RICHMOND, Va. – Presidents of each Metropolis Church Music Federation of the Archdiocese conducted their Council of Presidents meetings March 9-11 at Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral, convened by Maria Keritsis, national chairman.
Among the topics discussed at the annual meeting was the work of the National Forum’s “Oloi Mazi Team,” which has completed the musical arrangements for the hymns in the newly-approved and standardized Divine Liturgy. Currently, the team is coordinating the publication of a new pew hymnal in cooperation with Department of Religious Education Director the Rev. Dr. Anton Vrame. It includes the text and music for the liturgy.
An update to the hymns of the Orthodox faith instructional series for Church schools and families is also forthcoming. This resource will include the newlytranslated and arranged hymns, and will be a valuable resource for hymnology instruction in parish religious education classes.
The presidents also deliberated on the topic of training church musicians for hierarchical liturgies and shared ways of working with the Metropolitans to assure the proper “sira” (order) in the Divine Liturgy celebration. They also shared information about schools of chant and updated topics for Church Music Institutes. With the upcoming dedication of Saint Nicholas Shrine, the National Forum will seek to participate in the program.
The presidents reviewed National Forum events, meetings, and workshops that took place at last year’s Clergy-Laity Congress, and began planning for the 2018 Congress.
The group identified several topics for development of new National Forum Position Papers, including the two musical traditions existing in the Church in America, support of the music ministry in parishes, the preservation of musical arrangements of our “legacy” church musicians, and the use of photos on social media.
The presidents experienced fruitful and helpful exchanges as they shared church music activities, programs, and issues within their own Metropolis. The next gathering of the National Forum of Church Musicians will be at its annual meeting, July 6-9 at St. Nicholas Church in Flushing NY.
