wfn.org | American sisters pen winning song about peace and unity for global church event

["Franziska Surber" <Franziska.Surber@warc.ch>]

>World Alliance of Reformed Churches
>News Release
>9 December 2009

American sisters pen winning song about peace and unity for
global church event 

A song written by two sisters from the eastern United States has
won an international competition to compose the theme music for
the Uniting General Council (UGC), a global gathering of
representatives of Reformed Churches which is to be held in Grand
Rapids, United States, in June 2010. 

The winning song "Bonds of Peace", written by Linda (Price)
Draper and her sister Barbara Price-Martin, evokes the theme of
the general council “Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” a
biblical text from Ephesians 4. 

The UGC is expected to attract more than 1000 participants from
108 countries to mark the launch of the World Communion of
Reformed Churches through a merger of two existing Reformed
church movements - the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC)
and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC). 

Barbara Price-Martin is an ordained minister with the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) serving a parish in Wilmington,
Delaware. Her sister, Linda Price Draper is a retired teacher who
owns an online engraving company.  The two have written music and
lyrics for national gatherings of Presbyterian women in the
United States in 2006 and 2009 as well as many songs and hymns
for congregational use. The sisters, who live 400 miles (644 km)
apart, collaborate by phone and e-mail in creating their popular
compositions.

In announcing the winning selection from the 18 submissions
received, the general secretaries and presidents of WARC and REC
encouraged member churches to learn the song and sing it
throughout the preparatory period leading up to the general
council.  

The judges awarded honourable mentions to three songs which will
also be sung at the Uniting General Council:  "Unidos en
Espiritu" by Horacio Vivares, a composer and teacher from Buenos
Aires, Argentina; "Unity of the Spirit" by Barbara Boertje,
Minister of Music at First Reformed Church, Grandville, Michigan,
United States; and "We Are People on a Journey" by Gregg DeMey,
TeachingPastor at Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church, Elmhurst,
Illinois, United States.

Emily Brink of the Calvin College Institute of Christian Worship
in Grand Rapids coordinated the work of the selection panel:
Alison Adam (England), Christina Mandang (Indonesia), Joel
Navarro (Philippines/United States) and Gerardo Oberman
(Argentina). 

Music and lyrics for the winning composition and the three songs
awarded honourable mentions will be posted to the Uniting General
Council website www.reformedchurches.org (
http://www.reformedchurches.org/ )