The Secretary’s Newsletter

2026 Annual Conference Tuesday 21st – Friday 24th July The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire

This year marks our 90th Anniversary and the Conference will reflect that milestone. Booking forms with full information are enclosed in this mailing, and bookings can also be made through our website. Note: places are limited so early booking is essential to ensure a place. Whilst there will be space for some Day Visitors, we need to know swiftly, as this is a primarily residential conference.

We are pleased that despite increasing costs we have been able to hold the cost for this year’s conference at £390. To encourage members who have not previously sampled the joys of conference, for this special year there is a slight discount for first-time attendees.

We realise this cost is not within everyone’s reach. Therefore, if you would like to come but find the cost prohibitive, do remember that Bursaries towards the cost may be available. We urge you not hesitate to request a Bursary; please contact our Treasurer, Michael Garland (michaelqarland368@btinternet.com). Equally, if you would like to make an additional donation towards costs that would be very welcome.

Short Metre: Our conference programme will include this popular opportunity for members to give a brief talk on almost any hymn- related subject. Short Metre presentations are traditionally limited to 10 minutes, but we may be able to include some 20-minute slots if appropriate. If you would like to offer either format, please indicate this on your booking and we will be in touch to discuss your proposed topic. (Do bear in mind, though, that Short Metre is sometimes over­subscribed!)

Now launched – our celebration Hymn Competition

To celebrate our 90th Anniversary and in conjunction with the Pratt Green Trust, new hymns are invited on the theme of “Ages Past – Years to Come”. The competition will also honour the legacy of Elizabeth Cosnett (1936-2024).

Entries are invited in the following categories:

• Original text to a well-known melody
• Original text to an original melody
• Original melody to an Elizabeth Cosnett text

The Judging Panel includes acclaimed hymn writers, composers, compilers of hymnals, and members of both the Society and the Pratt Green Trust.

The prize for each category is £300, as cash or towards the cost of attending our Anniversary Conference in July 2026, where the winning entries will be sung.

Participation is open to all Society members and all residents of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The final submission date is 12th April 2026. To enter, please use the online form which can be found at: https://prattqreentrust.orq.uk/2026-hymn-competition/.

There is no fee to enter this competition, but donations will be gratefully received to assist with administrative costs. An opportunity to donate is included on the online entry form.

If you experience difficulties in accessing the form, please contact Gillian Warson (qiIlian®prattqreentrust.org.uk).

Another hymn competition: our sister society in the United States and Canada, HSUSC, is conducting “a competition for one or more theologically rich hymn or song texts for congregational singing that paraphrases or is based on Psalm 146”, with an emphasis on God’s sovereignty, justice and favor for the marginalised, and including opening and concluding expressions of praise. The deadline for submissions is 30th April. For full details including the background to this hymn search, the guidelines for writers and the prizes offered, see https://thehymnsociety.org/hymn-search-psalm-146/.

Another Hymn Society event: In addition to Conference details, you will also find in this mailing details of “Hidden Treasures”, our London Day on Saturday 25th April. Besides an eminent array of speakers there will, of course, be opportunities to sing. The event is not exclusive to members, nor to Londoners; if you are within reach of the capital, do consider going along with one or more friends.

We also hope this year to hold a one-day event in the north-west of England, in collaboration with the Wild Goose Resource Group (part of the Iona Community). Details are still to be finalised but we are looking at a Saturday in October, at a venue in Carlisle. Further details will follow!

And another Conference: a reminder of a notice in our previous newsletter that our European equivalent, IAH, hold their conference every two years, and will next do so from Monday 31st August to Friday 4th September in Strasbourg, France. There will be participants from across Europe and beyond; lecture presentations will be in German and English, with translation. The location is itself a fine European city, and following the conference there will be sightseeing excursions – or you could arrange your own break. See https://iah- hymnoloqie.de/en/conferences/iah-international-conferences/2026- international-conference-in-strasbourq-france/.

The Methodist Foundery Collection-. Our member Professor Martin Clarke writes: “I’m delighted to let you know that I’ve recently completed a reconstructed edition of first Methodist tune book, A Collection of Tunes, Set to Music, As they are commonly Sung at the Foundery (1742), generally known as the Foundery Collection.” Martin explains that this edition seeks to present the tunes as they are likely to have been used in the mid-eighteenth century, avoiding distortions from later poor editing and production. The work is freely available from IMSLP under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence at https://imslp.Org/wiki/A Collection of Tunes (Wesley, John). In addition, Open University funding has made possible recordings of the collection’s 43 tunes, sung by the baritone Jon Stainsby; these are available at the same online location (under “Performance”) or as a set of videos at https://vimeo.com/showcase/11995757. We are indebted to Martin for making us aware of these items – thank you!

Subscriptions

Our Treasurer, Michael Garland, would like to remind members that 2026 subscriptions are now due. If you need to discuss this, please contact Michael (michaelqarland368@btinternet.com). Thank you.

We welcome a new member who recently joined the Society:

Mr Chris Jones (Winchester)

We regret having to report the deaths of members:

The Revd Graham Palmer (London)
Mr Gordon Robinson (Cardiff)

Congratulations

Thanks are due to our member John Crothers for pointing out that 30th November last year marked forty years since the consecration as a bishop of Edward Darling, our Executive President for 2008-2011. This milestone was marked the day before the anniversary with a special service at St. John’s, Orangefield, Belfast; this was one of the churches where Edward served as a curate before moving on to lead parishes in County Down and in Malone, Belfast. From 1985, as bishop, Edward served the diocese of Limerick and Killaloe until his retirement in 2000. Somehow during those years he also found time to be General Editor of the supplement Irish Church Praise (1990) and the Church Hymnal, 5th Edition (2000). In retirement, of course, Edward has continued to serve the Church of Ireland, not least as co-author with Dr Donald Davison of the Companion to the Church Hymnal (2005).

The preacher at the service of celebration was Rt Revd David McClay, Bishop of Down and Dromore; the president was Revd Colin Darling, rector of Ballymore, and the son of Edward and his wife, Patricia. We offer our belated congratulations to Edward on his many years of fruitful service; and note that apparently a further celebration may be in order some time this year, to mark the seventieth anniversary of Edward’s ordination.

Bulletin back-issues offered … A final reminder: a few full runs of the Bulletin in printed form, from Issue 1 (October 1937) onwards, are available to members who are interested. If you would like to have such a set, for a donation plus transport costs, please do contact our Executive President, Martin Leckebusch, or any of the other Officers.