There are three types of events listed on our calendar:
- MMC Workshops and Retreats planned collaboratively with hosts around the United States and Canada. Includes in-person and online.
- Community Events are a mix of gatherings organized by others for the benefit of the wider musical community. This includes but are not limited to Local Practice Groups made of past participants and presenters and Song Circles/Community SINGS offered by other organizations and musicians akin to MMC.
- Online Events highlight virtual offerings offered by MMC and others; includes one-time trainings, recurring events, and everything in-between.
Upcoming Events
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Monday, July 06, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Zoom
Join Music that Makes Community for a weekly touchstone that includes singing, silence, sacred text, and community connection. We'll gather at 10 a.m. EDT (9 CDT / 8 MDT / 7 PST) each Monday for a 30-minute gathering followed by coffee and conversation.
MMC leaders host the gathering, drawing from many musical and spiritual traditions.Register for the Zoom link here!
This Zoom link is good for all sessions in this season. -
Friday, July 10, 2026 at 07:00 PM
Trinity Presbyterian Church, University City in St. Louis, MO
Hey St. Louis, MO! Join Music that Makes Community enthusiast, Paul Vasile, for an evening of singing and community learning in-person at Trinity Presbyterian Church on Friday, July 10 from 7-8:30 pm CDT.Paul and others will share music from varied traditions and cultures, with a special focus on songs of justice, freedom, hope, and peace. This event is free and open to all. You do not need to have any singing experience to participate – whether you can sight read sheet music or can’t carry a tune in a bucket, you are welcome!
The gathering will be in the Dining Room, a fully accessible space in the basement of the church. You’re invited to stay for ice cream and frozen treats to end the evening.Learn more and register here, or contact organizer Paul for more information!
Paul will also host a Community Singing Workshop in St. Louis on July 11. Learn more here.
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Saturday, July 11, 2026 at 09:30 AM
Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis in St. Louis, MO
Hey St. Louis, MO! Join Music that Makes Community enthusiast, Paul Vasile, for a community singing workshop in-person at Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis (MCCGSL) on Saturday, July 11 from 9:30 am - 3 pm CDT.Learn songs that help you to tend your body and soul in these challenging days. Experience community learning that engages our collective courage and power. Be welcomed as you are - no musical training or expertise required - and experience the joy of making music with friends and strangers. As we sing, we’ll:
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notice how community is formed through hopeful, embodied song and leadership that supports the participation of all
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play and pray together, sharing songs and rituals that invite us to joyful resistance as well as heartfelt lament
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reflect on singing as a resource for justice and resistance work, as well as metabolizing personal and collective trauma
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enjoy the companionship of others who love to sing
We’ll gather in the Sanctuary of MCCGSL, a fully accessible space that houses an LGBTQIA+-affirming congregation seeking to be a spiritual hub for the queer community in the Carondelet neighborhood.
The workshop includes a light lunch, with options for those with food allergies and dietary restrictions. There are resources to ensure everyone can participate, so if cost is a concern, don’t hesitate to reach out to learn more.
Learn more and register here, or contact organizer Paul for more information!
Paul will also host a Community SING in St. Louis on July 10. Learn more here.
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Monday, July 13, 2026 at 12:00 PM through July 16, 2026
St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN
Music that Makes Community will be attending the Association for Lutheran Church Musicians 40th Anniversary conference, "From Generation to Generation: Now and Forever," July 13-16, 2026 at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.
Current and past MMC Board members, Amy Steenson and Liesl Spitz, and a representative from The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery will be presenting a workshop on the Sacred Lands Project partnership, a collection of paperless, aural tradition songs for community singing intended to inspire and compel communities of faith to organize alongside Indigenous communities defending sacred lands from extractive industries and leading rematriation efforts. Read more about the project and download it here.
For more details about the conference, click: https://alcm.org/2026-st-olaf/.
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Monday, July 13, 2026 at 07:00 PM
St. John's Lutheran Church / Northfield, MN in Northfield, MN
All are welcome to Songs For Our Spiritual Toolkits: a Community SING with Music that Makes Community and co-hosts, Singing Resistance Northfield, on Monday evening, July 13, from 7-8:30 p.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minnesota.
When we sing together, we experience connection with one other and with something larger than our individual selves — whether it’s community or the sacred. Whether in good times or bad, singing together helps us remember we are not alone. Join us as we make music by heart and in community using paperless songs from many musical and spiritual traditions. Bring a song to share and friends who love to sing.
Join songleaders from Music that Makes Community, Singing Resistance Northfield, and others for an evening of community singing that will fill your spiritual toolkit with songs for many occasions.
This event is free and open to all who love to sing, regardless of musical experience or training. Freewill donations are welcome and help support the work of Music that Makes Community.
