Application for Hymnal Revision Committee
Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church

The Rev. Junius B. Dotson, General Secretary

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

  1. Name
  2. Gender
  3. Age
  4. Ethnicity
  5. Languages Spoken or Read
  6. Conference
  7. Lay/Clergy Status
  8. Date of United Methodist Church Professing Membership or Full Conference Membership
  9. Memberships in Professional and/or Academic Organizations
  10. Current Employment

Respond inline or attach additional pages as necessary.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Liturgical Understanding: Members of the Hymnal Revision Committee are expected to have substantial experience with and understanding of the ritual resources and ritual standards of The United Methodist Church as approved by the General Conference. Describe your training, education, and experience with our official ritual and the degree of your understanding of its historic and ecumenical sources.

Musical Understanding: The Hymnal Revision Committee as a whole is expected to understand or be able to work with a wide range of genres of congregational song reflective of the many cultures, languages and people groups that make up the worldwide United Methodist Church, especially but not only as represented in The United States of America.
Describe your experience, training and education as a musician, including your ability to read music, your experience with music theory and composition, your studies in hymnology, and your skills or experience as a vocalist and/or instrumentalist.
List the genres of congregational song and the cultures or people groups with whose congregational song you are familiar. Describe your familiarity with each.

EXPECTATIONS OF ALL TEAM MEMBERS

Availability: Members of the Hymnal Revision Committee should expect to spend at least 10 hours per week from January 2017-August 2019 reviewing resources for ritual and congregational singing, in group meetings to discuss recommendations, and in learning. Are you able to make this commitment of time? If not, how much time can you commit?

Wesleyan Theology: Members of the committee are expected to have a strong working understanding of the core emphases of Wesleyan theology as expressed in the hymnody of Charles Wesley and the writings and sermons of John Wesley. Identify the key tenets of Wesleyan theology and the ways they influence our theology, hymnody, and sacramental practice as United Methodists.

Team Skills: You will be working very closely both in face to face meetings and in online conferencing with both the full committee (15 members plus the editor, consultants, and agency staff) and in smaller subgroups. Describe your experience in working with both small group and team environments with high workloads and clear standards.
Work Ethic: In addition to weekly time demands, the performance demands of this work are substantial from beginning to end. We anticipate the Hymnal Revision Committee may review more than 4000 songs and ritual resources to select those which will be recommended for inclusion in the new United Methodist Hymnal. Describe your ability and experience with working to deadlines. Include contact information for 2-3 persons who have supervised your work and can assess your performance in working with small groups and larger teams and your individual work ethic.
The Hymnal Revision Committee will put policies in place to ensure the timely completion of all work. This may include establishing standards of accountability for the performance of its members.
Return completed application form to no later than September 15, 2016. Some applicants may be called for further phone or online interviews. The board of directors of Discipleship Ministries will approve its list of appointees at its October 2016 meeting. Approved applicants will be notified and given further information about the opening meeting shortly thereafter.