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Hymn Search Notice!
NEW! 2011-2012 Season Posting!
Singing Hymns
Sunday, October 2, 2011, at 2:30 p.m.
Islington United Church
25 Burnhamthorpe Road
Toronto, ON M9A 1G9
Our fall social featured tips on supporting congregational song by four talented church musicians on the SOCHS Executive. Don Anderson, John Derksen, Fred Graham and Lydia Pedersen demonstrated creative techniques for making texts come alive. We sang the hymns, of course, and finished with scones and cookies at afternoon tea.
Hymns and Church Music: Where is it all going?
Monday, February 13, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.
Emmanuel College, University of Toronto
75 Queen’s Park Crescent East (TTC: at MUSEUM)
Toronto, ON M5S 1K7
A conversation with young musicians who are studying in or have recently graduated from the Master of Sacred Music (MSMus) program at Emmanuel College. The audience is invited to enter the discussion.
Sound the Bells!
Saturday, June 2, 2012, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Metropolitan United Church
56 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON M5C 2Z3
To begin our day-long workshop Gerald Martindale will introduce us to the art of the carillon and offer a tour of Metropolitan’s fine set of bells. In the afternoon J.-C. Coolen will demonstrate ways in which handbells can build community and enhance worship.
Islington United Church
25 Burnhamthorpe Road
Toronto, ON M9A 1G9
Our fall social featured tips on supporting congregational song by four talented church musicians on the SOCHS Executive. Don Anderson, John Derksen, Fred Graham and Lydia Pedersen demonstrated creative techniques for making texts come alive. We sang the hymns, of course, and finished with scones and cookies at afternoon tea.
Hymns and Church Music: Where is it all going?
Monday, February 13, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.
Emmanuel College, University of Toronto
75 Queen’s Park Crescent East (TTC: at MUSEUM)
Toronto, ON M5S 1K7
Saturday, June 2, 2012, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Metropolitan United Church
56 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON M5C 2Z3
To begin our day-long workshop Gerald Martindale will introduce us to the art of the carillon and offer a tour of Metropolitan’s fine set of bells. In the afternoon J.-C. Coolen will demonstrate ways in which handbells can build community and enhance worship.
Past Events
Saturday, May 28, 2011, at 9:30am-3:00pm, Jazz in Worship - A Beginner's Guide
About 30 enthusiastic clergy, laypeople and church musicians gathered at St. Andrew's United Church (co-host of this event) to hear Brian Barlow and Tim Elliott describe how they have over the past few years developed the concept of the Jazz Vespers service into a flexible model for integrating jazz into worship. Supported by well-known local jazz artists, they demonstrated a jazz vespers service. Discussion between the audience and presenters included the politics and financing of services, some technical details of how to approach integration of jazz verses into hymns, and thoughts about how professional musicians not ordinarily employed in churches can relate to this kind of engagement.
A delicious lunch, professionally catered in the church foyer, added a time for catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.
A display/order table with jazz-related worship resources and recordings attracted much interest.
Sunday, February 20, 2011, at 2:30pm, Convent of St John the Divine: Hymns written by the Sisters of St. John the Divine
The Winter event, at the Convent of St. John the Divine in Toronto, 233 Cummer Ave., on Sunday, February 20, 2011, at 2:30pm, featured hymns written by and for the Sisters of St. John the Divine, known around the world for their creativity in this genre. The invitation with more details is found
here.
Sunday, October 17, 2:30pm @ Humbercrest United Church: "When in our music God is glorified!"
SOCHS' Fall 2010 event was at Humbercrest UC, on Sunday, October 17, at 2:30pm. Radio personality Judy Maddren narrated a festival of hymns old and new with choir, led by Mel Hurst, organist Fred Graham and trumpeter Barton Woomert.
Saturday, June 12, 2010 @ St. Andrew's United Church, Toronto, John Bell Returns
Saturday, June 12, 2010 @ St. Andrew's United Church, Toronto, John Bell and The Singing Thing
John Bell returned to inspire and instruct in a day-long session. A book service was available. One hundred twenty people sang, discussed, listened and took away much new material from the Iona Community. The Singing Thing was co-sponsored by Continuing Education at Emmanuel College of Victoria University in the University of Toronto.Sunday, February 21, 2010, 3:00 p.m. "What Song Shall We Sing?" with Rachael Boles @ Kingsway Lambton United Church, Etobicoke
Our February event "What song shall we sing?" focused on planning hymns for worship and was enjoyed by a large group. It featured leadership by Rachael Boles, long-time collaborative hymn-selector. Click here for some background.
Genevan Psalmody for Today
SOCHS' fall event was in Waterloo, on Friday, November 20th , 7:30 p.m. in Keffer Chapel at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. The event brought together Calvin Seerveld with Stephanie Martin and the Pax Christi Chorale to explore Genevan Psalmody in music, visuals and words.
Calvin @ 500
For the second event of SOCHS' 2008-2009 season, Bert Polman of Calvin College, Grand Rapids (and long-time teacher at Redeemer College, Ancaster), brought a wealth of experience as a scholar and lover of all things hymnological to enrich our understanding of this towering figure of reformed theology. Calvin the man and musician and how his words and thought have influenced the hymns we sing today. About 50 hymn enthusiasts gathered at Kingsway Lambton United Church in Etobicoke to hear Professor Polman speak both about Calvin and about hymn editing.
Great Hymns of Faith
For the 2008-09 season, our first event was a magnificent hymn festival featuring among many wonderful hymns the winner of last year's SOCHS Tenth Anniversary Hymn Competition. The event took place on Sunday afternoon, October 26, at Humbercrest United Church, in Toronto's west end.
The Festival featured the Choir of Humbercrest Church with the Salvation Army Toronto Brass, and is directed by Melvin J. Hurst
There was no charge for this event, sponsored by the Southern Ontario Chapter of the Hymn Society (SOCHS, www.sochs.org). The Society is deeply grateful to the Council, Choir and Staff of Humbercrest United, and to the North York Temple of the Salvation Army for their assistance with and support of this event.
Hymn Competition Closes with Winner and Honourable Mentions
"Singing God's Song in a Strange Land"
A search for hymn texts. The deadline was 2 June 2008. Fifty-seven submissions were received from North America and Great Britain. All participants have been notified and the winner will be announced in the fall. The winning hymn was performed at a hymn festival in Toronto in October. We thank all participants for their submissions.
The winner of the competition, which was subject to blind judging, was a hymn by Stan Engle, Minister of Music at Messiah Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Honourable mentions were given for fine texts by Frederick Harrison of Toronto and John Dalles of Florida.
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