The Macalester Plymouth United Church Hymn Contest is an annual global competition for new hymns. Hosted by a Saint Paul, Minnesota, congregation that is part of both the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...

and the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

, the competition focuses on generating new hymns on religiously liberal themes for

Mainline Protestant The mainline Protestant churches (also called mainstream Protestant and sometimes oldline Protestant) are a group of Protestant denominations in the United States that contrast in history and practice with evangelical, fundamentalist, and charis ...

churches. The head of the

Hymn Society in the United States and Canada The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada – founded in 1922 as The Hymn Society of America and renamed in 1991 – is a not-for-profit organization for those people who: * believe that congregational song is an integral component of worsh ...

has referred to it as "one of the most respected competitions" in hymnwriting.

History

The contest was founded in 1996 by the Rev. Roger Grussing, senior pastor of Macalester Plymouth United Church (MPUC), and Curt Oliver, MPUC's music director. It is funded by an

endowment Endowment most often refers to: *A term for human penis size It may also refer to: Finance *Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment) *Endowment mortgage, a mortgage to b ...

from A.A. "Al" Heckman, a Minnesota foundation executive who died in 1994. The purpose of the contest was to generate new hymn texts that "can motivate the church to be more actively involved in

social reform A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

." The contest describes itself as the longest-running hymn contest in the English language and attracts entries from across the United States, as well as from

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, and

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. According to the ''

St. Paul Pioneer Press The ''St. Paul Pioneer Press'' is a newspaper based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It serves the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the east metro, including Ramsey County, Minn ...

'', "the

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

hymn contest has acquired an '

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

' or

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

or Oprah's Book Club sort of clout, capable of elevating a previously unknown artist to national prominence."

Format

The contest focuses on new and unpublished texts for hymns, with a different theme announced each year. While it welcomes new tunes, it "strongly encourage the use of familiar

meters The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...

which may be sung to familiar tunes." As of 2006, the contest offered a $500 cash prize for the winner or winners, should multiple hymns be recognized. An anonymous panel judges the contest. The hymnwriters retain the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

to their texts, although MPUC retains a perpetual license to use the winning hymn or hymns in worship. Describing itself as a "a liberal and inclusive church with a history of active involvement in contemporary social issues," MPUC advises entrants to avoid the use of archaic language such as "thee" and "thou" and to use

inclusive language Inclusive language avoids expressions that are considered to express or imply ideas that are sexist, racist, or otherwise biased, prejudiced, or insulting to any particular group of people and sometimes animals as well. Use of inclusive language ...

(for example, "siblings" instead of "brothers").

Table of contests and winners

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macalester Plymouth United Church Hymn Contest Hymnology Competitions in the United States Recurring events established in 1996