UCC Musicians Association - Then Let Us Sing!

Update on the United Church of Canada’s new online music resource

By Byron Hermann

Then Let Us Sing! is an online music resource that will feature most hymns from Voices United, More Voices, and Nos voix unies – plus approximately 150 new hymns and songs. It will be available in one digital location and under one copyright license for print, projection, and streaming - over 1,200 hymns. It will be available from the United Church Publishing House and GIA Publications (Hope Publishing Company and OneLicence.net) in the fall of 2024. A printed version should be available in 2025. Our service partners’ expertise will help us ensure the just administration of copyright, empowering artists and creative communities worldwide while ensuring dynamic access to customizable musical content for United Churches.

In September of this year, the Then Let Us Sing! committee released a “sampler” or, more accurately, a “tester” of 50 of the proposed new hymns and songs to 300 congregations. This material was made available for four months by OneLicence.net to applicants to generate feedback on how congregants, pastors, church musicians, and music ministers might use this material and how to improve its presentation.

The sampler shows how the United Church of Canada wishes to bring a fresh language for GOD and accessible musical styles. They lift up and prioritize racialized, Indigenous, francophone, LGBTQIA+ and Two-Spirited voices, people with disabilities, and people of diverse linguistic and global communities.

Then Let Us Sing! has benefited from and continues to benefit significantly through consultation with representatives from United Church of Christ ecumenical partners, including the assistance of Rev. Peter Stickney and Susan Blaine from UCCMA. Five active sub-committees are working on different aspects of Then Let Us Sing! to ensure our values of deep spirituality, bold discipleship, and daring justice are integrated and reflected through all aspects of this new resource.

This resource is an investment in the faith formation and spiritual health of our United Church of Canada. It will provide adaptable tools to worship and music leaders, strengthen our ecumenical relationships, and introduce new music regularly to make this a living resource.

For the latest information on the project, please go to the website thenletussing.ca for short introductory videos and an information booklet. ■

Byron Hermann lives in East Dover, Nova Scotia, Canada, and serves as music minister at Stair’s Memorial United Church in Dartmouth, NS. He is the Co-Chair of Music United, the national association of people passionate about music in the United Church of Canada. Over the past 50 years, Byron has served congregations in London, Montreal, Ottawa, Taiwan, Arnprior, and Dartmouth. Byron completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Western Ontario, followed by graduate studies in composition at McGill and Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto. He is a composer for various ensembles in all styles and specializes in sacred and secular choral music. Byron is an active chorister, clinician, and conductor and serves on the board of the Canadian Chamber Choir. In his spare time, he enjoys golfing in the summer and skiing in the winter. Compositions can be viewed at cypresschoral.com or email to byron_hermann@hotmail.com for more information.

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