Sound Connections Unity’S New Thought Music Resource
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Sound Connections Unity’s New Thought Music Resource Issue #95 October/November 2013 Produced by Music Ministry Team and the Sacred Music Resources Department Richard Mekdeci, Editor Sue Riley, Team Chair Blair Tabor, David Ezell, Melinda Wood-Allen, Todd Lowry, Sheryl Meyers, Megon McDonough, Jacquie Lenati This Issue’s Highlights—page 2 Lots of holiday music resources, Ninth Annual Posi Award Nominees announced and more 2013 Sound Connections Music Conference at Sheraton Kansas City─page 3 Best Sound Connections yet! Sue Riley recaps, Attendees’ testimonials Feature Article—page 6 Resources for your Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years services Unity’s Online Choral andEnsemble Library submission criteria—page 10 Great new songs are being added all the time. Submit your own choral originals. CD Review—page 11 More Than a Season—a new classic CD of New Thought seasonal songs emPower Announces This Year’s Posi Award Nominees and Video Winner—page 13 The best of the best from hundreds of submissions will go on to the 9th Annual Posi Awards. New Releases, Resources & Events—page 14 Christmas Dreams by Michael Allen Harrison, Piano Love by Janice Scroggins and In The Spirit by Sharon and Shelly, Ninth Annual Posi Music Festival, New Thought Music Festival and more Employment Opportunities─page 17 Unity of Birmingham, Ala., seeking experienced Music Director This Issue’s Free Sheet Music Offering─page 18 “Let Us Live in Unity” – a new congregational song by Sharon Rae and Shelly Davis New Thought’s First Music Director Listing: Online Only Reverends and music directors (MDs), check your listing and help us make this a complete listing for all of New Thought. Update/add your name to this valuable resource. Master Index of All Songs Offered Through UWM: Online Only Over 300 songs listed alphabetically, with songwriters and the book or resource they appear in to make it easy for you to find and buy the right music for your ministry. Click here to download. www.unity.org/music [email protected] 1 This Month’s Highlights Greetings, Sound Connections Family! There is always a sense of post-conference blues after an event like Sound Connections. The entire Music Team works so hard and long to create something awesome and beautiful and before we know it, poof, it’s over. Of course the over-the-top comments we’ve received from attendees (Page 4), and the excitement that is still reverberating throughout our music departments helps our slow re-entry back to earth. Yes, our first Sound Connections “off-grounds” worked out great and proved that, like a church, Sound Connections is a community without walls that supports and appreciates each other wherever we meet up. Congratulations to Barbara Wilkinson for winning the drawing for a free registration to the next Sound Connections. SC-10 will be held in February of 2015 in sunny Orlando, Florida, as part of the Posi Music Festival’s New Thought Music Week! We’re trying this arrangement because it was very popular when we combined the events for SC 3 and 4 and many attendees tell us they have to choose each year which event to attend. Besides that, it will be the 10th Annual for both events so a reunion is definitely in order. Lots of great info in this issue. I’ve collected suggestions from our Music Team for music to get you through our busiest season. You’ll find suggestions for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year from our Online Choral and Ensemble Library and from the personal libraries of our team members. There’s also a link to a document that gives you New Thought lyrics to eleven Christmas carols as well as some wonderful new lyrics by Tricia Alexander to the tune of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” (Page 6) Music Team Chair Sue Riley gives a beautiful and touching re-cap of this year’s music conference (Page 3), and a review of a very exciting new CD from emPower Music & Arts of all new classic seasonal songs written and performed exclusively for this project by Posi Music’s top writers and artists. (Page 11) emPower announces the nominees for this year’s Posi Awards with a new category, Spoken Word, and the winner of the third annual Posi Music Video winner. (Page 13) Thanks to Sharon Rae and Shelly Davis, music directors at the Unity church in Littleton, Colo., for contributing this month’s free sheet music offering, “Let Us Live in Unity.” It is a wonderful opening or closing song for any service with positive upbeat words and melody that make it easy to learn and remember. (Page 