Liturgical Music

Convener: Heather Josselyn-Cranson, OSL (hjosselyn@hotmail.com) is the Sister Margaret William McCarthy Endowed Chair of Music at Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, where she teaches classes in music and religious studies. She also serves as Provincial General for the Order of Saint Luke.

Members in Attendance: Carl Bear, Emily Brink, Mary Fran Fleischaker, Fred Graham, Ouida Harding, Kim Harris, Jonathan Hehn, Alan Hommerding, Kenneth Hull, Heather Josselyn-Cranson, Swee-Hong Lim, Judith Kubicki, Jason McFarland, Michael McMahon, Mark Miller, Jan Robitscher, J.J. Wright, Lester Ruth, Anthony Ruff, John Weit

Visitors: Kai-Ton Chau, Melva Costen, Cheryl Costen Hibbler, Alan Ferguson, Kristian Kohler, Michael Lee, Mykayla Turner

Description of Work: Members of the Liturgical Music Seminar engaged in a full time of inquiry into the Church’s music during our 2023 sessions. Our time was divided between exploring the beginning stages of research, responding to already-published projects, singing examples from musical resources, and sharing work on the joint publication of an ecumenical theology of liturgical music that the Liturgical Music Seminar is undertaking, to be published later in 2023 by GIA.

Papers and Presentations:

• Anthony Ruff, “Hymnody and Ecumenism,” an exploration of possibilities for fostering an ecumenically-recognized body of hymnody.

• Jason McFarland, “Music and Theology in Eucharistic Communities,” a draft of his chapter to be included in a forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Music and Theology.

• Emily Brink, “Metrical Psalmody,” working toward an updated edition of her earlier work in this area.

• Alan Hommerding, “Sing with Understanding,” a presentation of the new revision of this classic work.

• Mark Miller, “Revolution of the Heart,” a participatory demonstration of many new hymns from his recently published collection.

• Jonathan Hehn, “Faithful Echoes: A Collection of Hymns by Bl. Basil Moreau,” a presentation of previous work on translations of these hymns and a consideration of future implications.

• Swee Hong Lim and Lester Ruth, “A History of Contemporary Praise and Worship,” an insider account of the research that culminated in this presentation.

Other Work and Plans for the Future:

• Visiting and playing on Seattle-area organs

• Further work on Ecumenical Hymnody

• Celebrating the publication of our Ecumenical Theology of Liturgical Music

• Possible shared sessions with other seminars