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Companion of the Worship Arts

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The Companion of the Worship Arts (CWA) is an honour conferred on individuals every two years, for their significant contributions to the worship life of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and Anglican Church of Canada (ACC). The honour has been awarded by the ELCIC since 1996 and acknowledges recipients’ ongoing inspiration, encouragement to others, and service to God through worship, spirituality, and the arts.

Since 2014—in recognition of the full-communion relationship with the Anglican Church of Canada—two Companions have been honoured biennially: one from the ELCIC and one from the ACC. The honour is conferred by the ACC Faith, Worship and Ministry Committee and the ELCIC Program Committee for Worship. Recipients are presented with a medal*, typically at the National Worship Conference.

* The Companion of the Worship Arts medal was commissioned in 1995 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. It is the work of acclaimed artist, the Rev. Michael Mills, OSA, CWA. The image on the obverse is entitled “The Dance”. The reverse bears the name of the recipient and the year.

Nomination Process

Nominations and supporting materials should be received by December 1, 2023.

To nominate an individual for the CWA, include the following with your nomination:

Reasons for the nomination;
e. biographical material with a listing of the person’s specific contributions to the worship life of the church (examples include references to contributions at all levels of the church: national, synodical/diocesan and local leadership/involvement).
An indication, with examples, of the ways the person continues to encourage others in the worship life of the church.
A minimum of three letters of support for the nomination from others familiar with the individual’s contributions.

Note: Current members of the ACC’s FWM Committee are not eligible for nomination.

Send nomination and supporting materials by December 1, 2023 to:

For ELCIC nominations

Rev. Peter Wall
Assistant to the Bishop for Worship
4th Floor, 185 Carlton St.
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3J1
[email protected]

For ACC nominations

Eileen Scully
Director of Faith, Worship and Ministry
80 Hayden St.
Toronto, Ontario M4Y 3G2
[email protected]

Companion of the Worship Arts Laureates

2024 Lyle McKenzie, Victoria, B.C. (ELCIC)
and Richard Leggett, Vancouver, B.C. (ACC)
2020 Robb Wilson, Toronto, Ont. (ELCIC)
and Thomas Roach, Vancouver, B.C. (ACC)
2018 Eric Dyck, Montréal, Que. (ELCIC)
and Blanche Kate Gates, Nanaimo, B.C. (ACC)
2016 André Lavergne, Waterloo, Ont. (ELCIC)
and Paul Gibson, Toronto, Ont. (ACC)
2014 Joy Berg, Edmonton, Alta. (ELCIC)
and Graham Cotter, Warkworth, Ont. (ACC)
2012 Jann E. Boyd, Saskatoon, Sask. (ELCIC)
2010 Robyn Simpson-Mohr, Camrose, Alta. (ELCIC)
2008 Karen Johnson-Lefsrud, Victoria, B.C. (ELCIC)
2006 Debbie Lou Ludolph, Waterloo, Ont. (ELCIC)
2005 Elaine Nelson, Medicine Hat, Alta. (ELCIC)
2004 Eduard Riegert, Waterloo, Ont. (ELCIC)
2002 Michael Mills, Toronto, Ont. (ELCIC)
2000 Margaret Harms, Calgary, Alta. (ELCIC)
1998 Donald Johnson, North Vancouver, B.C. (ELCIC)
1996 Paul F. Bosch, Waterloo, Ont. (ELCIC)

Matthew 10:40-42

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Rewards

40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, ⁴²and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

John 15:12-17

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

John 21:15-19

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Jesus and Peter

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Luke 11:33-36

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Light of the Body

33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel basket; rather, one puts it on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. ³⁴Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is unhealthy, your body is full of darkness. ³⁵Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶But if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.”

Matthew 8:1-4

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Jesus Cleanses a Man

8 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him, ²and there was a man with a skin disease who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” ³He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be made clean!” Immediately his skin disease was cleansed. ⁴Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”