The Hymn Society Annual Conference
Berkeley, California
13-17 July 2008

We do not customarily group these three together. Perhaps we should. All three are rooted in our yearning to draw closer to a holy will and purpose for human living. All three suffer from misuse and misunderstanding: faith can be reduced to dogma; beauty can be neglected for utility; social justice can be ignored for the sake of the status quo.

In this conference, we will reflect on some neglected dimensions of justice, beauty, and faith and the interconnections among them. In particular, we will consider the role of congregational song in exploring and voicing them and drawing them together, as the beauty of sung faith awakens us to the power of the arts to express God’s praise and to show us how to work for the healing of the world.

Plenary Presenters:
Carla de Sola • Sally Ann Morris • Don E. Saliers • Thomas H. Troeger

Hymns Festival Leaders:
David Buley • Coro Hispano de San Francisco • Mitchell Covington  • Dan Damon • Juan Pedro Gaffney • Beverly Howard • Eileen Johnson • Larry Marietta • John Walko • Bill Wallace • D. Mark Wilson 

Worship Planners:
Nancy Hall • Jan Robitscher

Showcase Presenters:
James Abbington • Cindy Bacon • Mark A. Miller

Sectional Presenters:
Pamela Abbey • Jann Aldredge-Clanton • Gerald Asheim  • Mike Barnhouse • Jenni Lee Boyden • Mary Louise Bringle • Emily R. Brink • Matthew Burt • Natalie Cecire • Patricia Clark • James E. Clemens • Bill Clemmons • Carson Cooman • Helen Cummings • Ruth Duck • Rusty Edwards • Harry Eskew • Colin Gibson • Gracia Grindal • Nancy Hall • Marilyn Haskel • Jane Holstein • Hal Hopson • Harry Huff • Peter Irvine • James Meredith • Jim Mitulski • Geoffrey Moore • Sally Ann Morris • Joyce Poley • Iteke Prins • Joanne Reynolds • D. Sida Roberts • Larry Schulz • Dan Schutte • Scott Shorney • Jean Strathdee • Jim Strathdee • Gillian Thornley • John Thornley • Adam Tice • Bill Wallace • James Welch • Claude White • David Wright • Russell Yee • Rufino Zaragoza

History and Setting

When the first Europeans arrived, this area was the territory of the Chochen/Huichin band of the Ohlone people. Scattered evidence of their presence can be found in various rock formations which preserve small pits used to grind acorns from oak trees and in a barely visible shellmound along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay at the mouth of Strawberry Creek. Other artifacts were discovered in the 1950s in the downtown area during the remodeling of a commercial building.

The first people of European ancestry (most of whom were actually of mixed ancestry and born in America) arrived with the De Anza Expedition of 1776, which resulted in the establishment of the Spanish Presidio of San Francisco at the entrance to San Francisco Bay (the “Golden Gate”), due west of Berkeley. One of the soldiers serving at the Presidio was Luís Peralta. For his services to the King of Spain, he was granted a vast extent of land on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay for a ranch, including that portion which now contains the City of Berkeley. No artifact survives of Peralta’s ranch or those of the sons to whom he gave it, but some of their names have been preserved in the naming of Berkeley streets (Vicente, Domingo, and Peralta).

Conference housing will be in University of California residence halls.

The area around Berkeley was at this period mostly a mix of open land, farms and ranches, with a small though busy wharf by the Bay. It was not yet “Berkeley,” but merely the northern part of the “Oakland Township” subdivision of Alameda County. In 1866, the private College of California located in the city of Oakland sought out a new site. They picked a location north of Oakland along the foot of the Contra Costa Hills (later called the Berkeley Hills) astride Strawberry Creek, and at about an elevation of 500 feet above the Bay, commanding a fantastic view of the Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean through the Golden Gate. According to the Centennial Record of the University of California, “In 1866…at Founders’ Rock, a group of College of California men were watching two ships standing out to sea through the Golden Gate. One of them, Frederick Billings, was reminded of the lines of Bishop Berkeley, ‘westward the course of empire takes its way,’ and suggested that the town and college site be named for the eighteenth-century Irish philosopher and poet.” The College of California hoped to raise funds for their new campus by selling off parcels of land adjacent to it. Their plans fell far short of their desires, and consultations with the State of California culminated in 1868 with the creation of the public University of California.

As construction began on the new site, more residences began to be constructed in the vicinity of the new campus. Meanwhile, a settlement called “Ocean View” had been growing up around the wharf on the bayshore. By the 1870s the Transcontinental Railroad had reached its terminus in Oakland. In 1876, a branch line was laid from Oakland into what is now downtown Berkeley. That same year, the main line of the transcontinental railroad into Oakland was re-routed, putting the right-of-way along the bayshore through Ocean View. In 1878, the people of Ocean View and the area around the University campus, together with the local farmers incorporated themselves as the Town of Berkeley. The area of the former Ocean View became known as “West Berkeley” and that near the University as “East Berkeley”.

The modern age came quickly to Berkeley, no doubt owing to the influence of the University. Electric lights were in use by 1888. The telephone had already come to town. Electric streetcars soon replaced the horsecar. (The Library of Congress website includes a silent film of one of these early streetcars: “A Trip To Berkeley, California.”) Berkeley’s slow growth ended abruptly with the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. The town and other parts of the East Bay somehow managed to escape even moderate damage from the massive temblor, and hundreds if not thousands of refugees flowed across the Bay. In 1909, the citizens of Berkeley adopted a new charter, and the Town of Berkeley became the City of Berkeley. Rapid growth continued right up to the Crash of 1929. The Great Depression hit Berkeley hard, but not as hard as many other places in the U.S. thanks in part to the University.

First Presbyterian Church has excellent meeting facilities.

The next big growth occurred with the advent of World War II when large numbers of people moved into the Bay Area to work in the many war industries, such as the immense Kaiser Shipyards in nearby Richmond. During the war, an Army base, Camp Ashby, was temporarily sited in Berkeley. Moderate growth continued through the remainder of the century, but during this period Berkeley became known primarily for a series of events centered on political activism: resistance to McCarthyism in the 1950s, the Free Speech Movement and Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the People’s Park (now Ohlone Park) controversy of the late 60s, and opposition to the Vietnam War in the late 60s and early 70s. The era of large public protest in Berkeley waned considerably with the end of the Vietnam War in 1974, but activism has continued. Much of it is now focused on environmental and social issues.

Berkeley has a Mediterranean climate, with dry summers and wet winters as is typical in the Mediterranean region, but with a cool modification in summer thanks to upwelling ocean currents along the California coast. Summer typically brings night and morning low clouds or fog, followed by sunny, warm days. Daytime highs in July average 70° F (21° C), and nightly lows average 55° (13° C).

Venues and Accommodations

The sanctuary of First Congregational Church (UCC) has recently been renovated.

Meals

Transportation

By Train:
Amtrak offers frequent service to Berkeley on the Capitol Corridor route, which can connect in various ways with northern, central, and southern transcontinental routes. For schedules and fares visit www.amtrak.com or phone 800 USA-RAIL (800 872-7245).

By Bus:
Greyhound bus lines operate stations in both Oakland and San Francisco. Schedule and fare information is available through their website at www.greyhound.com or through their toll-free numbers 800-661-TRIP (8747) [Canada] or 800-231-2222 [USA]. Local transportation is provided by AC Transit; see their website at www.actransit.org.

Conference Bookstore

Silent Auction

Scholarships

Conference Program