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Beyond Performance Mode
The Spiritual Practice of Music in Community |
| Presented by: The Rev. Donald Schell |
| Music is essential to rich, satisfying worship in Christian churches, Jewish synagogues, and the gatherings of many other religious traditions. Of course it 'adds beauty' to worship, but for the people making it, music also binds them together in community, builds trust, honors leadership, teaches good learning practices, and fosters creativity. Almost all organists work in congregations that sing together regularly, and more and more, the organist is the designated leader of congregational music and song. The Rev. Donald Schell will lead an exploration and reflection on the shared work of congregational singing. Participants will work to develop the perspective and questions that can enable music leaders to form community and empower congregations through making music together.
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The Rev. Donald Schell
The Rev. Donald Schell has been a pastor for thirty-five years and sung with singers and 'non-singers' alike. He has also sung in congregations accompanied by organ, strings, and in congregations that sang four-part unaccompanied hymnody and chant. He has served congregations as diverse as the Episcopal Church at Yale, St. David's Episcopal Church in Caldwell, Idaho, and St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco. In Donald's several recent trips to Malawi and Ethiopia he has worshiped with Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Ethiopian Orthodox, continuing to sharpen his observations of music's ESSENTIAL power to enliven liturgy and community. For the past three years in his new work with All Saints Company (a think-tank and teaching institution in support of liturgy and spiritual community), Donald has continued to develop his refreshing approach and perspective on music in community with Music that Makes Community Workshops, and in publications including Music By Heart (with a variety of composers and editors Ana Hernandez and Emily Scott), and a chapter contribution to What Would Jesus Sing, Experimentation and Tradition in Church Music (intro. by John Bell).
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