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St. Olaf hosts conference on Worship and the Arts

By Linda Hagan Kvanbeck
July 20, 2006

Nine highly respected Oles in church worship and theology are on campus to lead the St. Olaf Conference on Worship, Theology and the Arts (CWTA) July 17-21. The faculty members include Larry Rasmussen '61, Anton Armstrong '78, Christopher Aspaas '95, Laurie Richardson Johnson '78, Jennifer Anderson Koenig '87, Elizabeth Musselman '97, Jeffrey O'Donnell '02, Catherine Rodland '87 and Judy Selene Swanson '57. Staff organizers include alumnae Janet Kringen Thompson '70 and Jennifer Rowe '01.

For more than 50 years, the conference has presented nationally acclaimed theologians, scholars, musicians and artists to share their expertise and gifts with pastors, church musicians and lay leaders. The Oles and other noted faculty who are headlining this year's conference are expected to make this one of the largest conferences in recent years, with more than 350 people in attendance.

The conference theme, "For the Fruit of All Creation," calls attendees to explore individual and community church responsibility to care for God's gifts. The Oles serving on the faculty and staff of CWTA enthusiastically live out their values of service to the church by sharing their expertise and insight with conference participants. Those participants, who include numerous Oles, in turn carry renewed vigor to worship planning in their home churches.

FOCUS ON THEOLOGY
Solid theology grounds the week, as all seminars on music, art and theology point toward the liturgical text on creation chosen for this year's worship. Rasmussen, the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York from 1986 to 2004 exemplifies the level of respected scholarship and experience of the conference faculty. "The committee is thrilled to have Larry Rasmussen present an in-depth seminar on Christian ethics and the environment," says Thompson, interim vice president of college relations at St. Olaf and CWTA committee chair. "He brings a global perspective on how Christianity is embracing ecology in worship as pastors draw on ancient biblical teachings calling us to care for creation."

Rasmussen's seminar, "Earth-Honoring Christian Faith," will be one of nine in-depth morning seminars that attendees will participate in during the week. Rasmussen will explore the meanings of the four elements of creation -- earth, air, fire and water -- as they apply to contemporary worship, ethics and arts. A full seminar session will be given to each element, focusing on each one's life-giving and death-dealing powers as expressed in a life of Christian faith that honors the earth.

Other theology faculty include Marva Dawn and Gordon Lathrop, both highly respected, popular authors.

Daily worship offers conference participants the opportunity to see all the elements of the conference seminars come together. Evening worship services will be held in the Black and Gold Ballroom in Buntrock Commons. Koenig, associate pastor at St. Olaf, will lead worship with St. Olaf Pastor Bruce Benson on Wednesday morning.

"This worship will focus on Genesis 6:6-11, as we celebrate God's gifts to us of the earth, plants and animals," says Koenig. "The service will end with worshipers walking outside on Buntrock Plaza to sing 'Beautiful Savior,' a fitting tribute in word and melody."

MUSIC OF THE CHURCH
Just as church music is vital to effective worship, church musicians account for about two-thirds of the CWTA attendees, attracted by the outstanding faculty, both on staff at St. Olaf and brought in for the conference. Aspaas, who is new to the conference faculty, will partner with James Litton, guest director of the adult mixed choir, to present an in-depth seminar "Becoming the Pastoral/Challenging Choir Director." Both volunteer and professional church musicians will be coached in the class as "student directors."

"As the face of choral music in the church continues to change, the choir director must also change," says Aspaas. "Directors deal with philosophical issues facing the choral program, such as the role of the choir in congregational song, music other than the anthem and introducing new service music. In addition, they must have expressive and effective gestures, be skilled at enabling and increasing singer expectations and encourage self-evaluation."

Aspaas is the assistant professor of choral/vocal music at St. Olaf, conducting the Chapel Choir and the Viking Chorus. In 2004, he completed his doctorate in choral music education at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla. He also is in demand as a tenor soloist, performing with symphony orchestras.

