Photographs are available with this story. For related coverage, see UMNS story #368.
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
Liturgical
dancers perform "Dancing Our Faith" during a service of worship and
remembrance at the biennial convocation of the Fellowship of United
Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. Names of the honored dead were
written on the ribbons and draped over the "nurse log." The image of the
nurse log, dead trees that provide the next generation of trees a place
to sprout and grow, represented the theme for the event, "Nurturing the
Roots--Growing the Future." A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert. Photo
number 03-235, Accompanies UMNS #367
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Rosalie
Branigan received the Roger Deschner Award during the business meeting
of the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. She
was honored for being a primary force in introducing liturgical dancing
into local congregations. Criteria for the Roger Deschner Award is a
lifetime of service spent in the worship, liturgical arts or music. A
UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert. Photo number 03-239, Accompanies UMNS
#367
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Esta
Rosario, Valparaiso, Ind., prepares to take part in the traditional
Sunday morning worship service. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert. Photo
number 03-236, Accompanies UMNS #367
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The
Detroit Annual Conference Choir Camp, directed by David Gladstone, sang
"The Potter's Hand," during the Sunday morning traditional worship
service. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert. Photo number 03-237,
Accompanies UMNS #367
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Claudia
Florian-McCafrfrey, with the Omega Dance Company in New York, leads
dancers in a practice session for one of the evening worship services.
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, she has presented workshops on
liturgical dancing for over a decade internationally. A UMNS photo by
Kathy L. Gilbert. Photo number 03-238, Accompanies UMNS #367
No Long Caption Available for this Story
DEARBORN, Mich. (UMNS) - The church of the 21st
century should be a mosaic of worship styles, where each song stands out
as a jewel and is more than "old or new white guy's music," according
to a top United Methodist scholar.
Michael Hawn, associate
professor of church music at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, was
addressing the 460 participants at the biennial convocation of the
Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. The theme of
the July 10-15 event was "Nurturing the Roots - Growing the Future."
"God
is interesting, and God is ever creative," he told participants at the
closing session. During the five-day convocation, Hawn led worship
services and workshops that focused on enlivening worship services with
music from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The event was a medley
of music, art, dancing, drama and preaching. Each day began and ended
with worship services. In between, participants attended classes on
everything from handbells to worship planning through the Internet.
For
the first time, the United Methodist Board of Discipleship offered a
special track for pastors and preachers during the fellowship's biennial
meeting under the theme "Preaching from the Center."
"The
worship services combined body, mind and spirit masterfully," said Mel
Hazlewood, a first-time participant at the event. Hazelwood is a pastor
in George West, Texas.
Martha Lyons, who attended her first
fellowship convocation at age 13 in 1964, said she wouldn't miss a
single worship service. Lyons is an organist from Oswego, N.Y.
"It is like visiting an art museum - you have to see everything!" she said.
Highlights
included performances by "Friends of the Groom," an interdenominational
theater group from the Cincinnati area. Tom Long, Jocelyn Sluka and
Marilyn Dryden opened the convocation by performing Acts, Chapter 12, in
the style of a 1940s Humphrey Bogart detective movie and called "The
Case of the Missing Bodies (and other stories)."
The issue of
contemporary versus traditional worship styles was addressed when the
Rev. Elizabeth A. Lopez, senior pastor of Christ United Methodist Church
in Rochester, Minn., led two Sunday morning worship services in each
style.
Using 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, Lopez talked about squabbling churches that are at odds over issues of worship.
"Have we forgotten the gift, the power of community?" she asked.
"People
are hungry for the experience of God," she said. "It is our job to
clean away the clutter. We have the power to live honestly together."
For
more information on the fellowship, contact David L. Bone,
administrator, at (615) 749-6875, or visit the Web site at
www.fummwa.org.
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