NEWS

Yale Institute of Sacred Music Congregations Project

The Yale Institute of Sacred Music Congregations Project is an ecumenical initiative for vital Christian congregations that seek to strengthen their ministries of worship, music, and the arts for the sake of mission in the world.  Each year, the ISM will invite applications from congregations to encourage them to construct a project or to enhance work they already do, based on a given theme.  Successful congregations will send a team of three people (pastor, musician and one lay person) to Yale for a weeklong seminar that will make space for learning and dialog with each other and a faculty of nationally recognized teachers and practitioners. 

For those who are accepted into the program, virtually all costs for travel to Yale, tuition, lodging, and meals will be covered by the ISM.  Applications are open until November 1. 

This year’s theme, “Worshiping God in this Place,” invites congregations to consider the actual inhabited landscapes upon which they live out their ministries. How does a congregation’s literal place in the world shape how it worships God?  And how does participating in worship, music, and the arts enable the people of a certain place – for example, of a city, a historic district, a rural area, a watershed – to seek the welfare of this place? 

All information on the program can be found at www.yale.edu/ism/congregations.  If you have questions, please contact the coordinator, Glen Segger, at congregations.ism@yale.edu.