ADA – The East Central University Department of Music is offering a course in Hymnology and Liturgy on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., beginning on Jan. 13, 2014, in the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center.
The full-semester, 16-week course, being offered as part of ECU’s new Sacred Music degree, will provide an overview of the history and functions of hymns throughout the ages, as well as a study of their literary and theological significance. The concept of liturgy in worship and its historical development will also be explored.
The course features a day trip to the St. Gregory’s Monastery in Shawnee, including a personal visit with a resident Benedictine monk and observance of the Order’s Divine Office of Vespers.
Class members will also receive instruction on writing their own devotional poetry and hymns. The course will conclude with a panel discussion of issues in contemporary church music presented by professional church musicians from Ada and the surrounding area.
W. T. Skye Garcia, the coordinator of the ECU Sacred Music program, will serve as the instructor for the class. Garcia, a member of the ECU faculty since 1986, is an internationally recognized composer with graduate music degrees from Hardin-Simmons University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Students or community members wishing to enroll or audit the Hymnology and Liturgy course may contact Garcia at wgarcia@ecok.edu or at 580-559-5479.
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