During the pandemic, many of us have had to alter our worship practices to fit the new reality that was in front of us. We could no longer sing freely without fear. Changes were made to our services to keep the congregation safe. Some of our congregations will never return to what we previously had before, for better or worse. While it was challenging, it forced us to think outside of the box, outside of our own habits, to keep the church alive through such a challenging time.
While ruminating over this, I wondered how we could expand our language for singing in a new way as we live into this new reality. Our exposure to certain types of music often informs our choices as it relates to congregational song, but it can also limit our vision to new ways of singing. How can we overcome our own limitations when choosing music for worship? How do we come out of our season of survival with a fresh new song and new spirit for expanding congregational song?
– Felicia Patton, Program Committee Chair
2:00 pm | Registration Opens | |
4:00 pm | Organ Recital | Sponsored! |
5:30 pm | Dinner | |
7:30 pm | Hymn Festival: “Singing in the Spirit: Congregational Singing in the African American Tradition” – Raymond Wise & HBCU Choir | Sponsored by Andreas & Tracy Teich |
After Festival Activity: First Timer’s Reception | Sponsor this Event |
5:30 pm: Dinner – Designated table for Organ Institute participants with Dr. Gumbs
8:00 am | Breakfast | |
8:45 am | Morning Prayer – Stephanie Budwey | Sponsored by Milner Seifert |
9:30 am | Plenary Address: “The Seasonality of Black Sacred Music Education” – Alisha Lola Jones | Sponsor this Event |
10:30 am | Break | Sponsored by Marty Haugen |
11:00 am | Sectionals I | Sponsor a Sectional |
12:30 pm | Lunch | |
Lovelace Luncheon | Sponsor this Event | |
2:00 pm | Connection Zones | |
3:00 pm | Break | Sponsor this Event |
3:30 pm | Sectionals II | Sponsor a Sectional |
5:30 pm | Dinner | |
7:30 pm | Hymn Festival: “The Seasonality of Black Sacred Music Education” – Alisha Lola Jones | Sponsor this Event |
11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Session I
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Session II
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Session III
8:00 am | Breakfast | |
8:45 am | Morning Prayer – Kai Ton Chau | Sponsored by Bill and Jenny Pate |
9:30 am | Plenary Address: "Selah: When Worship Breathes" – Khalia J. Williams | Sponsor this Event |
10:30 am | Break | Sponsor this Event |
11:15 am | Featured Session I: Emerging Scholars Forum | Sponsored by David English |
Featured Session II: Hymnal Showcase: “Flor y Canto Cuarta Edición: A new hymnal" | Sponsor this Event | |
Featured Session III: “Working the Circle: Reimagining the Ring-Shout to Empower Song in Oral Transmission Communities” - Dollie Howell Pankey | Sponsor this Event | |
12:30 pm | Lunch | |
2:00 pm | Sectionals III | Sponsor a Sectional |
3:30 pm | Sectionals IV | Sponsor a Sectional |
5:30 pm | Dinner | |
7:30 pm | Hymn Festival: "Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs: Music from the Black Holiness and Holiness-Pentecostal Traditions" – Donté Ford | Sponsored by C. Michael Hawn, FHS |
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Session IV
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Session V
8:00 am | Breakfast | |
8:45 am | Morning Prayer – Charlie Frost | Sponsored by Glen and Judy Brown Richardson |
9:30 am | Emily Swan Perkins Plenary Address: “The Adopted, Adapted, and Assimilated Hymnody of Isaac Watts in the Black Church” – James Abbington, FHS | Sponsored by Deborah Carlton Loftis, FHS |
10:30 am | Break | Sponsor this Event |
11:00 am | Sectionals V | Sponsor a Sectional |
12:30 pm | Lunch | |
3:00 pm | Organ Scholars Hymn Sing | |
5:30 pm | Dinner at Friendship Baptist Church | Sponsor this Event |
7:30 pm | Hymn Festival: “Come, We that Love the Lord…Join in a Song with Sweet Accord: Isaac Watts and the Black Church” – James Abbington, FHS | Sponsored by the George M Hartung Memorial Fund |
11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Session VI (Hymn Sing prep)
3:00 pm: Organ Scholars Hymn Sing
Those who sign up for the Digital Option will be able to tune-in daily and watch Morning Prayers, Plenary Addresses, and Hymn Festivals in real time.