Masks are optional and welcome. Children of all ages are welcome; though no childcare is provided. Bathrooms are accessible. The event will be in St. John’s Hall, which is on the same level as the parking lot. There is ample parking available in the lot adjacent to the church.
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Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 12:30 PM
University Lutheran Church of Hope in Minneapolis, MN
Paperless Singing Practice GroupIf you are looking for a new way to foster vulnerability, trust and connection in your worship, meetings or gatherings… if you enjoy oral singing tradition… or if you need a place to rest your soul and be filled…
Join host Maria Anderson-Lippert and other MMC leaders for a Paperless Singing Practice Group. This gathering is for anyone who loves to sing, churchy and non-churchy alike. Questions? Contact [email protected]
Learn more about paperless singing in the style of Music that Makes Community here.
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Sunday, July 19, 2026 at 04:00 PM through July 25, 2026
Green Lake Conference Center / Wisconsin in Green Lake, WI
Get a introductory taste of Music that Makes Community at the Fellowship of American Baptist Musicians' (FABM) Conference for Church Musicians, "Lead with Love," on July 19-25 at the Green Lake Conference Center in Green Lake, Wisconsin.
Music that Makes Community presenter and former Board of Trustees Member, Jennifer Sanborn of Connecticut, will be sharing their love of MMC songs and leadership practices.
For more details about the conference, click: https://www.fabm.com/2026-conference.
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If you'd like to share your love of Music that Makes Community songs and practices, please reach out! We'd love to support you in spreading the seeds of MMC and welcome your hands and voices in tending this vast mycelial ecosystem of singing individuals and communities.
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Monday, July 20, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Zoom
MMC is offering its first Online Songleader Training for Intergenerational Spaces!
Music that Makes Community is offering our first online songleader training for Intergenerational Spaces on Monday, July 20 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET. This training is intended to be paired with a Virtual Practice Group. See more details below.
There is growing curiosity and energy for making space for ALL generations to raise their voices in song. Music that Makes Community has been sharing these song leading practices without paper for almost 20 years and we are ready to support this transformation in each of our communities.
Virtual participants will come away from this training:
- with skills to lead paperless singing in their contexts,
- new songs appropriate for many intergenerational spaces,
- leadership postures and gestures for songleading
- frameworks of what types of songs to use when
- and more ...
Special thanks to Roots & Wings: Intergenerational Formation Collaborative for co-sponsoring this workshop!
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Suggested Registration Fee: $25-150.
We believe that financial access shouldn't be a barrier to receiving training. To honor our community's diverse financial realities, we use a sliding scale. Please contribute what you can with gratitude for the time and skill of our facilitators and consider supporting others' attendance to help create access to events like these.
To register, click the orange "Register" button at the link below, then select one of the four suggested registration options. You will have two options to donate an additional amount: 1) to cover the processing fees of your registration and 2) to make an additional gift to MMC.
Click here to Register!
Space is limited to 90 participants.
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Additional Virtual Training Opportunities
- Virtual Songleader Training for Social Action on Thursday, Jun 25, 2026, 7-9 p.m. ET. To register, click here.
- Virtual Practice Groups will meet 4 times over two months. Tentatively planned for August-September and November-December 2026.
- More Virtual Songleader Trainings are being planned for September and October 2026.Watch this website calendar for more details to come.
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Friday, July 24, 2026 at 06:00 PM
Brunswick Unitarian Universalist Church in Brunswick, ME
Brunswick Unitarian Universalist Church is hosting a summer Community Sing series. Come sing with us and nourish connection, well-being, and joy! All are welcome to practice sharing, teaching, learning, and singing "paperless" songs in the context of a supportive community of fellow singers and song-lovers! Whether you'd like to experience how we can share songs in the oral/aural tradition, build your confidence as a song-leader, or just enjoy the "good medicine" of singing with others in community, we'd love for you to join us.Join us in-person from 6-7:30 pm EDT the fourth Friday of each month this summer (May-August).Contact organizer Pat Cannon for more information!
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Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 07:00 PM
Islington United Church in Etobicoke, ON, Canada
Islington United Church is hosting an evening of singing, learning, and discovering new music for worship.
Drawing from Then Let Us Sing, the new supplemental hymnal of The United Church of Canada, this practical and joyful workshop will explore music from Creation to Christmas.
Together we’ll sing, share ideas, and discover ways to introduce new congregational songs with confidence and creativity.
Whether you’re a church musician, worship leader, choir member, or simply someone who loves congregational singing, we’d love to have you join us. Livestream available for those unable to attend in-person.
This event is part of a series. There is another option to attend in-person on July 30; learn more here.