worship and music conference Archives

Words matter

Posted July 1st, 2021

To prove his assertion that, in music and in other life pursuits, words matter, Tom Trenney led off his Routley lecture Wednesday with examples of paraprosedokians — sentences that begin innocently enough, then veer off in unexpected directions.

‘You are beloved dust and immeasurably important, yet life is incredibly short’

Posted June 30th, 2021

During worship Wednesday at the Presbyterian Association of Musicians’ Music and Worship Conference, it was Ash Wednesday.

Whistle while you worship

Posted June 29th, 2021

One Sunday morning, Tom Trenney, the Routley Lecturer this week for the Presbyterian Association of Musicians’ Worship and Music Conference and the minister of music at First-Plymouth Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, invited the choir and whoever wanted to in the congregation to whistle during the hymn “Lord of the Dance,” except during the somber fourth verse. He tried the same thing Tuesday, inviting class participants to pucker up behind their masks and whistle.

‘We spent the last year literally and figuratively walking on the sidewalk avoiding each other’

Posted June 29th, 2021

“Just being here, being here together is what I’m most looking forward to,” said Eric Wall.

‘I can’t believe I get to be part of something so beautiful’

Posted June 29th, 2021

It’s Tom Trenney’s job to deliver the Routley Lecture each day this week during the Presbyterian Association of Musicians’ Worship and Music Conference. Rather than lecture students meeting both in person at Montreat Conference Center and online during his opening talk on Monday, Trenney told them a story from a few years back about a college student of his named Summer.

‘You are mine’

Posted June 28th, 2021

Preaching on John the Baptist, whose ministry centered on preparing people for one more powerful than he and who would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit, the Rev. CeCe Armstrong began her sermon on Luke 3:15-17, 21-22, with these words: “You belong to God.”

‘Surprise, surprise, surprise!’

Posted June 27th, 2021

When he portrayed Private Gomer Pyle during the mid-1960s, actor Jim Nabors employed a number of catch phrases, including “gall-lee” and “Shazam.” But Pyle, who hailed from fictional Mayberry, North Carolina, which is in the same state as the very real Montreat Conference Center, the setting the Presbyterian Association of Musicians’ Worship and Music Conference, was best known for recounting mixed-up stories punctuated by this phrase: “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

‘Attending with faithfulness to the church’s worship and community’

Posted June 21st, 2021

The first-ever hybrid version of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians’ Worship and Music Conference began in person Sunday from Montreat Conference Center and includes an entirely online offering June 27 through July 2. View the conference livestream schedule here. Register for the online conference here.

‘Where are you?’

Posted June 22nd, 2020

The Rev. Jessica Tate, director of NEXT Church and a worship leader for the 2020 Presbyterian Association of Musicians Worship & Music Conference, told a telling story about life during COVID-19 with 2-year-old son, Huw, during opening worship Sunday. As PAM turns 50, it’s holding its golden year celebration online , with live broadcasts originating from Montreat Conference Center.

Partnership lifts seminarians’ experience to new heights at Montreat music conference

Posted December 19th, 2019

As the year draws to a close, the Presbyterian Association of Musicians and the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Financial Aid for Service are reflecting on a flourishing partnership that resulted in a half dozen seminarians being sent to the annual Worship and Music Conference in Montreat, North Carolina earlier this year.