18) No Mailbox questions this issue. I hope that means we’ve been doing our job of keeping you up-to-date and well-informed in your music ministry. Next issue will be December/January so, happy planning this year’s holiday music at your churches and centers. Never hesitate to email me with your questions or comments and always remember: You are vital to the growth of your ministry and this movement! Richard Mekdeci www.unity.org/music [email protected] 2 Sacred Music Resources Coordinator Unity Worldwide Ministries PS: Many of you already know that I have moved to Virginia Beach, Va., with my beloved wife Rev Paula Coppel, who is the new senior minister at Unity Renaissance in Chesapeake. We’ve been here almost two months now and are loving this vibrant area and amazing hospitality. Sound Connections Music Conference Re-Cap By Sue Riley, Music Team Chair “We were never a building, we were never a stone, when we’re together, we’re always a home.” No truer words could have been spoken or sung. This is the chorus of a wonderful song by Janell Sitton-Coats singing about the loss of her church home, Unity of Joplin, Mo., in a devastating tornado and the subsequent bonding of the spiritual community that overcame the loss of a building. This year, Sound Connections also proved that our strength lies in our community, not where the event is hosted. The most common remark about this year’s conference was “It’s the best one, ever!” Michael Gott was a new and vibrant presenter. His heart-opening workshops left us in awe of the beautiful gifts we each have to offer. Our new mantra was “Oh, my Gott!” Daniel Nahmod’s Water retreat opened our eyes to the possibility that we could sometimes let go of the steering wheel and relax into the day. Jennifer Ferren put together the Grace Note presentation and it was so beautiful to witness how Daniel’s music has impacted so many lives. Dr Judy Blackwelder shared her vast experience of composition and choirs and first- time presenter Mark Stanton Welch’s morning chanting sessions were packed! We danced, chanted and connected—all at 7:30 a.m. Who knew that could be possible? As with any event that is hosted in a new place, some things were different. But as a community we adapted and went on. The Silent Spirit Sharing concerts offered beautiful songs by the attendees. Our presenters’ concert was awesome with Mark Welch, Michael Gott and David Roth (dubbed “The Testoster-tones” by David). Everyone chipped in to help move the stage one night, and Steve McBride created wonderful, professional sound for us. And we absolutely could not do the event without Debbie Ball, Kim Shawd and Meredith Tabor in our Music Store. Meredith comes from California with her husband Reverend Blair Tabor because she loves what we do, and although Kim and Debbie work for Unity Worldwide Ministries, they go above and beyond the call of duty. All three “super women” believe in our music and our mission and are tireless cheerleaders for us out in the field. We are blessed and grateful! www.unity.org/music [email protected] 3 The 9th Annual emPower Posi Music Festival will be Jan 17-20, 2014, with the 3rd Annual "Totally Cool Song School" pre-event on Jan 16-17, 2014. In 2015, Sound Connections will be connected to the emPower Posi Fest. We did it this way the first two years, and it was hugely popular. It will be the 10-year anniversary for both events, and we plan to make a huge, Posi splash! That means we will start with the emPower “Totally Cool Song School,” followed by the Posi Festival, followed by Sound Connections. It will be an awesome, total immersion into Positive Music. It also means you won’t have to choose between which event you can attend. The events in 2015 will be hosted in Florida, and we are moving the dates to February 26- 27 for the Song School, Feb 27–March 1 for the Posi Fest, and March 2–5 for Sound Connections. Mark your calendars now for an event you won’t want to miss! WHAT SOME OF THIS YEAR’S ATTENDEES HAD TO SAY I thank everyone who made this experience possible. I’ve never experienced anything like it. By day two I had begun to really understand what I had been missing and I felt an internal shift that I intend to use to add to our music ministry. I learned not to take myself so seriously and to serve. Thank you all. Lyn Atterbury I want to let you know how awesome my experience was at SC this year. It rates as one of my top ten lifetime experiences. Last year was my first time. I can so relate to Jannell's song with the line, “We were never a building, we were never a stone....” The energy and spirit bathed my soul in love and light! I feel a big shift in our message.