Writing the Church's Song 2025

October 22-25, 2025
Richmond, VA

Our hosts will be Richmond Hill, an ecumenical Christian fellowship and residential community who serve as stewards of an urban retreat center within the setting of a historic monastery.

REGISTRATION
$480 Full Registration Fee (includes 3 nights lodging & all meals) 
$325 No-Lodging Registration Fee (includes lunch & dinner for each day) 

FACULTY

Text Writing – Mary Louise Bringle, FHS

Mary Louise (Mel) Bringle is Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Brevard College in Brevard, NC.  The winner of several international hymnwriting competitions, her original texts and translations are included in hymnals and supplements of numerous denominations in North America and the United Kingdom.  She has served as President of The Hymn Society and chair of the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song, responsible for creating the 2013 PCUSA hymnal Glory to God. In the summer of 2020, she was named a Fellow of the Hymn Society.

Tune Writing – Benjamin Brody

Benjamin Brody serves as Chair of the Music Department, Professor of Music and Director of Church Music Studies at Whitworth University.  He studied music education and church music as an undergraduate at Whitworth and went on to complete graduate degrees in choral conducting from the University of Washington.  At Whitworth, he teaches courses in church music and music appreciation, and serves as Director of Campus Worship.  A life member of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, Ben served as President (2020-22), and convened the working group that produced Singing Welcome: Songs and Hymns for Refugees and Immigrants (2017).  A hymn tune composer, Ben has authored two collections of hymn tunes, Come, O Holy House, And Worship (GIA, 2017) and At the Weaving of Creation (GIA, 2024).  His hymn tunes have appeared in over a dozen hymnals and published hymn collections.