I recently tried to look up what song writing events might
be available for the upcoming world church gathering of Seventh-day Adventists
in Houston in 2015. Upon finding nothing I wrote to a very nice gentleman for
some more information, the response is as follows:
Dear (Name Withheld),
Could you please tell me what music writing events for the
church are being organized for the 2015 G.C. session? I don’t see anything on
the website but find it difficult to believe that our church is not encouraging
any type of new songwriting for the body of faith at large.
In Christ,
Richard Hickam
The response:
Brother Hickam,
I regret to inform you that I have not been informed of any
music writing events that have been organized for the 2015 GC Session. I
am copying my response to you to our GC Session Music Coordinator, (Name
Withheld), so that he can respond to you in the event that I have
overlooked the detail to which you are referring. I thank you, at any
rate, for your interest in our Growth and Development. Blessings to you
and Yours!
As of this date, (months later) I have heard no response and
that’s sad but okay; I will grow where I am planted.
There is the old story of Isaac Watts complaining to his
father about the quality of songs and singing in the church of his day. Watts’
father, growing tired of listening to his son’s whining challenged him to do
something about it.
We have the blessing today of celebrating with the scores of
generations before us great songs of faith that have inspired through the
centuries, but what about today’s struggles and victories? Who is writing those
songs? Who is writing those songs in the language of the church in 2014?
Hillsong United? Chris Tomlin? Anyone in our denomination?
We have a number of talented musicians in our local church with
varying degrees of musicality. As a former music educator by trade I thought,
if I can get them all in the same room together, cast a vision with a timeline
and a destination, we could do some great things together. I could help with
some music fundamentals and pairing the lyricists with the tune writers. We are
a little ways into our journey, and it’s been fascinating. Here are a few
comments from some of our musicians regarding this process:
“It’s good for a church to sing songs that are being written
within the church, while having a universal application it has a
certain resonance in the local congregation.”
“We are the new generation; we are adding to the collective
history of the saints.”
“I have learned organizational skills, how my thoughts work,
and about the process to create something new.”
“After I pray, I feel like God is speaking back to me. I
write the words down and then comes the difficult part of finding the right
music.”
“It is a process, a long process with many layers—the words,
the music, the arrangement, the instruments, the recording.”
“I felt like I had a gift, and now I have a purpose to use
it for God’s glory.”
We’ll keep you posted about our continuing journey . . . and
also about some new songs!
Richard Hickam
and the songwriting team at the Florida
Hospital Church
"We Have This Hope" was written for a General Conference session. It would be great to have current Adventist musicians and composers present offerings that continue to express our hope in Christ.
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