The Worship and the Arts Symposium, Joining Voices Together, will be held at Bethel College Nov. 12, 2022.
Registration
- Individual: $35 for all or part of the symposium; includes Saturday lunch and supper.
- Group: $20 each when 3 or more people from the same congregation register as a group; includes Saturday lunch and supper.
- Registration is FREE for Bethel College faculty, staff and students and Hesston College students.
Registration ends Thursday, November 10.
Symposium presenters
Adam Tice was the hymn text editor for Voices Together. He is a widely published writer of hymn and song texts, whose words appear in many recent denominational hymnals. Adam is a member of the editorial staff of GIA Publishers Inc., curating a growing hymn collection called “Unbound.” He lives in Goshen, Ind.
Breakout Session – Aspirations for Language Use: Considerations for Shaping the Words We Sing
Dr. Katie Graber chaired the Intercultural Worship subcommittee for Voices Together. She is an ethnomusicologist who studies race and ethnicity in a variety of contexts. She has taught Western music history and world music, accompanies Suzuki recitals and school choirs, and leads singing at her church in Columbus, Ohio. As an outgrowth of her work on Voices Together, Katie co-founded the Anabaptist Worship Network with Anneli Loepp Thiessen.
Breakout Session – Diverse Voices: Intercultural Worship in Voices Together
SaeJin Lee served on the Worship Resources and Intercultural Worship subcommittees for Voices Together. She studied art and Bible/religion/philosophy at Goshen (Ind.) College and, while in northern Indiana, was a member of Hively Avenue Mennonite Church in Elkhart, where she was a frequent leader of singing and worship. SaeJin now lives in Chicago, where she is an advocate for children in immigrant communities who are trauma survivors. This fall, SaeJin began graduate work at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Breakout Session – Visio Divina: Worshiping with Our Eyes
Isaac Villegas was a member of the Central Practices Committee of Voices Together. He is an ordained minister in Mennonite Church USA and served as pastor of Chapel Hill (N.C.) Mennonite Fellowship for 16 years. Currently, he is the president of the North Carolina Council of Churches while he pursues a Ph.D. in religion at Duke University. He is a columnist for The Christian Century and Anabaptist World magazines.
Breakout Session – Worship Practices that Join Us to God’s Work of Liberation
Bradley Kauffman served as project director and general editor for Voices Together. He has more than 20 years of experience in music education, having enjoyed teaching roles in Iowa, Kansas and Indiana. A proponent of lifelong music-making, Bradley has conducted intergenerational community choirs in four states. Bradley lives in Goshen, Ind., with his spouse, Renee Kanagy, and children Lucca and Rowan.
Breakout Session – Holy Ground: Discernment and Decision-Making in Voices Together
Dr. Rachel Epp Buller is professor of visual arts and design and director of the Regier Art Gallery at Bethel College. She is a two-time Fulbright Scholar, a board member of the national Women’s Caucus for Art, and a certified practitioner in Deep Listening. In 2021, she curated the “Voices Together” exhibition at Bethel, featuring the 12 artists whose works are included in the hymnal, which has traveled or will travel to four Mennonite sister colleges, thanks to support from the Marpeck Fund.
Dr. Cynthia Neufeld Smith a long-time church musician and pastor, was a member of the Mennonite Worship and Song Committee responsible for Voices Together. She and her husband, Roger, pastored Southern Hills Mennonite Church in Topeka, Kan., for 30 years. For 10 of those, she taught worship and arts courses for Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary-Great Plains. She currently serves as organist for First Presbyterian Church in Topeka, and teaches organ and accompanies choirs at Washburn University. She has two young adult children and twin grandsons.
Breakout Session – A Keyboardist’s Introduction to Voices Together
SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE
| 8:30 | Check-in and on-site registration in the Luyken Fine Arts Center lobby |
| 9–9:50 | Plenary I – Formation: How 20th-century denominational collections shaped 21st-century worship (Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center) |
| 9:50 | Stretch break |
| 10–10:50 | Plenary II: Voices Together: Curating a 21st-Century Collection (Krehbiel Auditorium) |
| 10:50 | Break |
| 11:15–12 | Art in Voices Together (Krehbiel Auditorium) |
| 12–1:30 | Lunch (Bethel College cafeteria, Schultz Student Center) |
| 1:30–2:20 | Breakout I (TBA) |
| 2:45–3:45 | Breakout II (TBA) |
| 4–4:30 | Afternoon prayers: Integrating songs and worship resources |
| 4:30–5 | Talkback (Krehbiel Auditorium) |
| 5–7 | Dinner (Bethel College cafeteria, Schultz Student Center) |
| 7:00 | Community Evensong: The community is invited to this hymn sing in Memorial Hall. |
Artwork
“Communion,” by Dona Park
