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As busy directors, you are probably in your 5th or 6th week of teaching since the beginning of the new school year. By the time you receive this issue of The Chorister your routine will be well established. You will be thankful for the time you spent preparing over the summer months yet, if you're like me, wishing you had done more. Advent and Christmas are around the corner and you will soon be at full throttle. Before you do anything else, do one thing for yourself. Make a commitment NOW to attend one of the Choristers Guild Directors' Conferences this year. Michael Hawn's conferences are in October; Helen Kemp's conferences are in early spring and summer. You owe it to yourself and your choristers to find refreshment and inspiration and you will return more confident, skillful and prepared. All the information for securing your place can be found in this issue. Or you may simply find it on the internet at www.choristersguild.org/conferences. In the meanwhile, you will find material in this issue to quench a temporary thirst. Jason Thoms invites you to share in what he experienced with his choristers during a recent SWAM camp in Making Worship More Accessible for Children. His experience was so profound that he will report over the course of the the next few issues, providing you with concrete "how to's." John Gearhart shares his passion for cooking and teaching in A Dagwood Sandwich Approach to Rehearsals. His very practical and methodical approach to lesson plans will provide a template for many succesful learning moments. Susan Cauley has constructed a lesson plan for the Christmas anthem, Christmas is Here, Sing Noel. Order your copies of the score now and you will be well prepared. In Meet the King of Instruments, Naomi Rowley offers many ways to introduce children to the vast range of possibilities with the organ, as listeners and as participants in lively discovery. Marilyn Comer provides another inspired set of teaching materials to engage children in the Sunday lectionary readings in Children in Worship: From the Lips of Children while Carol Caraviotis nurtures the spirituality of children in her November Devotions. (Note that the "December" sequences of both Marilyn and Carol's work will continue in the next issue, December/January.) Be sure to see Helen Kemp's A Rhythmic Posture Chant, this issue's center pullout. It will surely become a centerfold of each rehearsal. May God bless you and your work in the days ahead. - Lois Trego, Editor/Graphic Designer |
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©Choristers
Guild 2000-2006 |
