PAGE 2


From the Workshop Chair 56th Annual Church Music Workshop


Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes so dear. Five hundred twenty- five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure --measure a year? In daylights, in sun- sets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.


I was recently watching the CBS Morning Show when the Cast from the Broadway Revival of "Rent" performed the iconic Seasons of Love from their show. But it wasn't until this week that it struck me how much the lyrics of this song speak to the theme for our 2012 Summer Music Workshop. I was reading the New Year's Day Devotional that is sent by the National Fel- lowship Office to all Fellowship Chapter Lead- ers and the scripture that was used was "for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" from Ecclesiastes 3:1-13. The devotional (written by Elise Eslin- ger, Consultant for Worship, Music and Spiri- tual Formation at Concord United Methodist Church, Dayton, OH) reminded us that for many of us our Sundays and our lives are about time and seasons -- does that sound like you? Do you remember what date it is by remem- bering what date the last Sunday was and us- ing that as a point of reference? Do you always know how many Sundays there are in a month & which Sunday is the first Sunday because that's Communion Sunday. Do you know ex- actly how many Wednesdays you have from the first rehearsal in January until your Easter Cantata? Yes, there is a chronological counting of the days and hours and minutes of our lives -- just like the song from "Rent" illustrates. But how often do we think about the deeper time


awareness of living in Christ through the fullness of God -- past, present and future. Elise asked us in this devotional what it would be like if we not only kept track of time with the tick-tock of a clock or our Day Timer Calendar but also "with worshipful pauses which savor a taste of eternity. What if we help each other grow (during the inevitable seasons of joy and grief, activity and rest, ministry and prayer, giv- ing and receiving) as we embrace God’s sea- sons of love and faithfulness?"


It's time now to sing out though the story never ends. Let's celebrate, remember, a year in the life of friends.


I hope you will join us as we "Celebrate Our Journey: The Seasons of Faith" from Sunday, July 15 through Friday, July 20, 2012. Invite your friends, fellow music ministry partners, pastors, worship leaders, choir members, handbell ringers, and youth to join you and celebrate with you.


Joan FitzGerald, Workshop Chairperson


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8