Northwestern College’s Director of Music Ministry, Dr. Josselyn-Cranson, was recently selected as a winner of a hymn writing contest from Perkins Theological Seminary. She was chosen from a number of participants, and this will be her fourth award for hymn writing. As a member of the Hymn Society, Dr. Josselyn-Cranson often receives notifications of contests held for hymn writing on various topics. This particular contest was held for new hymns involving justice for workers.
Dr. Josselyn-Cranson’s hymn, titled “Loving God Means Seeking Justice” discusses the ways in which we, followers of Christ, are called to treat others fairly.
“God was the first worker. It was God who created the universe, so God is not apart from the idea of labor and the work of our hands,” Dr. Josselyn-Cranson said.
“Sometimes loving God means protesting. It means if we see abuse, if we see people being treated unfairly, maybe loving God means putting our voices together and joining in a protest.”
For Dr. Josselyn-Cranson, contests provide an opportunity to hone her craft of hymn writing and poetry. Though she doesn’t have one specific topic she writes toward, Dr. Josselyn-Cranson values varying topics, including justice, the incarnation and creation.
“If we are made in the image of our Creator, then we are a creator people, but the most wonderful and humbling thing is being allowed to help the body of Christ sing,” Dr. Josselyn-Cranson said.
Northwestern College is currently holding their fourth hymn writing contest revolving around the chapel theme for the semester, the Lord’s Prayer. The hope is that the contest will achieve four things: to get students thinking outside the box about the chapel theme, to provide an outlet for creativity, to voice what needs to be said and to create something that can be sung together as a community.
For those interested in writing for the contest, Dr. Josselyn-Cranson suggests looking at the Lord’s Prayer as a foundation, then branching out.
“Be grounded in that, but also think about what hasn’t yet been sung because that’s a great gift,” Dr. Josselyn-Cranson said. “We see there are a lot of songs or hymns about a certain part of it, but maybe we ignore a certain part of it. Maybe students have a new take on it.”
Students who plan to write for the contest need to write the music in score form and prepare the piece so it may be sung in a congregational setting. Submissions are due Feb. 20th to Dr. Josselyn-Cranson, and the winning entry will be sung in chapel.
PHOTO BY HANNAH HALLORAN Northwestern music professor Dr. Josselyn-Cranson wins the Perkins Theological Seminary hymn writing contest.
