2013 JPD Worship Arts Festival

This year's featured presenter is

UU Growth, Ministry, RE, & Media Consultant

Peter Bowden

speaking on Worship & Social Media in the new Age of Collaboration

The option Friday (6 to 9pm) evening training for worship presenters

will be provided by:

David Glasgow & Melodie Feather

Saturday Plenary and Workshops: 8am to 4:30pm

Hosted by: UU Church in Cherry Hill, NJ

**Special Incentive: Register 5 from the same congregation and the 6th one is free!**

Sliding Scale Registration Fee:

Friday Only - $35.00 (includes refreshments and resource materials)

Saturday Only - $50.00 (includes lunch and resource materials)

Friday and Saturday - $75.00 (includes food and resource materials)

Youth Registration (middle and high school students) Fees -

Friday Only - $10 (includes food , but no resource)

Saturday Only - $15 (includes food, but no resource)

**After January 31, 2013, there will be a $15 late fee for all registrations.*

Home Hospitality (Friday evening only) - is available on a first come basis for those traveling more than 90 minutes away.  Please contact Melodie Feather at mkfeather@iglide.net, no later than January 15th to make arrangements.

Childcare (infant through 5th grade) will be offered if minimums are met by January 15th.  To register for childcare - contact Melodie Feather at mkfeather@iglide.net.

Festival Schedule

Friday Evening

                6:00-6:30pm – Registration

                6:30-9:00pm – Worship Presenters Training

                                10 minutes – Intros and Announcements

                                60 minutes – “Monthly Worship Themes”

                                10 minutes – BREAK

                                60 minutes – “Speech Coaching – Part I”

                                10 minutes – Closing

Saturday

                8:00-8:45am – Registration

                8:45-9:00am – Ingathering

                9:00-9:15am – Welcome and Announcements

                9:30-10:45am – AM Workshops

                11:00-11:45am – Plenary Session with Featured Presenter

                11:45am-12:45pm – Lunch

                1:00-2:00pm – EPM Workshops

                2:15-3:30pm – LPM Workshops

                3:45-4:30pm – Closing Worship

Resource Selection - Your registration fee includes your choice of one of the following:

In addition to the resouce included in your registration fee, you may also order any of the reference materials listed below for $15 each.

Friday Participants:

#A - Ideas for Worship: Video Workshop: Spiritually Vital and Alive [DVD]

#B - Ideas for Growth [DVD]

Saturday Participants:

#1 - Choral Repertoire Packet - will be used in LPM3 Workshop

#2 - Singing Meditation - Together in the Sound of Silence by Ruthie Rosauer & Liz Hill

#3 - Fluent in Faith: A Unitarian Universalist Embrace of Religious Language by Jeanne Harrison Nieuwejaar

#4 - Welcoming Children With Special Needs: A Guidebook for Faith Communities by Sally Patton

#5 - Sonata for Voice and Silence: Meditations by Mark Belletini

#6 - Building Small Group Ministries that Work - an audio CD-ROM (Mac/PC compatible) containing four webinar presentations and accompanying documentation, created and presented by Peter Bowden.

#7 - The Power of Stories: A Guide for Leading Multiracial and Multicultural Congregations by Jaqueline Lewis

Friday Evening Workshop Descriptions:

Monthly Thematic Worship – Many UU congregations have begun using a three-year cycle of monthly themes for worship.  These themes deepen our understanding of our own faith and strengthen our bonds with one another in our religious community.  Each theme can be explored throughout the month in various ways.  Learn how to be a leader in implementing this in your congregation.

Empowering the Word, Part 1 of 2: Speech Coaching for Worship Leaders – (Attendance at this session is a prerequisite for actively participating in the Worship Readings Master Class on Saturday afternoon.)  Does your congregation fall asleep listening to readings? Do they have to read along to understand what’s being said from the pulpit? Are there looks of sympathy in the pews as insecure readers stumble through their tasks? In this popular workshop, we discuss the ten variables of public speaking and how to apply them—which ones to "keep up," and which ones to "mix up"—to empower your readings and sermons.

Saturday Morning Workshop Choices:

AM1 – Messages that Matter: Tools for increasing the impact of our words – sharing messages in worship, from sermons to messages for all ages, is an incredible opportunity to impact the lives of those present.  Are there easy techniques for crafting messages that will consistently engage, and most importantly, have the long lasting impact we're seeking?  The answer is yes!  In this dynamic workshop, Peter Bowden will share techniques he's compiled from his study of top communicators and a decade of experimenting as a frequent guest preacher, speaker, and teacher.

AM2 – Child's Play can be worship for all ages – A look at how we integrate our children into congregational life and worship as we try to raise life long UU's.  The emphasis will be on Spirit Play as an alternative to traditional curriculum based programs.

