If you’ve always wanted to do that, Dr. Lydia Pedersen will teach you how in her workshop on hymn writing. If, like me, you think having a root canal without freezing is more appealing, read no further:

Dr. Lydia Pedersen, a United Church member and a church musician for more than 50 years, is offering a workshop on  hymn writing. Anyone can attend and no experience is necessary.

“Most people think that writing a hymn is a terribly esoteric thing to do and only clergy ever think of doing it, but I want to debunk that myth by showing that regular people can do it, too,” she says.

Ms. Pedersen, who teaches hymn writing to seminary students at Emmanuel College in Toronto, says people want to write hymns for all sorts of different reasons. Some simply want to express their love of God, while others want to mark special occasions or use language and imagery that are more relevant to their context.

“Things are changing in society,” she explains. “We need hymns for the LGBTQ community. We need hymns about the ecological crisis. Things that we didn’t worry about thirty years ago have become crucial issues, and people need to sing about them in church.”