Latest news with #LCMS
Irish Independent
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Louth Contemporary Musical Society's annual music festival returns to Dundalk this June
Founded in 2006 by Eamonn Quinn and Gemma Murray, Louth Contemporary Music Society (LCMS) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to bringing world-renowned contemporary musicians, composers, and performers to Co. Louth. Now in its 11th year, the festival continues to spotlight world-class international composers while cultivating dynamic collaborations and new commissions between leading international and Irish artists. Over the years, the festival has attracted some of the most prestigious names in contemporary music, including Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass, Alvin Lucier, Kaija Saariaho, Salvatore Sciarrino, and Rebecca Saunders. The 2025 festival promises to be another landmark event, exploring the theme of Echoes - how repetition can bring both comfort and unease, sparking reflection on the resonance of the past in the present. "Echoes explores how repetition can be both hypnotic and unsettling, a theme woven throughout this year's festival. We're excited to welcome extraordinary musicians to Dundalk, many for the first time, and present performances that challenge and inspire," Eamonn said. The festival kicks off on Friday, June 13 with The Cold Trip Part 1 by Austrian composer Bernhard Lang, a master of echoes, performed by Aleph Guitar Quartet and American singer Daisy Press at An Táin Arts Centre. This reimagining of Schubert's Winterreise sets the tone for an unforgettable weekend of music and discovery. The following day the festival offers a full day of musical exploration beginning at 1pm when Belgian pianist Daan Vandewalle presents Bernhard Lang's Monadologie series at St. Nicholas' Church of Ireland, where he transforms Chopin's Études through repetition and variation. This will be followed at 3pm when Moon on the Sea will be performed by Daisy Press and Aleph Guitar Quartet in the Chapel at St. Vincent's Secondary School, featuring Czech composer Martin Smolka's ethereal settings of Basho's poetry alongside a new composition. The action moves to The Spirit Store at 5pm for Nico and John Cale's The Marble Index as Apartment House with Francesca Fargion reinterpret Nico and founding member of the Velvet Underground John Cale's 1968 album The Marble Index, blending electric and medieval sounds in a dynamic live performance. The festival closes at St. Nicholas' Church of Ireland at 8pm when Songs of the Soul is performed by Chamber Choir Ireland under Nils Schweckendiek. This performance features contemporary choral works from Irish composer Kevin Volans and the world premiere of a new work from Canadian composer Sarah Davachi. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Festival founder Eamonn Quinn is renowned for his ability to present cleverly curated contemporary music in an engaging and accessible way. His passion for the genre earned him the prestigious 2018 Belmont Prize for Contemporary Music, one of Europe's most significant awards for artistic creation. LCMS has also made its mark in recorded music, with its release Folks' Music named one of The New Yorker's Notable Classical Recordings of 2023. David Lang's just (after song of songs), an LCMS Arts Council-funded commission, was featured in Paolo Sorrentino's film Youth and sampled by English band The xx for their song Lips. The festival organisers are committed to keeping ticket prices affordable, making the festival accessible to a broader audience and encouraging those new to contemporary music to experience the genre. Echoes promises to be a remarkable gathering of some of the world's best contemporary musicians, and LCMS invites both seasoned festivalgoers and newcomers to join them for a weekend of boundary-pushing performances. Funded by the Arts Council and supported by Louth County Council.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Marshall Mitchell: Mitchell's Zion Lutheran Church dedicates ministry center at corner of Burr and Fourth
Mar. 17—MITCHELL — The ministry center that was years in the making became reality on Sunday, March 16 as congregants of Zion Lutheran Church made a procession out the front door of the church to dedicate the new building, a nod to the 1953 procession from the old church on First Avenue to the church on Third Avenue. The nearly $2.3 million ministry center is 10,000 square feet with a spacious fellowship hall, conference rooms, kitchen area, offices for church staff, and a dual-purpose chapel/library. The entire building is on one level of elevation and is American Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant, so that there are no steps to walk up or down, and no need for an elevator. "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain," Rev. Scott Sailer, district president of the synod, quoted Psalm 127 to the congregation assembled inside of the ministry center. Mitchell's Zion Lutheran Church at 620 E. Third Ave. held a dedication service for the newly built ministry center at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Burr Street. The church's bell rung at the start of the service. "The building may stand for decades, but what is done there will echo into eternity. The conversations had there, the prayers lifted up, the forgiveness shared, the love shown in Christ's name — these are the true building blocks of God's kingdom," Rev. Thomas Brown said. Adam Schulz, chair of the building committee, shared about a recent event held in March at the ministry center, and how it brought congregations from Pierre, Sioux Falls, Delmont, Dimock and Parkston in community together. "We've had numerous people stop and say, 'What's it going to be