The Changing Context of Music and Liturgy” was the theme for the annual conference of the Association of Diocesan Liturgy and Music Commissions November 15-19, 1999, hosted by the Diocese of Fond du Lac in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. In his keynote address, Charles Fulton, president of the Episcopal Church Building Fund, essentially recapitulated much of the information presented at the last Trinity Institute, forcefully reminding the audience that boomers and subsequent generations are not filling the pews or taking on the responsibilities of church membership. They are interested in spirituality, Fulton said, but find traditional worship boring because it lacks visual excitement for those raised in this technological era, is not “professionally” presented, and incorporates music that they “hate.” He emphasized the importance of diversity, urging us to “count the ones who aren’t there.” For diversity to flourish, more than one kind of music, liturgy, and education must be offered.
Each morning began, as it has for the past several years, with “Awake My Soul,” a morning office drawn from various sources and including extensive hymn singing from both The Hymnal 1982 and Wonder, Love, and Praise. The most moving of these offices was led by George Emblom; the extended time of singing was structured around the reading of the statement to the court made by Matthew Shepard’s father. The statement was divided among ten readers, and each segment was brilliantly illuminated by the singing of a carefully chosen hymn, concluding with Holly Near’s “We Are a Gentle, Angry People.”
Workshops were offered on church space and starting a new service (Charles Fulton), musical leadership as instrument of change (Julia Huttar Bailey), liturgical presidency (Janet Campbell), enriching our worship (Phoebe Pettingell), new technology (Frank Hemlin presenting the CDROM publications of Church Publishing Incorporated), the Revised Common Lectionary (Joe Russell), and the use of drama in liturgy (Bruce Stewart).
Bruce Jenneker, Phoebe Pettingell, and Clay Morris brought ADLMC members up to date on the work of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music. Interest focused on the plan for prayer book revision to be presented in Denver this summer, which envisions the second reading of the revision in 2012. The first triennium (2000-2003) would largely be spent collecting data and forming task forces and drafting committees. There would be an interim report in 2006, followed by first reading in 2009.
Phoebe Pettingell, chair of the expansive language committee, described the next volume in the series which Enriching Our Worship is becoming. It will offer rites and prayers for ministry with the sick and dying, and a special rite for the burial of a child. If authorized by General Convention, it will be published by Church Publishing. Gleanings: Essays on Expansive Language with Prayers for Special Occasions, edited by Ruth Meyers and Phoebe Pettingell, is scheduled to be available by the time of General Convention.
On the question of same-sex blessings, Bruce Jenneker declined to be specific about the SCLM report, saying only that it would consist of short, “crisp” statements of key issues with a short bibliography, and would be both ecclesiological and pastoral, embodying reverence in the face of mystery.
In addition to the usual business and courtesy resolutions, the conference resolved to support and encourage efforts to develop suitable canons for equitable practices for appointment or employment, evaluation, accountability and discharge from position for all who minister in the church. Resolutions to develop plans for scholarship aid for young liturgists and musicians to attend the ADLMC conferences, and to engage “those who are not present” in the life and work of the Association were also passed.