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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Friday, October 16, 2026 at 01:00 PM
Zoom
Music that Makes Community is introducing TGIF, the new monthly West Coast week-ending cousin to Monday Morning Grounding.
TGIF will meet monthly on the second Friday, at 1 p.m. Pacific time, to spend an hour together on zoom teaching, learning, and sharing more Advent songs and exploring together how we hope to use them in the upcoming season, and how they speak to us in this moment. These gatherings will be co-hosted by Caitlin Reilley Beck (they/she/he) and Josh Zentner-Barrett (he/him), and will be on October 16th and November 13th.
The first 45 minutes of these sessions will be recorded, and available to those interested.
Register HERE for TGIF. Your link is good for all sessions. Please reach out to [email protected] by noon on the Wednesday before if you need to have your information re-sent.
Related Events
On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 4pm-5:30pm ET / 1pm-2:30pm PT, Music that Makes Community facilitators and composers are offering an hour-long virtual Preparing to Prepare workshop. This session will be recorded and offered for a small donation. More details here.
Join Music that Makes Community for four In-Depth Advent Explorations Monday Morning Groundings from September 21 - October 12 at 10 a.m. Eastern, 9 a.m. Central. During these meetings, we will be teaching, learning, and sharing 1-2 songs along with Advent readings.
For this special series Monday Morning Grounding series, regular MMG co-hosts/leaders Amy Steenson and Nancy Willbanks are delighted to welcome song leaders:
- Richard Bruxvoort Colligan on September 21
- AnnaMarie Hoos on September 28
- Pam Blevins Hinkle on October 5
- Zachary Stevens-Walter on October 12
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Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 09:30 AM
St. Anne's Episcopal Church in St Paul, MN
Music that Makes Community is excited to offer a One-Day Community Singing Workshop in Minneapolis-St. Paul area on Saturday, October 17 from 9:30 am to 4 pm. Experienced MMC presenters will facilitate a renewing day of singing, learning, and fellowship, with a focus on singing as a practice that can enliven congregational worship and strengthen our commitments to welcome all people. Singers of all backgrounds, ages, and experience levels are warmly welcomed to participate!
During our time together we’ll:-
Explore a practice of paperless (oral tradition) singing leadership grounded in a spirit of welcome and generosity
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Engage models of teaching and leading that welcome our bodies, hearts, and minds
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Experience music reflective of the growing diversity of our communities and celebrating our rich spiritual and liturgical traditions
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Build community and strengthen relationships through singing
Each person will leave with new music to share, as well as experiences of learning and teaching songs applicable to their context. All who love to sing are warmly welcomed, as well as those who lead music in church, community, and educational contexts.
The cost of the workshop, including workshop materials, lunch, and refreshments throughout the day, is $150. We do not want the cost to prevent anyone’s participation, so please reach out to let us know if you need scholarship support. Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions.
REGISTER HERE! -
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Tuesday, November 10, 2026 at 03:30 PM
Zoom
MMC continues its Online Songleader Training for Intergenerational Spaces!
Music that Makes Community is offering our second online songleader training for Intergenerational Spaces on Tuesday, November 10 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. ET. This training is intended to be paired with a Virtual Practice Group. Watch this website calendar for more details to come.
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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Friday, November 13, 2026 at 01:00 PM
Zoom
Music that Makes Community is introducing TGIF, the new monthly West Coast week-ending cousin to Monday Morning Grounding.
TGIF will meet monthly on the second Friday, at 1 p.m. Pacific time, to spend an hour together on zoom teaching, learning, and sharing more Advent songs and exploring together how we hope to use them in the upcoming season, and how they speak to us in this moment. These gatherings will be co-hosted by Caitlin Reilley Beck (they/she/he) and Josh Zentner-Barrett (he/him), and will be on October 16th and November 13th.
The first 45 minutes of these sessions will be recorded, and available to those interested.
Register HERE for TGIF. Your link is good for all sessions. Please reach out to [email protected] by noon on the Wednesday before if you need to have your information re-sent.
Related Events
On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 4pm-5:30pm ET / 1pm-2:30pm PT, Music that Makes Community facilitators and composers are offering an hour-long virtual Preparing to Prepare workshop. This session will be recorded and offered for a small donation. More details here.
Join Music that Makes Community for four In-Depth Advent Explorations Monday Morning Groundings from September 21 - October 12 at 10 a.m. Eastern, 9 a.m. Central. During these meetings, we will be teaching, learning, and sharing 1-2 songs along with Advent readings.
For this special series Monday Morning Grounding series, regular MMG co-hosts/leaders Amy Steenson and Nancy Willbanks are delighted to welcome song leaders:
- Richard Bruxvoort Colligan on September 21
- AnnaMarie Hoos on September 28
- Pam Blevins Hinkle on October 5
- Zachary Stevens-Walter on October 12
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Saturday, November 21, 2026 at 03:30 PM through November 24, 2026
Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO
Music that Makes Community will be at the American Academy of Religion's Annual Meeting November 21-24, 2026 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO.
During the conference, MMC Executive Director C. Onyx Li and Becca Whitla from Toronto will be offering a hands-on, voices engaged workshop of singing and theological reflection on how song can be a powerful part of protest. Before the conference gets underway, Music that Makes Community will co-sponsor a Singing Resistance Pub Sing with The Hymn Society of the U.S. and Canada
near the Denver Convention Center on Friday evening, November 20. This will be open to the public. Details will be posted on MMC's Community Calendar when available. For more details about the conference, click: https://aarweb.org/event/november-annual-meeting/.
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Related Events
More Music that Makes Community events will be held during this time in Denver. Please stay tuned for more details.