Letters from the Board: February 2026
By Elizabeth Shepley on 2/26/2026
Can Lent and Easter function not merely as liturgical seasons but as formative patterns for the entire year?
Lent as Training
In theological terms, Lent is a season of conformation—a deliberate shaping of one’s life according to Christ’s self-giving love. Through fasting, prayer, repentance, and generosity, believers rehearse the inner dispositions that characterize Jesus.
Lent is not about spiritual self-improvement; it is about reorientation. It exposes where the self is dominant and gently retrains the will toward humility and mercy. In that sense, it functions like disciplined practice in music: repetition over time builds reflexes. The goal is not the season itself, but a transformed heart.
Easter as the Pattern of Life
If Lent trains us in surrender, Easter trains us in hope.
The resurrection is not simply an event to commemorate; it is a reality to inhabit. Easter shapes courage, joy, and resilient love. It teaches believers to act as though death—of dreams, relationships, reputation, or security—does not have the final word.
Where Lent teaches us to die to self, Easter teaches us to live from new life.
Year-Round Formation
Taken together, Lent and Easter form a rhythm that can extend beyond the calendar.
When these rhythms become habitual, the Christian life itself becomes an ongoing Lent-and-Easter cycle. The heart is continually emptied of what blocks love and continually filled with resurrection hope.
In that way, Lent is not merely forty days, and Easter is not merely a Sunday. They are training grounds for becoming more fully like Jesus—every day of the year.
How Choristers Guild Can Aid the Cycle
Choristers Guild’s catalog supports this ongoing formation in several practical ways. Through intergenerational repertoire, handbell and instrumental resources and educational materials, music can sustain the Lent–Easter cycle all year long.
The following sets retrain our instincts. The first piece reflects a heart formed by Lent—more open and attentive; the second expresses Easter joy that is not automatic, but deeply felt.
Treble Choirs
SATB Voices
Combined Voices
Elizabeth Shepley is a conductor, music educator, and arts advocate whose career reflects sustained leadership in education, faith-based music ministry, and nonprofit choral organizations. She has served as conductor and artistic director of the Northfield Youth Choirs and as Director of Children’s and Youth Music at the House of Hope Presbyterian Church Choir School in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Bethel Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minnesota. In each role, she has demonstrated strategic vision and operational strength, developing comprehensive choral programs grounded in best practices in music education.
Elizabeth holds a Master of Arts in Music Education with a Kodály emphasis from the University of St. Thomas and a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. Her professional formation includes certification in both Kodály and Orff-Schulwerk and advanced study at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Switzerland, the Orff Institute in Austria, the Kodály Institute in Hungary, and the Royal School of Church Music in England.
Liz has taught in public and private schools and has been deeply engaged in community and church-based music education. She has chaired inner-city music programs in Minneapolis and St. Paul, served as President of the Twin Cities Chapter of Choristers Guild and has been a member of its national board for the past seven years, held board membership with MN-ACDA and Schubert Club, and served as an adjunct professor at Luther Seminary. She is widely respected as a clinician, conference presenter, and festival conductor, and choirs under her direction have performed across the United States, Canada, and Europe.
At the heart of Elizabeth’s work is a belief in the transformative power of music to shape lives and strengthen communities. Beyond her professional commitments, Liz values curiosity, connection, and family. Along with her husband, Bob, she enjoys biking, cooking, reading, golfing, travel, and especially treasures time with their children and grandchildren.