How do We Sponsor a Hymn-Writing Competition?

Churches, organizations, even individuals who seek ways to celebrate an anniversary or other special occasion or simply to support and encourage the creation of new works may consider sponsoring a hymn-writing competition. Depending upon your organization, the event, and how engaging you want this competition to be, there are many details to consider. Following is a listing and organization of many of those details. Some may not apply to your circumstance, or there may be others that are not listed here. A well-organized and successful competition will, however, take many of these into consideration.

A. Reason for Competition

• What is the reason for the competition? This will help the writers.

B. Theme

1. Is there a competition theme, subject, or scripture?
2. Will non-related entries be held or returned immediately?

C. Competition Chair and Judges

1. Appoint one person to chair and coordinate the competition, communicate with entrants, and do the administrative work.
2. The chair should be non-voting.
3. Who will judge? How will they be selected? How many? An odd number to eliminate tie votes?
4. Judges and Chair may not submit entries.
5. Simple majority vote of judges to select winner?

D. Who may submit entries?

1. Only members of a particular group? Are any members/officers excluded?
2. Some groups offer institutional memberships. What about staff or members of churches that hold the institutional membership?
3. United Methodists?
4. Baptists, Pentecostals, praise team guitar players who can't read music?
5. Secular musicians?
6. Is competition open to anyone?

E. Competition Dates

1. Time period for receiving entries
2. Date for selecting winning entry
3. Date (and means) of announcing winning entry
4. First performance date

F. Administrative Process

1. Chair sends out information (postal, e-mail, fax) when requested and receives all entries.
2. Chair passes copies to judges, containing no information about who submitted it (name, city, position, etc.)
3. Do judges have a time to study entries privately, or only as a group?
4. Judges gather to sing through and discuss entries.
   • This may help to determine who the judges are — think about travel & lodging expenses.
5. How shall the judges judge?
   1. Always simple majority vote.
   2. Go through a progressive series of votes to cull the entries. For example, if there are 40 entries, the first vote will cut it to 20. The second vote to 10. The third vote to 5. Judges vote 1 for entries that make the first cut, and 2 for those that don't.
   3. Repeat the process until the group has narrowed all entries to the Final Five. For the final five finalists, sing through the entries, allow time for private consideration, then allow open discussion by judges on the merits of each one.
   4. Each judge will then order the Final Five: #1 is the winner, #2 the runner-up, etc. The entry with the lowest total is the winning entry.
   5. Decide whether to publicize only the winning entry or also a runner-up. One winning entry is easiest to deal with.
6. Chair should facilitate and manage the entire process.
7. Acknowledge receipt of entries: postcard, e-mail?
8. Notify entrants of the winning entry after public notice is made.
9. How, when, where, and by whom shall the winning entry be made known?
10. Shall the winning writer be notified ahead of time?
11. Shall all writers be notified of the winning entry?

G. Possible Guidelines to Be Met by Entries (Note: Inevitably, the judges will develop these for themselves if they have not been previously established. They will become the criteria the judges use individually and collectively for judging.)

1. Is there a theme, subject, season, or scripture that entries must relate to?
2. Shall any of the following be excluded or required?
   1. original text only
   2. text and recommended existing tune (copyrighted or public domain?)
   3. text and new tune
   4. text and tune by same person
   5. text and tune by collaborating author/composer
   6. entries of tunes only
3. Musical and textual guidelines, if any
   1. overall style; all styles welcome?
   2. SATB hymnal style
   3. accompanied unison melody
   4. all meters welcome? only one meter?
   5. rhymed poetry? unrhymed OK?
   6. English language? other languages OK? mixed languages?
   7. modern English? King James English?
   8. inclusive language; God language
   9. military and racial images, metaphors
   10. text length (number of stanzas)
   11. language appropriate for adults, youth, children?
4. Must entries be newly composed?
   • May previously composed but unpublished works be submitted?

H. How Shall Entries Be Submitted?

1. Number of copies
   1. one clean, legible copy; chair makes copies
   2. a specified number of copies (one for chair, each judge, file)
   3. one copy with complete identification information + one with no identification (copies of this to go to judges)
   4. attach all hymn copies under a separate cover sheet with complete identification and contact information
2. Will you use an application form for all entries?
3. Entry fee
   1. Charging a modest entry fee ($5 per entry) will help to ensure quality entries as well as providing some income toward expenses. This has become a common practice.
   2. Do not accept entries without the fee.
   3. Do not agree to waive anyone's entry fee.
4. Specify that all submission materials will remain the property of the competition and will not be returned. It is thus important that entrants submit a photocopy and not their original. (Note: This is not to say that the ownership of the hymn itself becomes the property of the organization. That is a separate issue dealt with below.)
5. Shall a cassette tape or CD recording of the hymn be required? If not, specify whether it is welcomed or accepted, or not desired.
   • Specify that these will not be returned unless accompanied by pre-paid postage and return envelope.

I. Ownership

1. Will the winning entry become the property of the organization, or remain with the author/composer? (It has become customary that ownership remain with the writer.)
2. Will the organization seek publication of the winning entry?
3. Will the organization purchase the winning entry from the submitter? How much?
4. Will the organization award a prize (monetary or other) to the winner? Is acceptance of the prize agreement on the part of the submitter to transfer the hymn to the organization?
5. Stipulate ownership of the copyright in the rules of the competition.
6. Winner must stipulate that the hymn has not previously been copyright registered with the US government; or, if it has, a contract must be completed to sign rights over to the organization.

J. Prize/Compensation

1. Is there a prize? Monetary? How much? (Note: $500 is not uncommon as a prize in competitions where the creator retains ownership rights.)
2. How and when shall it be awarded?
3. If money is paid, organization must secure winner's Social Security number and provide an IRS form 1099 for taxes.
4. If winning hymn is to be premiered at an event, will organization pay for or subsidize winner's expenses to be present? This might be prize enough if winner is an organization member.

K. Publicizing Your Competition

1. Press release to local press.
2. Press releases to regional and national publications related to music, worship, and preaching.
3. District, annual conference, and denominational offices and agencies.
4. E-mail listservs, bulletin boards, and chat rooms related to worship and music.
5. Letters to colleges, universities, and seminaries that have sacred music or theology studies.
6. Paid print advertising.