FABM the First 20 Years

The First Twenty Years
by
Samuel J. Hood
Editor’s note: The Reverend Samuel J. Hood served
as Minister of Membership and Music at Central
Baptist Church, Springfield, Illinois and is a
Past-President of FABM.

The Fellowship of American Baptist Musicians, a recognizes agency of the American Baptist Churches, USA, through affiliation with the Board of Educational Ministries, is due mainly to the vision and insight of the late Reverend Jet E. Turner.

Dr Turner and Dr. Kenneth Cober, then with the Board of Education and Publication, met in Cincinnati (Ohio) with a group of Baptist musicians for two days in 1964. The result of that meeting was the formalizing of the Fellowship. Among those attending were Mr. William Robinson, Indianapolis, Indiana, Mr. Leland Chou, Toledo, Ohio, the Reverend William Myers, Hamilton, Ohio and Mr. and Mrs. Roger Wischmeier, Omaha, Nebraska. The following statement of purpose was developed: “The Fellowship of American Baptist Musicians has been organized to enrich the spiritual life of American Baptists by encouraging, stimulating, and assisting our churches in a more effective and significant use of music.”

At the 1964 meeting a series of regional chairmen were appointed to serve until a full-scale meeting of the Fellowship could be held the following summer.

FABM was formally organized at the first Conference for Church Musicians at Green Lake, Wisconsin, in July, 1965. Dr Turner was elected the first president, and together with him three other elected officers formed the executive committee which was some years later expanded to its current six members.

Professor Robert H. Mitchell of the Church Music Department of the American Baptist Seminary of the West served as the second president in 1967-68 and was followed by Dr. Turner, who was elected to a second term in 1969. After a constitutional change to elect two officers each year for a three-year term, Samuel J. Hood, Central Baptist Church, Springfield, Illinois, was the third president serving a three-year term beginning in 1970. He was followed by James Craven, First Baptist Church, Los Angeles, California, Dr. Jay Martin, First Baptist Church, Dearborn, Michigan, Ruth Hathaway, First Baptist Church, Fall River, Massachusetts, Reginald Brown, First Baptist Church, Topeka, Kansas, later First Christian Church, Amarillo, Texas, James Shrader, First Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio, and David Young, Laverne, California, the current president.

During the past twenty years numerous Baptist church musicians from across the United States have served in the offices of vice-president, secretary, treasurer, librarian, membership and News Letter editor. These officers, together with the president, have provided a counseling service to churches and FABM members regarding questions they have had about the ministry of music in their churches.

From the outset, one of the initial goals was planning and promoting the Conference for Church Musicians at Green Lake (Wisconsin) each summer. The twentieth annual summer conference was held in July, 1985. Growing from one hundred and ten conferees in 1965 to several hundred in later years, the conference is one of the finest in the United States. This fact is attested to by listing some of the faculty members through the years: Daniel Moe, Elaine Brown, Eric Routley, Alec Wyton, Austin Lovelace, Weston Noble, Paul Manz, Eugene Butler, Dale Wood, Marilyn Kaiser, Jane Marshall, Allen Pote, Carlton Young, Roberta Bitgood, Bob Burroughs, Gene Black, John and Helen Kemp, Fred Swann, Lloyd Pfautsch, James Litton, John Carter – and the list goes on!In 1967 the conference was divided into two sections, youth and adults, and for the last several years a children’s program has been added.

The second major goal of FABM was to provide a Lending Library of choral music. The Library was begun in 1965 with the purchase of multiple copies of forty different anthems. In subsequent years, it has been increased to over three hundred titles and they are available in packets of twenty, forty or sixty copies. Annotated lists as well as perusal packets are available as aids in choosing the anthems to be borrowed. The only cost involved is return postage.

In January, 1974, all FABM members started receiving a subscription to the Journal of Church Music, a professional music journal published by Fortress Press, Philadelphia. Included in a special FABM Edition was the FABM News Letter. This was made possible by the fact that both publications were printed by Judson Press at Valley Forge. This dual publication lasted several years until production costs precluded the affiliation with the Journal of Church Music.

During the last twenty years many things have happened that have changed not only our lives and our lifestyles, but world changing events have taken place. On a hot summer night in 1969, hundreds of music conferees packed themselves into the lobby of Roger Williams Inn to see on a large television screen the first moon landing. In celebration of that event Ron Nelson wrote a “graff” anthem which was performed later in the week.

But that’s only one of hundreds of memories over the last twenty years. There were the annual buttery corn roasts. The quiet times at Inspiration Point. The glorious, glorious music. The meaningful closing communion celebrations. The quiet moments of sharing with a new-found friend– or maybe a quiet talk with the Friend of Friends. But that’s Green Lake.

Thank God for the men and women who have given direction and leadership through these past twenty years, and may we, as we follow in the years to come, always seek a closer walk with God.

Samuel J Hood - 1985

Webmaster Note:Sam continued his faithful and active support of FABM until his death in October 1994.

Additional note

During David Young’s administration as president he encouraged the FABM Board to appoint an Executive Secretary whose responsibility would be to maintain the structure of the organization and serve as chief administrator. The board agreed to his suggestion and The Reverend Jay Martin was named to the voluntary position and serves in this capacity to this day.

FABM has grown over it’s forty year history. Under the leadership of fine presidents and equally qualified board members more conference sections have been added. Now a compliment of seven sections make for a full week of activity at the conference: Adults, Youth, Children, Organ, Handbells, Instrumental and Worship. Among those serving as president were Jane Anderson, FBC, Topeka, Greg Lundberg, Central Baptist, Springfield IL, Mike Waltenberger, First Baptist Church, Decatur, IL, Karen Hetrick, First Baptist Church, Greenwood, IN and presently, Joyce Crowder, First Baptist Church, Columbus IN.

Jay Martin, Executive Secretary - 2004