2017- Martin Jean (Conference Theme: Then Sings My Soul)

“Theology, Music, and Meaning in Worship Today”

These lectures, intended equally for clergy and church musicians, are an invitation to thing theologically
about a range of music sung and heard in churches today. While it is impossible to make and exhaustive
survey, we will consider various types of congregational song, music for instruments and voices, and a
host of vernacular styles as well, asking ourselves, how might these sounds illumine the Word of God,
how do they make God’s presence known in the world, and how can clergy and musicians work together
to bring their congregations more fully in to this holy experience?

2018- Deb Carlton Loftis (Conference Theme: Sacraments and Seasons)

“Sing the Story, Live the Message: The Power of Congregational Song to Shape Faith Throughout the
Year”

Congregational songs centered in the liturgical calendar can be both comfort and challenge. Singing
familiar songs can recall years past and draw the community closer. We will explore some songs that can
also startle us into new understandings and prod us out of our comfort zone as they contextualize the
biblical narrative for today’s world. In sessions intended for both clergy and laity, we will sing together
and explore the important role of congregation song in shaping how we understand the gospel message
and how we act as people of God.

2019- Adam Tice (Conference Theme: Not as the World Gives)

How do hymns and songs enact God’s peace? Beyond simply singing about peace, the act of singing
together can become an act of peace making. The Routley Lectures will explore themes of peace in and
through congregational song.

2020 – Mel Bringle (Conference Theme: A Great Cloud of Witnesses)

“Singing Here and Hereafter”

To profess that we are surrounded by a “cloud of witnesses” presumes those witnesses to have some
manner of ongoing existence. In this series of lectures, we will explore what the church’s song
throughout the ages has taught about what happens after death. We will further examine the ways in
which contemporary hymnwriters are shaping new texts about the hereafter in conversation with
questions and issues of the here and now.
2021- Tom Trenney (Conference Theme: Gathered in My Name)

“And May God Give Us Faith to Sing Always”

The 2021 Routley lectures explore our vocation as conductors, teachers, performers, composers, poets,
and pastoral musicians who gather communities to faithfully offer our prayer, praise, poetry, psalm,
silence, and song. We will reflect upon the way music reveals the meaning of sacred texts as we discover
how purposeful singing unites our hearts and souls in beloved community. We will reaffirm the purpose
of our music ministry: to inspire our congregation’s singing as an expression of faith; and to nurture our
congregation’s faith that we may sing always.

2022- David Gambrell (Conference Theme: In the Stranger’s Guise)

“Jesus Sought Me When a Stranger”

How strange (and wonderful) a thing that Christ is with us when we sing! The 2022 Routley Lectures will
consider the strangeness of congregational song, reflecting on the unexpected encounters with God and
surprising gifts of the Spirit that come when we make music together as the body of Christ.