Feb. 11, 2002 News media contact: Tim Tanton· (615)742-5470· Nashville, Tenn. {049}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- The United Methodist Publishing House and churchwide Board of Discipleship are planning a series of six introductory and training events for The Faith We Sing songbook.

The three-day events will be held in the United Methodist Church’s five U.S. jurisdictions. The first will be at Mathewson Street United Methodist Church in Providence, R.I., Feb. 25-27. It will be followed by others in different regions: Feb. 28-March 2, First United Methodist Church, Evanston, Ill; April 22-24, Saint Mark United Methodist Church, Atlanta; April 25-27, First United Methodist Church, Garland, Texas; May 6-8, First United Methodist Church, Garden Grove, Calif.; and May 9-11, Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church, Oakland, Calif.

The two United Methodist agencies held a national introductory event for the book a year ago in Nashville. "It was so well received and attended, we closed that event off to registrations, and we’ve had continued interest in it," said Dean McIntyre, music resources director at the Board of Discipleship and coordinator of the training events.

The Providence event will feature some of the church’s most prominent music and worship experts, including Michael Hawn, Perkins School of Theology; Mark Miller, instructor of organ and choral music at Drew University and artist-in-residence at Union Theological Seminary; Dan Benedict, Board of Discipleship worship resources director; and Gary Alan Smith and Debi Tyree, both Abingdon Press music editors at the Publishing House. Topics will include gospel and ethnic music, the theology of the songbook, worship planning, Taize music and use of the hymnal as a choir book.

Evening worship will include a Taize service and a hymn festival, both open to the public.

A different plenary and workshop leader will be featured at each location. Providence: Carl Daw, executive director of the Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada; Evanston: Ruth Duck, professor of worship and hymn writer at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary; Dallas: Jane Marshall, composer, hymn writer, author, teacher; Atlanta: Brian Wren, professor of worship and hymn writer, Columbia Theological Seminary; and for both California events: Jim and Jean Strathdee, music directors and songwriters.

The church’s response to The Faith We Sing has been strong. "It has exceeded our expectations for sales," McIntyre said. "We’ve had an ongoing string of phone calls and e-mail messages and letters asking about it."

The book is available in several editions, each designed for a specific type of user – church member, choir, worship planner, musician and so on.

Sales of the various editions are at around 500,000 copies, said Judy Smith, executive director of publishing at the Publishing House. Sales of the pew edition are about 30 percent above expectations, she said.

Last year, after the songbook was introduced, the board and the Publishing House received an initial flurry of postcards critical of the book’s theology, primarily regarding the use of feminine references to God in some songs.

McIntyre said he has had ongoing conversations with some of the critics. The people who have complained are in the minority, though they hold an opinion that "we certainly don’t want to slight or ignore," he said.

For more information or a brochure on the training events, contact Jean Musterman at the Board of Discipleship, toll free, (877) 899-2780, Ext. 7070, or at jmusterman@gbod.org. Information and materials are also available at http://www.umcworship.org.

The early registration deadline for the Providence event has passed, but McIntyre said walk-ins would be accepted there and at the other events until attendance is full.