Education. Refreshment. Inspiration.

We’re about to celebrate 50 years!

This year’s Conference was a tremendous success.

Make sure to put our dates on your calendar for next summer!

July 22-27, 2025

Matthew Michael Brown, St. Luke’s, Atlanta, GA, pictured with
the Rt. Rev. Dr. Dorothy Sanders Wells, Bishop of Mississippi

Dwight Thomas, Cathedral of St. Peter, St. Petersburg, FL, pictured with
Matthew Woods, Conference Director

The Rev. Erika Takacs, Kernersville, NC, pictured with
The Rev. Josie Williams, Deacon

The Rev. Jennifer Deaton, St. Stephen’s, Indianola, MS, pictured with
Matthew Michael Brown

Our 2024 Faculty…

“With the Spirit’s gifts empower us for the work of ministry.”

Conference Week Overview

Tuesday:

  • Afternoon & evening check in at The Chapel of the Cross, Madison, MS 674 Mannsdale Rd, Madison, MS 39110

  • Supper Reception for conferees at Chapel of the Cross

  • Business session and rehearsal

  • Opening Eucharist for the Conference, Commemoration of St. John Cassian

Wednesday:

  • Morning Prayer, Commemoration of Thomas a Kempis

  • Rehearsal

  • Teaching from Mother Erika

  • Score preparation for Choir Directors and Singers,
    thoughts from Dwight Thomas

  • Preparing for rehearsals

  • Lunch & Dinner 

Thursday:

  • Morning Prayer, St. James the Apostle

  • Rehearsal

  • Matthew Brown talks about music program development

  • Sharing with colleagues

  • Shop with Lois Fyfe Music from Nashville

  • Lunch

  • Preparing for Evensong

  • Evensong at St. Philip’s, Jackson

  • Dinner on your own--out on the town

Friday:

  • Morning Prayer, Commemoration of Anna & Joachim, parents of the BVM

  • Rehearsal

  • Mother Erika’s wisdom, cont’d.

  • “Things vital to ministry that we didn’t learn at College”

  • Choral reading session

  • More shop and share with colleagues

  • Vital Skills for Developing our Music Programs

  • Supper reception to welcome Weekend Conferees

Saturday:

  • Choral reading session 2

  • Mother Erika wraps up

  • Rehearsal

  • Noonday Prayer, Commemoration of William Reed Huntington

  • Mtr. Jennifer Deaton does “Show & Tell” about the Iona Community

  • Lunch and Dinner

  • Rose Hill Cabaret, back from exile

Sunday:

  • Rehearsal for closing Eucharist at the Chapel of the Cross

  • Closing Eucharist

  • Festive Luncheon

The Pity of War - Suffering and Solace in Britten's War Requiem

Written to commemorate the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral in 1962, the War Requiem of Benjamin Britten is a masterpiece of choral literature and a testament to the power of compassion and reconciliation. During our conference, Mtr. Erika Takacs offered three presentations on this work - as well as others - that offer a glimpse of the importance of peacemaking in a time of violence and conflict. 

What We Offer

  • Valuable time to exchange ideas with colleagues from all over

  • Musical “mountaintop” experiences

  • Work with nationally renowned faculty

  • Music shopping at an extensive display from Lois Fyfe Music in Nashville

  • A praying conference, with a chaplain available for private sessions

  • Open to musicians and clergy (of all denominations)

More About Us…

The Conference was started in 1975 by Leslie N. Casaday, who served as Principal Parish Musician at St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Jackson, Mississippi. Begun as a weekend workshop for the St. Philip's Choir, the Mississippi Conference has, for forty-nine years, provided a time away  for spiritual renewal and professional development, serving  church musicians and clergy all over the country. For one week every summer they gather with a faculty made up of some of the finest theologians and musicians in the Episcopal Church to sing, to learn, to be challenged, and to be fed.