Greetings Region 1! I was glad to see many of you at our Biennial Conference in Minneapolis last month. The conference team did an excellent job preparing and leading the event. You'll read in this E-News a few perspectives from Region 1 members who attended.
 
During our Regional Meeting at the conference, I announced my resignation as your Region 1 President, effective August 15. I have recently accepted a new position as Director of Resource Development, a shared position between the ELCA (Worship Area) and Augsburg Fortress (in the offices of 1517 Media). This position has meant a move for my family out of Region 1, as we are living in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. It would be difficult for me to serve you well living outside the region, hence my decision to resign.
 
I have enjoyed this brief time as your President after a similar move to Region 3 by John Weit. Serving on the board was an honor. I am very glad that the Vice President of Region 1, Daniel Aune, will begin in his role as President this month. You might recall Daniel's generous hosting of the Region 1 Conference in Baltimore in 2014. He brings you greetings in this E-news as well.
 
I continue to count ALCM membership as a vital part of my calling as a worship leader in the church. I look forward to the one-day events across all of the regions in 2018 as ways that ALCM can reach those church musicians who still need to learn about our organization.
 
Blessings on your continued ministry,
 
Jennifer Baker-Trinity
Out-going Region 1 President

Dear ALCM Colleagues,
It is an honor for me to be able to serve as the next President for Region I. As I mentioned at the regional meeting during the national conference, this must be a record for the fastest that someone has moved up from Member-at-Large to President!
 
Let me first extend a thank you on behalf of our region to Jennifer for the work that she has done. She crafted a wonderful conference in Fort Wayne last summer. She worked to implement this E-news, which I think is a great platform for connecting our region. And Jennifer has been dedicated to the regional and national work of this organization. We congratulate her and wish her the best as she serves the church in a new role.
 
My first national board meeting, following the conference in Minneapolis, was an invigorating experience. There is so much good work being done in ALCM, with exciting plans for the future. You can rest assured that our new executive director, Jim Rindelaub, is fully committed to building up ALCM and its mission. He gave an extremely impressive report of the work that he has already done. But the growth and strength of ALCM is the responsibility of all its members, not just the Executive Director. So, I'm going to give our region a simple challenge.
 
I invite all of you to consider coordinating a simple "lunch bunch" gathering. All that is required is that you invite a few church musicians to join you for lunch at a restaurant. It is a chance to gather for mutual support and encouragement in your ministries. Perhaps you can share ideas and plans that you have for your Reformation celebrations. As you invite people, be sure to include someone who is not an ALCM member. Bring along a copy of our ALCM journals and share with them the great resources that come with ALCM membership. Tell them about the upcoming one-day workshop events which will be happening across the region and will be focused on practical skills to enrich our congregations' worship. That's all you have to do, but it might lead to a few new members who want to be part of this wonderful community of musicians dedicated to spreading the gospel through music.
 
The deadline for our next E-news is October 15th and it will be published towards the beginning of November. Please send in your news and events to share with the region. And by that point I hope that I will hear from at least ten of you that you had an enriching "lunch bunch" experience.

I am grateful for this opportunity to serve you and ALCM. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas with me at any time. Best wishes for your ministry!
 
Daniel Aune
In-coming Region 1 President

Reflections from the Minneapolis Conference

 
Rise, Remember Well the Future was a great opportunity to reengage the heart of our work as cantors and to be held in the vibrant song of this community of faith. As a cantor who leads assembly song primarily with guitar and voice, I was excited to hear Chad Fothergill's and Dan Schwandt's reflections on the broadening reality of what it means to be a faithful cantor. Their affirmation that what makes a good cantor is her/his ability to help the assembly sing our faith (with whatever musical and theological tools are at her/his disposal), and their challenge of the church's acculturation to consumerist models of musical appropriation keep inspiring me to take seriously the traditions I receive, the make-up of the assemblies I serve, and the responsibility I owe to the saints of tomorrow.
 
Mary Louise Bringle highlighted the vitality of our attention to the words we sing by identifying the identity-relevance spectrum as a primary dynamic of our work and illustrating how these often-competing goods implicitly shape our ministry. Throughout the conference I was heartened to see ALCM living out its intention to be more than a Lutheran version of the AGO or the ACDA by recognizing and modeling diverse ways of leading assembly song: large choir, small choir, organ and brass, guitars and folk instruments, unaccompanied, piano, hymnals, paperless, complete worship folders. Yet throughout it all, thoughtful leadership joined our song to that of the saints of every time and place.
 
--Paul Friesen-Carper

The 2017 ALCM Biennial Conference in Minneapolis was everything I had hoped it would be. Always high on my list of highlights is seeing the many friends and colleagues who are part of our Association. Having the banquet on Monday evening - early in the conference - gave us a chance to recognize two deserving recipients of our Faithful Servant Award, Gail Ramshaw and Mark Bangert. We also were able to thank our past President, Anne Krentz Organ, as she completes her service. Such people connections are one of the things that keep me coming back year after year. And of course, the program was spectacular, with many highlights, including the time spent at St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, where we shared evening prayer with Roman Catholic brothers; the hymn festival led by David Cherwien and the National Lutheran Choir; the presentations of Chad Fothergill and Mary Louise Bringle; and the closing Eucharist at Central Lutheran Church. Coming out of the church to the joyous sound of the carillon brought the event to a bittersweet close.

--Michael Krentz

The worship, as expected, was rich and full and will continue to feed me for weeks and months to come. It was wonderful to worship in both new and modern settings as well as the older, traditional space for the closing worship. Although this conference seemed to include more what I would call traditional hymns and instrumentation, there was still plenty of variety and new aspects to experience. Celebrating the Reformation Anniversary at the abbey was extremely moving.
 
I was especially excited to see the blend of long time (notice I didn't say old) ALCM leaders and newer leaders for worship, workshops, panels and other parts of the conference. It was even more exciting to watch the interface between these two groups as they listened to, respected, and were willing to learn from each other.
 
I count on ALCM conferences to give me plenty of new ideas - some to try at home, some to tuck away for another time, and some to remember fondly. This year certainly did not fail in that respect. I shipped all of my conference materials home to make for lighter luggage on the plane, and I couldn't wait to open the box and peruse my new treasures.
 
--Sue Gerrard

Welcome to New and Returning
Region 1 Members Who Have Joined Recently

Andrea Baxter, Lansdale PA
Gretchen Bilson, West Orange NJ
Bart Dahlstrom, Boston MA
Marilyn Henstock, Charleston WV
Sonja Kahler, Bethesda MD
Dodd Lamberton, Center Valley PA
Matthew Larson, Bethesda MD
Sandra Rhein, South Bend IN


2018 Local Workshops
 
As we move into the fall of 2017, look for more information about numerous ALCM local workshops that will be held in the region in 2018. These one-day events will include presentations and workshops on various topics related to church music. 

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Keep sending your news! If you would like to share with the regional membership a noteworthy event in your area, please email Daniel Aune at [email protected].