Music at Re:Image

Two experts passionate about music ministry will be presenting break-out sessions at the RE:IMAGE Conference Saturday, August 16. Produced and presented by Iowa Religious Media Services, RE: Image is a one-day opportunity to learn from regional and national presenters about growing-edge tools and techniques for involved lay people, clergy, and religious education professionals. It will be held at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, 4126 Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines.

Anissa Bacon an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She currently is serving as an Associate Minister at Plymouth Congregational Church in Des Moines, Iowa. Before becoming an ordained minister, she served the church for over ten years as a local church Music Director in Maine and throughout New England as a workshop presenter in community song. Her musical interests continue to lie in the field of hymnody, most particularly in discerning the beliefs and life of a people by the songs that they sing. She has just been voted onto the Board of Directors of the United Church of Christ Musicians Network.

Of her session "Helping Congregations Find Their Voices," she says "Why don¹t congregations like to sing anymore? People do like to sing, they sing to the radio or in the shower, but often they don¹t sing in church. Why? ­ Often because they weren¹t invited. They have sometimes not been given the space to practice, to learn and to succeed in singing a new song, their own song to God. In this session we will talk about helping people in the congregation feel encouraged and engaged to use their own voices in worship and the "how-to¹s" of making music happen in ways that are personally and communally meaningful."

Bacon will also present one session on "How to Expand Your Resources Legally" - clarification of copyright law and how to obtain a vast variety of resources without concerns of getting into legal hot water. She notes, "We have access to a wealth of new printed resources, new music for our churches, images, web-content and much more! We are blessed to have these resources to choose from, but many of us don¹t know how to use them legally. We will clarify some of those ideas and show you outlets for new materials that even the smallest churches can afford. You'll go home with information on places to go to get information about copyright law as it pertains to churches, and how you can use these resources even on a limited budget.

Praise and worship composer and performer Noelle Garcia will address two different topics in her break-out sessions: 1) How to involve youth in the music ministry, from music selection to strategies that invite participation, and 2) how to get praise and worship music accepted in your parish by blending the traditional with the contemporary.

She is currently the Coordinator of Youth Ministry at St. Patrick¹s Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her CD Meet Me Where I Am can be sampled at her web site http://www.noellegarciamusic.com/ and will be available at the WLP on-site bookstore at RE: Image. Also available at the store will be CDs by her mentor John Angotti, sheet music, and other resources for parish life and growing in faith.

For information about the other 10 RE:IMAGE presenters and sessions, and a registration form, visit http://www.irms.org/