AM3 – The Soul of the Song: Exploring Identity and Race through Music – Do our congregations do a good job of welcoming the stranger AND keeping her at the table?  Does our community life reflect an openness to new cultural expressions, or is our "welcome" more conditional than we realize?  Join us as we listen to musical examples and process together how the "ears" we bring to the experience affect the notes that are played and the words that are sung - and what that means for those of us who plan Unitarian Universalist worship.

AM4 – Vocal Technique for the Language called, SINGLISH – Have you ever observed an actor, a singer, a writer, a painter, a roller-bladder, a tennis player, etc, and wondered what they know that the rest of us do not know?  Every profession and skill has techniques that can be refinded to improve the results.  In this workshop we will discover ways to improve the skills you already have.  We speak and sing, mostly in English, but we will learn a new language, called Singlish.  We can increase our range, improve our pitch, find color in our voice, improve diction, find greater dynamic range in our voice, and gain confidence.  In one session?  Actually, yes!  (Please bring a small hand mirror.)

AM5 – Summer worship that makes a difference – Summer is one of the times when many people go church-shopping.  Are your services attracting and keeping potential new members?  What can you do to be more welcoming and better prepare for your guests?

Saturday Early Afternoon Workshop Choices:

EPM1 – Integrating Small Group Ministry & Worship – Over the last decade small group ministry has spread like wildfire through our association.  In some cases, small groups are fairly isolated.  In others, they are beautifully integrated into the life and worship of the congregation.  In this workshop we'll explore the many ways to integrate worship and small groups.  Peter Bowden, an independent UU ministry & media consultant, co-founded the UU Small Group Ministry Network in 2004 and trains clergy and lay leaders across our assocation.

EPM2 – Navigating "Worship Wars": How We Can Be Theist, Atheist, Humanist, Etc. Together – Join us for this workshop exploring some of the theological tensions that frequently emerge in Unitarian Universalist worship.  We will explore together how we might navigate the waters of theological diversity, fostering an environment that cultivates mutual respect and a variety of worship experiences.

EPM3 – Drumming Meditation – Bring playful curiosity and a percussion instrument (if you like).  A variety of drums, bells, shakers, and wooden claves will be available.  We will create three and four levels of rhythm by doing what feels good.  Listening to each other and responding to each other will result in a great variety of rhythmic meditations.  You can try the new meditative drum as well.

EPM4 – Singing Meditation - Barbara Miller – Singing Meditation is an interfaith spiritual practice that combines singing – of many types – with group observation of silence.  Combining the two practices, which are often engaged in separately, results in a synergy that enhances each component.  Barbara Miller, Music Director at the UU Congregation of the South Jersey Shore, has been leading Singing Meditation in her congregation for several years.

EPM5 – Movement and Dance in Worship - Yes You Can! – Come learn a simple and powerful dance you can teach others and use immediately in worship.  Participants may be a part of closing festival worship.  Learn movements for popular hymns, and simple movement meditations.  And let your own bodyspirit improv and play!

EMP6 – "You Sang WHAT!?: Testing the Boundaries of "Acceptable" Worship Music – General Assembly Music Coordinator, David M. Glasgow moderates a panel of District ministers and musicians as they discuss the criteria they use in selecting music for worship - and why no one person should ever make that decision alone.

Saturday Late Afternoon Workshop Choices:

LPM1 – Empowering the Word, Part 2 or 2: Worship Readings Master Class – (While anyone is welcome to observe and comment, readers will be chosen from attendees of the Friday evening session).  The rubber meets the road as we apply wisdom gained in our earlier discussions toward actual worship preparation.  Several volunteers will rehearse readings for use in our Festival's closing worship service, in a "master class" format where we help one another to craft dynamic, engaging worship speech!

LPM2 – Social Media and Worship Development – Social media is creating amazing opportunities for collaboration in our world today!  Building on the keynote, we will explore how social media may be used to actively weave the passion, experience and stories of the congregation into our worship.  Peter Bowden, and independent UU ministry & media consultant, is known nationally for his trainings on the integration of social media, ministry and religious education.

LPM3 – Choral Reading Session – Come let your voices soar as you sing through music to support multicultural services.  The choral repertoire packet that is used in this workshop is one of the optional resources included in your registration fee.  

LPM4 – Collaborative Worship for High School Youth and Young Adults– Stumped about how to do worship with youth and young adults?  Come explore creative ways to engage youth and young adults in worship both for Sunday morning and for those "other" times.

LPM5 – Anti-Racism in Worship – Worship is simultaneously an open and public ministry of our congregations and also a place where we can explore important things in serious depth.  It is also a place where how we do things says a lot about what we believe.  Rather than talk about anti-racism in worship, can we learn to embody it in our practices?

Register Now!