Attracting young singers and their choir directors from across the country, Armstrong is the teen choir director with the Choir Connection, a CWTA camp for young singers in grades 7 through 12. Helen Kemp, nationally acclaimed director and clinician, joins the Choir Connection as director of the children's choir, grades 4 through 6. Armstrong also will introduce the new ELCA hymnal and present a special interest seminar on "Working with the Adolescent Singer: Adventure or Nightmare?"

For church organists, Rodland has an intriguing in-depth seminar/master class, "Church Organists Goin' Baroque and Lovin' It," on North German Baroque organ music. "Each day we'll talk about the stylistic considerations, registration and performance issues of Bruhns, Boehm, Lubeck and Buxtehude," says Rodland. "Every day, two performers will be coached on repertoire from this school that is appropriate for the church organist."

A specialist in working with children's choirs, Rodland also will present a seminar on the Royal School of Church Music's method of teaching using an incentive program that incorporates Christian education with musical skills. A St. Olaf College artist in residence in music theory and composition/organ, Rodland received her M.M. and D.M.A. from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. She is a prizewinner in several organ performance competitions and has performed at concerts extensively throughout the United States and Canada.

O'Donnell brings technology to the conference with beginner and advanced seminars on the software program Finale, showing how computer music notation can be made practical for the church musician. O'Donnell is producer and music director of St. Olaf's 50-year-old radio program Sing For Joy, which provides sacred choral music and thoughtful commentary to listeners in nearly 200 communities nationwide.

Other popular music faculty include St. Olaf Professor of Organ John Ferguson, who has been the backbone of the conference and a key leader of the creative team for years, and Marty Haugen, music composer and clinician. The two will team up on an in-depth seminar titled "Beyond Blended Worship" as they discuss styles of worship. Jill Mahr, music instructor and handbell director at St. Olaf, will direct the handbell choir and present sessions on handbell technique and new music.

VISUAL STIMULUS
Although the art seminars engage a relatively small number of participants, they are always enthusiastic and contribute visual stimulus to the campus and worship space. Johnson will capture the theme of caring for creation in art through her in-depth seminar "Drawing From the Earth." "It is in our bones to draw, but some of us have forgotten how much fun it can be," she says. "From beginners to more advanced artists, we will draw from the earth and into the earth with humility, abandonment and gratitude, remembering always that from the earth we were made, and to the earth we will return."

Johnson is a founding member of the Bartimaeus Project, a ministry in the visual arts at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Bloomington, Minn. The Flaten Art Museum in Dittmann Center will feature art from this project, with a gallery opening on Tuesday, July 18 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Johnson teaches art in community and church settings, works out of her Blue River Studio in Dinkytown near the University of Minnesota and exhibits her work locally.

Swanson, whose art graces the Christmas Festival in Skoglund Center, creates the logos for CWTA and provides the creative talent for the visual interpretation of the daily text in the worship space. "Art must be an honest expression of what we believe," she says.

Swanson will use grasses, branches and flowers from campus wetland areas to grace and enhance the worship space. Her art appears in publications and churches, and she gives seminars at worship conferences on enhancing worship space.

Another art form that can stimulate conversation on Christian theology is film. CWTA participants will watch the movie Babette's Feast on Wednesday evening, which will be followed by a discussion on Thursday afternoon led by Musselman, Koenig and James Farrell, who teaches environmental science at St. Olaf.

"Is the feast that Babette serves really a 'good' meal?" asks Musselman. "Living in Denmark, author Isak Dinesen was surrounded by Northern Scandinavian Lutheran piety. Does the religious landscape that she has portrayed still exist in the modern Christian church?" Musselman is the pastoral intern at St. Olaf and will attend the University of Chicago Divinity School in the fall to pursue her doctorate in theology.

"For the Fruit of All Creation" is a theme that encourages contemplation of God's bounty in the earth, air, fire, water, plants and animals. For registration information on the conference visit www.stolaf.edu/events/cwta or call 1-800-726-6523. For further information e-mail kvanbeck@stolaf.edu.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.