Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources and events from other organizations and institutions. These Lutheran and ecumenical partner organizations work alongside the ELCA to support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. ELCA Worship also features resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers in a monthly blog post.
Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival
Transforming and connecting lives through faith and music since 1981.
Missed LSM This Summer? Watch on Demand
The LSM 2026 season may be over, but the inspiring music continues online.
Watch more than 40 concerts, worship services, recitals, and special events from this summer whenever it’s convenient for you. Catch up on the performances you missed or experience your favorite moments. Enjoy the Bach Cantata Eucharist, Festival of Hymns, plus performances by the Festival Band, Choir, and Orchestra, and many more joyful moments from this summer’s season. Visit our website to browse the replays and start watching today with LSM On Demand!
Association of Lutheran Church Musicians
ALCM nurtures and equips musicians to serve and lead the church’s song.
October 23: Recruiting a Choir in a Post-COVID World, The Rev. Steven J. Basselman
November 13: Choosing Music for Smaller Ensembles, Dr. Marin Jacobson
December 4: Choral Rehearsal Techniques for Aging Voices, Andrew Peters
Vi Messerli Memorial Lectures in Church Music
For All the Saints
October 18-20
Concordia University Chicago
River Forest, Illinois
Join us for another exiting year of celebrating the Church’s song at the Vi Messerli Memorial Lectures in Church Music. This year’s presenters include: Rev. Dr. Dien Ashley Taylor, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in the Bronx, NY and Atlantic District president (LCMS), Marin Jacobson, director of choral activities at Valparaiso University, the Kantorei from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, under the direction of Kantor Kevin Hildebrand, and a hymn festival led by Daniel Schwandt, now cantor at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, plus many practical and thought-provoking workshops.
The event will begin on Sunday afternoon with a stellar piano recital by the director of Concordia’s Preparatory and Community Music Program Katrina Sudman and Vincent Catalano.
The Lectures in Church Music website is www.CUCHICAGO.EDU/LCM26 If you wish, you can access the brochure here. Online registration is available here and within links in the brochure.
Registration fees are provided on page 9 of the brochure. Please note that the early registration fees apply until September 15. A limited number of scholarships are available to college students and those new to church music. Bring a friend to Lectures and get $25 off the registration when each of you registers! Please use the code FRIEND2026.
The Church Music Institute
The Church Music Institute is dedicated to the advancement and stewardship of the best liturgical and sacred music for Christian worship, serving clergy, musicians and congregants. Offerings include educational workshops and courses, inspirational festivals of church music, newsletters addressing current issues in church music, and online and print resources.
Invitation to Early Career Church Musicians: Apply for the Dr. Paul Lindsley Thomas Society
The Paul Lindsley Thomas Society benefits trained musicians who want to further their understanding of church music. Membership is by application, asking respondents to react to the document “Aspiring to the Ideals of Paul Lindsley Thomas” as they view their own calling as church musicians.
Accepted applicants will enjoy monthly online meetings with other early career church musicians to share and learn about church music, admission to online and in-person CMI events, and complimentary CMI membership to access the 65,000 title choral and organ libraries. Apply at HERE and email a resume to info@churchmusicinstitute.org, include “PLT Application” in subject line.
Submission Deadline: September 1, 2026