Welcome to the new Music that Makes Community blog, where we will ask the question, “What Did You Notice?” This is a question we ask at every Music that Makes Community event. In many ways it is the foundation of everything we do. At Music that Makes Community, we are working to equip leaders to use the practice of paperless music to build connections in their congregations and communities. The foundation of that work is observation and inquiry, and a spirit of learning imbues every part of our approach.

I’m creating this new forum in order to keep that conversation going in the times between our gatherings and workshops. I’ll write some of the posts myself, and I’ve asked our presenters to contribute as well.

Here are the types of posts you can expect to see in the coming weeks and months:

What we do.
Music that Makes Community workshops have been happening since 2007 (the first workshop was held at St. Gregory of Nyssa in June of that year, and there have been more than thirty events across the US and Canada since then). We’ll use this space to explore our history and tell stories about those experiences and things we’ve learned along the way. We’ll explore the pedagogy we use for our teaching, as well as the theology and philosophies that underpin that teaching.

How we do it.
Anyone who’s tried it knows that learning to lead singing well is work that is never finished. The blog will also be a place you can come to for tips and advice for implementing paperless song leading.

Why we sing this way.
The reason MMC has had such staying power is that many people who attend MMC workshops are deeply moved by the experience. The work we’re doing has touched a deep nerve in the church as musicians, clergy and lay people search for ways to change and adapt to the needs of contemporary society. We’ll tell stories of witness and testimony about the transformations this work has affected in the lives of our participants and leaders.

Who “we” are.
The Music that Makes Community network includes over 1000 people who have participated in or presented at the workshops over the years, and we are a diverse, smart, creative group of people. I’ll be using our blog to post interviews with presenters and participants, as well as inviting guests to post about their work using paperless music in community life.