UCC to host hymn festival
Crystal Forester
Staff Reporter

Ministers Week will host a hymn festival begins at 3 p.m. today in University Christian Church, and is sponsored by The Emmet G. Smith Endowment Fund, said Stan Hagadone, director of Admissions and Continuing Education for Brite Divinity School.

The festival will be led by John Weaver, a professor of organ at The Juilliard School in New York, Hagadone said.

The Emmet G. Smith Endowment Fund was established in honor of Emmet Smith, a retired TCU organ professor, by his former students, Hagadone said. Smith decided to add the hymn festival to Ministers Week because it would give the church the opportunity to show off the pipe organ, that was installed in September, and show the importance of the instrument, he said.

“Smith thought it would be a good idea to make the festival a part of Ministers Week, because ministers are always leading worship but don’t have the opportunity to participate in it,” Hagadone said.

The hymn festival is a way for the endowment fund to demonstrate the importance of the pipe organ in the history of church, Smith said.

“The organ is the perfect instrument for accompanying congressional singing because it uses the same kind of breath as a singer and has the power to match a congregation large or small,” Smith said.

Every other year the endowment fund will host a symposium or event that brings an international musician to talk about and play the pipe organ, Smith said. Weaver was selected to be the host of the hymn festival because of his accomplishments with the instrument, he said. Weaver has studied the organ and held many prominent positions such as head of the organ department at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and director of music at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City for more than 40 years, Smith said.

“We decided that he was the perfect person to launch this series of events because, he is not only the authority on organ music, he is the best known concert organist around today and he is an excellent composer of choral music,” Smith said.

Two new awards, the Kenneth L. Teegarden Award and the Davis-Kallenberg Award, will also be announced during Ministers Week, said David Murph, director of church relations.
The Kenneth L. Teegarden Award will be given to First Christian Church in Port Arthur and to Clifford H. Taylor Jr., who have made regular donations over the past years, he said.
“Usually people who make large donations are the only ones recognized,” Murph said.

“We wanted to honor those that have given faithfully over the years.”

The Davis-Kallenberg Award, named after Gilbert Davis and Ed Kallenberg, former development officers, will be announced during Ministers Week, Murph said. The award is given to people that have included Brite in their estates, he said.

Crystal Forester
c.m.forester@tcu.edu