The conference theme, “Rise, O Church,” takes its title
from a hymn by Susan Cherwien. It bids us remember “God the
wonder of our days” and to rise “transformed” into the
“future God has called us to receive.” In this conference
particularly we rise by learning to sing where we are,
stewarding our resources well, studying both old and new
music, revitalizing the audacity of our hope, dispelling
fear, learning about liturgical materials like the Revised
Common Lectionary, and sharing our joys and sorrows.
Katrina leveled their buildings, but churches which once
inhabited them are rising with transformed vigor and vision.
Subtler forces have tried to seize control of them, but
churches are rising with a transformed sense of their being
and message. So also in the liturgy and music of the Church,
we “Rise . . . like Christ arisen.”
