Hearn Symposium Focuses On 'Music And Worship In An Emerging Culture'
WACO, Texas - Leaders from the church, universities and the Christian music industry will focus their attention on worship and congregational song within the context of the postmodern church, during the 2004 Hearn Symposium on Christian Music - "Music and Worship in an Emerging Culture" - Oct. 4-6 on the Baylor University campus.
The Hearn Symposium is a biennial conference hosted by the Baylor Center for Christian Music Studies. The symposium was established two years ago by Billy Ray Hearn, chairman of EMI Christian Music Group and a former member of the Baylor Board of Regents, to address issues in Christian music, to explore the role of Christian music in culture, and to ensure dialogue and facilitate interaction between church musicians, pastors, Christian music industry executives, artists and composers.
"We are called to minister to a world that is increasingly hostile to the church, to reach out to a culture that often expresses little desire for the spiritual, and to be worship leaders to a church that is increasingly wounded and fragmented," said Dr. Randall Bradley, director of the Center for Christian Music Studies. "Yet, our mandate to be God followers is clear, and our call to lead the church compels our work. As traditional moorings are challenged, church leaders are often left with more questions than answers. Baylor offers this event where all of us who are involved in the church's worship can come together and share our joys, voice our doubts and explore new possibilities."
The conference will begin with a welcome session at 2 p.m. Monday in Jones Concert Hall at the Glennis McCrary Music Building. The three-day symposium includes plenary sessions with nationally recognized authors and speakers, panel discussions with national leaders representing various perspectives on congregational worship, break-out sessions on special interest topics, and worship events that enrich the conference by offering opportunities to re-focus ministry and participate in worship experiences.
Plenary panel topics include "Worship as the Overflow of Lived Community"; "The Source of the Song: Whose Voice Is It?"; "The Bad News About the Good News, and the Good News About the Bad News"; "Preaching: Will It Survive a Postmodern World?"; "It Only Takes a Spark: Why Then/What Now?"; "Worshipping the Trinity in Exile: The Prophetic Church with a Post-Era Mission" and "Emerging Worship: reformation or Reformation?".
Leaders for plenary sessions this year are Sally Morgenthaler, author, speaker, worship consultant and founder of Sacramentis.com; Brian McLaren, author and founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church in Baltimore; and Marva Dawn, theologian, author and musician with Christians Equipped for Ministry in Vancouver, Wash.
Break-out session topics will focus on "America's Worship Wars: The Road Behind, the
Road Ahead"; "CCM Meets Postmodernity"; "Come to the Quiet"; "Cutting Edge in the 1970s: A CCM Retrospective"; "Getting Past Post Modernism"; "The Millenium Matrix: Reclaiming the Past and Reframing the Future of the Church"; and "Worship as a Form of Sonic Culture." These sessions will provide opportunities for extended discussion with presenters and other conferees.
Panelists for this year include:
• Thomas Troeger, professor of preaching, Iliff School of Theology;
• Louie Giglio, director, Choice Resources, Passion Conferences and sixsteprecords;
• Chris Seay, pastor, Ecclesia of Houston;
• John Michael Talbot, composer, recording artist;
• Terry York, associate professor of Christian ministry and church music, Truett Seminary and Baylor School of Music;
• Gary Rhodes, composer, arranger;
• Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Waco, Texas;
• Hulitt Gloer, professor of preaching and Christian scripture, Truett Seminary, Baylor;
• Billy Ray Hearn, chairman, EMI Christian Music Group;
• Ralph Carmichael, composer, arranger;
• Kurt Kaiser, composer, arranger;
• Bill Hearn, president and CEO, EMI Christian Music Group;
• Chuck Fromm, publisher of Worship Leader Magazine and founder of Maranatha! Music;
• Peter York, president, EMI CMG Label Group;
• Don Cason, president, Word Music;
• Robb Redman, author, pastor, Forest Hills Presbyterian Church, San Antonio;
• Vicky Beeching and the Worship Together Band;
• Gordon Borror, professor of church music, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary;
• Rex Miller, author;
• and David Music, professor of church music, Baylor.
Worship events will enrich the conference by offering opportunities to re-focus ministry, fellowship with colleagues, and participate in worship experiences. Monday's worship will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Jones Concert Hall, featuring Baylor choirs, Troeger as speaker and Music as worship coordinator. Tuesday's worship will be held at 7:30 p.m., led by Giglio as speaker with music by the Worship Together Band with Vicky Beeching. On Wednesday, worship will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with Talbot leading the music and Seay speaking.
The worship services are free and open to the public. The fee to attend the conference is $179 after Sept. 1, and includes all plenary, break-out and worship sessions.
For more information, contact Melinda_Coats@baylor.edu in the Baylor Center for Christian Music Studies at (254) 710-2360 or visit the conference web site at 2004 Hearn Symposium. For media inquiries, contact Lori Scott Fogleman, director of media relations, at (254) 710-6275.