Association of Lutheran Church Musicians
February 1, 2017 e-newsletter


Kung Hei Fat Choi - Gong Xi Fa Cai - Happy Chinese New Year!
 
After having lived and taught in Hong Kong for over twelve years, this is a special time of the year for my family and me. It also comes at the perfect time, after the flurry of Advent and Christmas and before the solemn days of Lent and Holy Week and the joy of Easter and Christ's resurrection.
 
I wish for you, my friends, joy, peace and prosperity throughout this coming year. Be certain to take a bit of time for yourself, between these very busy seasons for church musicians and clergy, to regroup and refresh.
 
God's rich blessings to each of you.
 
Bill Kuhn
Region 4 President



The beginnings of the Reformation go back five hundred years. It has been fifty years since Vatican II, and thankfully we now have closer relationships between Lutherans and Roman Catholics, once bitter enemies.
 
Many Lutherans and Roman Catholics around the world are marking the Reformation anniversary with joint liturgies and other special events-a sign of the reconciliation and unity we seek in the body of Christ.
 
Our 2017 biennial conference will journey to St. John's Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota for one afternoon and evening. During the twentieth century, St. John's became a center of liturgical renewal in this country, not only for Roman Catholics, but also Lutherans. The well-known journal Worship is published there and the Liturgical Press is on the campus as well. St. John's is also recognized for its commitment to ecumenism, reflected in the Collegeville Institute, also on site.
 
Our visit will include three short plenaries that will orient us to St. John's and its liturgy and music, as well as ecumenical reflections by a Roman Catholic and Lutheran. Following dinner on campus, we will gather with the monks for a service of Evening Prayer. What a joy it will be to celebrate our oneness even as we seek further signs of unity in the future.



Annual Board Meeting Highlights 

The Board held its meeting in Chicago January 16-17. New board members Jennifer Baker-Trinity (Region 1 President), Ryan Hostler (Region 2 President), Bill Kuhn (Region 4 President), and Jeffrey Blersch (Director-at-Large), joined with those continuing their service: Linda Martin (Region 3 President), Mike Krentz (Director-at-Large), Julie Grindle (President), Anne Krentz Organ (Past-President), Kevin Barger (Secretary/Treasurer), and Cheryl Dieter (non-voting member).

 Here are some highlights of our time together:
  • Approved a "round up" campaign for membership dues - the "round up" money will be used for student scholarships to ALCM conferences (see article below for more information).
  • Heard updated plans for the Minneapolis conference in July. Registrations are coming in, and the conference looks to be very exciting!
  • Considered possibilities for 2019 biennial conference - look for more information coming soon!
  • Visioned on making our conferences even stronger - both biennial and regional conferences - with emphasis on making the biggest impact to serving member needs in all regions at all times.
  • Made decisions on Faithful Servant Awards, which will be presented at the July biennial.
  • Heard a report from the Executive Director Search Committee - the group has selected top candidates for phone interviews to be held late January/early February.
  • Discussed plans for bettering our social media presence.
  • Clarified Regional President duties
  • Held a discussion on possible bylaw review and changes and decided to appoint a team to work on this later this year in preparation for any changes to be considered at the 2019 conference.
  • Highlighted ALCM's many partners as we look for continued ways to foster those relationships and better serve our members.
Round Up Your Membership Dues
and Support a New Generation of Church Musicians

At its January face-to-face meeting, the ALCM board approved setting aside for student scholarships any money received as a result of a member "rounding up" his or her membership dues from $90 to $100 (voting) or from $45 to $50 (voting members 65 and older). Quite a few members already do this when they renew their memberships. If every  member were to "round up" by $5 or $10, the result would be almost $10,000 per year set aside for scholarships to support the next generation of church musicians. 

Similarly, within the next few months we will begin charging a small fee ($25) for posting jobs on the ALCM website. That $25 fee will also be placed in the same scholarship fund. So congregations looking for new church musicians who post their positions on the ALCM website will also be supporting the raising up of new church musicians for the future. Look for more details in both online and paper renewal forms.
From the Development Committee

It is always a blessing and a joy when we can report some very good news, especially in the middle of winter! The undesignated gifts given by members, non-member friends, congregations, and others to ALCM in 2016 totaled (in round numbers) $154,000. This figure includes the very generous gift of $100,000 from Mark and Kathy Helge, and the generous response to our Celebrating 30 Years appeal.
 
Not including the Helge gift, that represents more than a 25% increase in undesignated gifts compared to 2015. And the number of donors went from 174 to 267. This puts us well on the way to our goal of 300 donors per year by 2018.
 
So, to everyone who gave, we say a very big thank you! Donors will be acknowledged in the Spring issue of CrossAccent - please look for the names there, and then you can thank them in your heart or with an actual thank you.
 
Michael Krentz
Development Committee Chair

Distance Learning Opportunities for Church Musicians


The Leadership Program for Musicians, a cooperative program between the ELCA and The Episcopal Church, is proud to announce online courses for church musicians who desire to develop their foundational knowledge and skills, especially those serving smaller congregations.  

SPRING 
Developing a Philosophy of Church Music, taught by Jennifer Baker-Trinity  
Lutheran Liturgy, taught by Scott Weidler
 
SUMMER 
Christian Hymnody, taught by Julie Grindle  

Although designed specifically for musicians, pastors and others are welcome to register, as well. For complete information, including links to registration, see:  http://www.lpm-online.org/distancelearning/index.php  


Join us at Valparaiso University in 2017!  

Spring Discount runs from February 1-March 31.
Take advantage of our $250 tuition discount before it's too late!

 
Encourage a future church musician to apply today!

https://lutheranmusicprogram.org/apply
 

Additional scholarships and discounts are also available. See more online.

Wish you could participate in LSM too?

Join us July 13-16 for our first Adult Bach Cantata Retreat!


 

Sing under the direction of Dr. Paul Weber in BWV: 80 with the LSM Chapel Choir.
See our website in the coming months for more information.


Tips for Holy Week

We hope that you are enjoying "Tips for the 30th." The next issue will include tips for Holy Week and will be available on or about February 15.

The first two issues of "Tips for the 30th," covering the Sundays after Epiphany and Lent, are posted in the members area of the website. Also available in the members area are a few additional tips submitted by ALCM members. (NOTE: If you have difficulty logging in to the members area and resetting your password does not work, don't spend time trying to get it to work. Instead, send an email to office@alcm.org. We are aware of the problem, but have not been able to successfully fix it. Just let us know and we can fix it on our end.)