lives in New York and is an active member of the laity at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights.
Ana Hernandez is a composer/arranger, workshop facilitator, author, and mischief maker. She works with people to create beautiful liturgies in many different styles; from early music to contemplative, to drummy and participatory. She facilitates deep and meaningful conversations using the Art of Hosting modalities.
Brian Hehn is the director of The Center for Congregational Song.
““Justice is what love looks like in public - Cornel West”
8:30AM - Check in and registration
9AM - Morning Worship with Ana Hernandez
9:30AM to 10:30AM - Serve & Sing
10:30AM to Noon - Session with Mark Miller
1:30PM - Introducing The Center for Congregational Song
2:30PM - Breakout Sessions
* Writing A Hymn Text with Jacque Jones
*Rote Song Leading with Brian Hehn & Ana Hernandez
4PM - Tour of historic Plymouth Church
5PM - Closing Hymn Festival "Let Justice Roll Down"
Our venue will be the historic Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York. Plymouth Church has an amazing history. When you sit in pew 89, you wonder what Abraham Lincoln prayed when he sat there. You can turn off the lights in the basement—where runaway slaves passed through on the Underground Railroad—and imagine what it feels like to run for your life. When you are in the pastor's office, you may think of Branch Rickey—a member of Plymouth Church and General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers—praying there until he decided that God wanted him to invite Jackie Robinson to integrate baseball. For more information on the church, you can go to http://www.plymouthchurch.org/history/