One Featured Session and one Sectional in each time slot will also be streamed and recorded. They are:
At the end of the conference, all recorded events will remain available to view online for an extended period.
Organists participating in The Hymn Society’s Annual Conference may also take advantage of an intensive institute on leading congregational song and playing hymns. For a modest additional fee of $50, registrants will be able to enjoy the morning plenary events and evening festivals while devoting the rest of their time to instruction and master classes on playing and leading communal singing. The institute will be directed by Nathaniel Gumbs, Director of Chapel Music at Yale University. This program is made possible by generous financial support from the George Hartung Memorial Fund.
Advance (March 16-June 14) |
Advance (March 16-June 14) |
Regular (June 15 and after) |
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Member | $485 | $500 | |
Non-member (includes one-year membership) |
$500 | $535 | |
Student | $335 | $370 | |
Single Day | $175 each | $200 each | |
Digital Option | $325 | $350 | |
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Conference Meal Plan | $230 | ||
Single Occupancy room with shared bath and AC – 4 nights | $360 | ||
Double Occupancy room with shared bath and AC – 4 nights | $300 | ||
Conference Bus to Off Campus Sites with dinner | $ 45 | ||
Friendship Baptist Dinner if not taking bus | $ 30 |
We will be staying in the Woodruff Residential Center and most activities will take place at the Candler School of Theology. You can either walk, or take one of multiple buses that stop at Woodruff. All routes have blues signs at the pick up location. For a campus map, please click here.
For up-to-date information about shuttles, (included the routes that are in service during the summer), please use this link. The A route, M, Exec. Park, and the CCTMA all go past the Woodruff Residential Center.
Emory College is located on Emory University’s Atlanta campus in the suburban neighborhood of Druid Hills. The campus is approximately a 15-minute drive from the downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead areas.
If traveling from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, plan on a 30-45 minute trip by car, depending on traffic. MARTA, Atlanta’s mass transit system, provides bus and train service to the area. You will need to take a ride service or MARTA bus from the train station to campus, as there are no MARTA stations right next to campus.
Emily Swan Perkins Plenary: $2,500 Sponsored!
Lovelace Scholars Luncheon (3): $1,250
First Timers’ Reception (3): $1,000
Organ Recital (2): $750 Sponsored!
Friendship Baptist Dinner (10): $500
Morning Prayer (3): $150 Sponsored!
One: $275
Two: $500
Three: $750
Bronze: $500
Silver: $1,000
Gold: $2,000
Platinum: $3,000+
For details regarding corporate sponsorships, click here.
Information and rates for placing an ad in our program book can be found here.
The Hymn Society Executive Committee is engaged in an ongoing process of articulating and reviewing a process in the event of instances of sexual harassment within this community. We hope it will never be necessary, but we take seriously our responsibility to be prepared for any eventuality. Our goal is to take a trauma-informed approach to any reports.
We are committed to ensuring that all our activities uphold our stated mission: “We believe that the holy act of singing together shapes faith, heals brokenness, transforms lives, and renews peace.” As such, The Hymn Society aims to foster a safe environment for all people. We do not tolerate sexual harassment or abuse in any shape or form in the context of our gatherings. We also aim to provide a clear pathway for reporting traumas or unwanted incidents.
In the event of an incident or trauma, please reach out to any member of the Executive Committee (or ask someone you trust to make this disclosure on your behalf), who will inform the Executive Director, President Elect, or Past President, as appropriate. We will honour the sensitivity of all reports, and will protect the confidentiality of the complainant.
Emory University acknowledges the Muscogee (Creek) people who lived, worked, produced knowledge on, and nurtured the land where Emory’s Oxford and Atlanta campuses are now located. In 1821, fifteen years before Emory’s founding, the Muscogee were forced to relinquish this land. We recognize the sustained oppression, land dispossession, and involuntary removals of the Muscogee and Cherokee peoples from Georgia and the Southeast. Emory seeks to honor the Muscogee Nation and other Indigenous caretakers of this land by humbly seeking knowledge of their histories and committing to respectful stewardship of the land.