A Conference on New Zealand hymnwriters in October 2009

Click here for the conference brouchure
includes registration form, programme outline, and how to offer a workshop

Draft Programme | Conference Workshops

‘Hope is our song’ – Peace, Justice, Creation, is the theme title for a three day conference in Palmerston North, New Zealand, between October 23 and 26, 2009. The New Zealand Hymnbook Trust invites those seeking further information to make email contact: info@hymns.org.nz.
Keynote presenters:
  • Clive Pearson, Principal of the Uniting Church Theological College, Australia
  • Colin Gibson, NZ hymnwriter
  • Jim and Jean Strathdee, USA. Jim’s best known song is ‘I am the light of the world’ (NZ Supplement, WOV)
Focus of the conference is on the key 21st century public issues, and how the indigenous hymnwriters of New Zealand are writing hymns that address these issues. In so doing, the New Zealand hymnwriters are making a significant contribution to the global search for hymns relevant to contemporary realities.  
A new collection of 160 hymns by New Zealanders, titled Hope is our Song , will be launched at the conference.
Costs for Attendance at Part of the Conference
A half day session or Friday evening: $15.00
(covers morning/afternoon tea or supper)
Saturday evening at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit: Koha
Meals (these must be pre-booked)
  Lunches: $10.00
  Saturday dinner: $25.00
  Sunday Conference Dinner at St Peter’s Anglican Church: $35.00
  Lunches and Dinners must be ordered beforehand.
Either email: Info@hymns.org.nz or phone 06/356 9681. Payment can be made on the day.
Conference DVD (includes p&p): $25.00
Some Conference Highlights
Please note that all events will start strictly on time
Friday 7.30 pm: Launch of new hymnbook Hope is our Song, and opening address on the Conference theme by Clive Pearson
Saturday 4.15 pm: Colin Gibson speaks on ‘Justice in the Hymns of Indigenous Pakeha Hymn Writing’ – singing included
Saturday 7.30 pm: ‘Celebrating New Zealand Songs of Spirituality’ Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, 197 Broadway Ave
Sunday 3.30 pm: Jim and Jean Strathdee, USA, ‘The Power of Song in Transformational Faith Communities in USA, Canada, Central America and India
Sunday 6.30 pm: Conference Dinner at St Peter’s Anglican Church, with guest speaker, Deborah Carlton-Loftis, Executive Office, US and Canada Hymn Society
Hope is our Song: 23 to 26 October, Palmerston North
Daily Programme
unless otherwise stated, all events are at Wesley Broadway Church
(One change from the Conference brochure: Clive Pearson’s keynote address will now be given on the Friday evening, NOT Saturday morning)

Friday 23 October:

6.30pm Registrations open
7.30 (Plenary) Introductions and Welcomes, including some singing, launch of Hope is our Song , followed by Keynote speaker Clive Pearson , focused on a Theology of Peace/Justice/Creation, Closing Worship led by Sarah Mitchell , then Supper and Sales of new book.

Saturday 24 October:

8.30 am Opening Worship led by Sarah Mitchell
9.00 to 10.00 am Workshop Options (ONE) – up to five options
10.00 to 10.30 am Morning Refreshments
10.30 to 11.30 am Workshops Options (TWO) – up to five options
11.30 to 12.00 pm Singing
12.00 to 2.30 pm Lunch (bags) and Recreation Options
2.30 to 3.00 pm Refreshments
3.00 to 4.00 pm Panel (ONE) Theme: A Public Theology and Hymn Singing (Clive Pearson, Shirley Erena Murray, and two others)
4.15 to 5.30 pm onwards: Keynote speaker Colin Gibson – Justice in the New Zealand Hymns, including singing
6. 00 pm Dinner
7.30 pm ‘Celebrating New Zealand Songs of Spirituality’, Cathedral of the Holy Spirit

Sunday 26 October

8.30 am Singing session at Wesley Broadway, then worship at church of choice
12.00 Lunch
1.00 to 2.00 pm Workshop Options (THREE) – up to five options
2.00 to 3.00 pm Panel (TWO) Theme: Encouraging the singing of NZ Hymns in NZ Church and Community (John Murray, Colin Gibson, and two others)
3.00 to 3.30 pm Refreshments
3.30 to 5.30 pm Jim and Jean Strathdee, USA: Songs of Hope. Jim and Jean share their experience of the power of song in transformational faith communities in the US, Canada, Central America and India.
6.30 pm Pre-dinner drinks followed by dinner at St Peters Anglican Church. Special guest: Deborah Carlton-Loftis, Executive Officer with the US and Canada Hymn Society.

Monday 26 October

8.30 am Opening worship, led by Sarah Mitchell
9.00 to 10.00 am Workshop Options (FOUR) – up to five options
10.00 to 10.30 am Morning refreshments
10.30 to 11.30 am Panel (THREE) Theme: Where to from here? (Clive Pearson and three others)
11.30 am Closing Worship, led by Sarah Mitchell
Concluding by NOON and lunch (pre-ordered)

Twenty Original Paintings
by Rhonda Swenson
Inspired by the NZ hymns
All paintings are for sale.  

Workshops offering at the Labour Weekend Conference, Palmerston North (as at mid June 2009)
1. Helene Mann, Dunedin 'Hope, Peace and Creation – Our Celtic Heritage as expressed in New Zealand hymns and carols’
2. ‘Singing to the Lord in a digital age’ – Brian Dawson, Havelock North, on the use of technology in the music-making of churches
3. ‘They won’t sing in our church’ – Graham Parsons, Palmerston North, on encouraging congregational singing
4. ‘The use of hymns in worship apart from being sung’ (Our hymns as a resource for prayers, reflections, sermons, etc), Pamela Tankersley, Palmerston North
5. The use of tonal and rhythmic Sol Feggio (or SOLFA) in the training of church singers from ages 1 to 100. Douglas Nyce, HOD music at Aorere College, music director at St Heliers Presbyterian Church, Auckland
6. ‘Resourcing church music for small and rural parishes’, Bill Bennett, Napier.
7. ‘Writing hymn texts’ – a conversation between Colin Gibson, Dunedin, and Marnie Barrell, Christchurch.
8. Community-facing sacred spaces – how the church becomes venue for community music-making, Roy Tankersley, Palmerston North
9. Sing a new Song? What is there to sing about in the 21st century? John Murray, Kapiti Coast, founding manager of the Hymnbook Trust
10. Our Singing is our Hope: how music making and singing transform us into a people of hope, peace and justice. Ann Perrin, Sydney
11. What sort of future do hymns have? Bill Wallace, Christchurch, pioneer NZ hymnwriter
12. Jim and Jean Strathdee: Spirit Song. Drawing on their recent collections, Stand for what is Right, Pieces of our Lives, and Sunshine in the Morning, Jim and Jean lead with songs that are joyful, playful, prayerful and always heartfelt, accompanied with a variety of instruments. In addition to their own songs, they will share settings of texts by Ruth Duck, Shirley Erena Murray, Brian Wren and others.