Wouldn't it be great if we could all share with one another the wisdom we've accumulated over the years? If the choir conductors who've learned how to really facilitate a great rehearsal could share their tips with the rest of their movement, and in turn could learn from the folks who've learned how to integrate new styles of music into the service?

We can.

• Playing the Rhythms in the Singing the Journey (PDF, 16 pages). Jeannie Gagnie gives a lesson in how to interpret the rhythms in the hymnal supplement, many of which are unfamiliar to many in our congregations (including some of our musicians!).
• Tips for Keyboard Players: simplification and accompaniment of Singing the Journey (PDF). Susan Peck gives keyboard players tips for how to transition into what, for many, are the new frontiers of folk, jazz, and new world music that are represented in our hymnal supplement and that so many of our congregations are yearning for today.
• Effective Songleading. Whether you are the Music Director, the Director of Religious Education, the ordained clergy person, or a member of the laity -- anyone who is tasked with standing before the congregation and leading it in song can benefit from this primer by Sarah Dan Jones.
• Considerations for Cultural Borrowing. A checklist of sorts of questions to consider when thinking about using materials from cultures other than one's own.
• Thoughts on Music and Cultural Appropriation. The Rev. Jason Shelton shares his insights on using music from cultures other than one's own.
• Changing the Words: An Historical Introduction to Unitarian Universalist Hymnody (PDF). The Rev. Jason Shelton offers a paper on the history of Unitarian Universalism through the lens of our hymnody.
• Music, Community and Identity: Church Musician as Minister and Theologian (PDF, 28 pages). The Rev. Jason Shelton explores the notion that "what we sing is who we are," and the church musician's role in this important ministry of finding and defining this sense of self.
• Share your resources via our submission form.