used for? Could we rent it? Can we use it?' The answer is yes," Schulz told the Mitchell Republic. Plans for the ministry center include a meeting place for Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) district and state meetings, pastor conferences, and hosting graduation parties and community-wide events. Zion Lutheran Church pastor Daniel Grimmer indicated the church would be open to congregations of other denominations using the ministry center, but that the church's leadership board still has to put together rental policies, set fees, and make an application for renting out the ministry center for community events. The church will continue to meet and hold weekly worship services in the 1953 brick church building on the corner of North Capital Street and East Third Avenue, and the basement of the building will be used for the church's youth. The pastor's office will be moved over to the ministry center so that congregation members will no longer have to go up and down steps or enter by way of the church's singular ADA-compliant side entrance. "It's just fun to see this come to fruition, and see the congregation here enjoying this project they've been dreaming about for a long time," said Brown, who served at Zion for 11 years before transferring to pastor a church in Spearfish. Brown is on the board of directors for the South Dakota district of the LCMS. In May, Texas-based Lutheran pastor Brian Wolfmueller will present "Has American Christianity Failed?" at the ministry center. "A kind of controversial topic, but something to think about and invite people in the community to come and listen and learn, and I'm excited to have a space where we can do those kinds of things," Grimmer told the Mitchell Republic. The Zion Lutheran Church congregation dates back to 1892. Their first building was purchased and moved to First Avenue in 1910, when a windstorm blew it over the first night. In 1953, they moved into the current building and added an educational wing in 1962. In 1990, they added on again. "The vision kind of came together about four years ago to not try to attach it to this building, and build it over there. The idea is for it to be an asset, not just to us as a congregation, but to the community," said Eric Schramm, who teaches architectural design and building construction at Mitchell Technical College, and was vice chair of the building committee. A building committee was formed in 2016 after the corner lots were purchased for construction. The church broke ground on the ministry center in fall 2023, and started building in May 2024. Zion owns all but two lots of the city block where the ministry center and church is located. Future plans for lots on the block may include expansion of the ministry center, more parking, or other options, according to Grimmer, who has been at Zion for the last 10 years. Shirley Baumgartel, second-generation building committee member, told the Mitchell Republic of being a child in the 1940s and the discussion about building the 1953 Zion church building and hearing the "arguing committee" slam doors. "Then they had to purchase property after they finally got a majority to go along with the idea," Baumgartel said. "And we would go downstairs as kids after church and listen to them argue while we were in Sunday school." However, when it came time to put the bell in the bell tower, the congregation members came together and used a ladder and hoist system to get the bell up. They all worked together to get it done, according to Baumgartel, 84. In those days, there were multiple church services, and if you didn't get there early, you sat on the steps. There was an unexpected enthusiasm around the ministry center planning, according to Baumgartel. "I can finally rest, and pass it to the next generation," Baumgartel said. The church surprised Schulz and Schramm with recognition for their leadership in planning the new building in front of the congregation assembled inside the ministry center. The standing ovation brought Schramm to tears. Ministry Center building committee members included Loren Brech, John Fink, Chris Foster, David Harnisch, Judy Havrevold, Tom Patzer, Sharon Rehorst, Dough Schley, Travis Schnabel, Marvin Strand, and Schulz, Schramm and Baumgartel. "This project has been in the hearts and minds of many for decades," Brown said. "There were struggles, setbacks, failed plans, failed fundraisers, frustrations, and hours of meetings. And many who prayed for this day — who gave, who dreamed of it, who sat in meetings for it — are not here to see it. But their prayers, their faith, and their hope are built into those walls. Their generosity didn't die with them; it continues in the work done here." Construction and development for the ministry center was completed by multiple Mitchell and regional businesses. "It will be a place where friendships are formed, burdens are carried together, and Christ is at the center of it all," Brown said. "This building does not exist for its own sake. May God bless this place as a home for His people, for His Word, and for His mission, until Christ returns in glory."
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Maine research labs warn that Trump's NIH cuts would be devastating
Feb. 15—Inside a sprawling lab at the University of New England's Portland campus, scientists conduct research that could eventually lead to improved treatments for conditions that affect millions, including diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis and chronic pain. But researchers say that work is in peril because the Trump administration wants to slash billions of dollars in current and future funding through the National Institutes of Health, the federal agency that fuels much of the biological research industry in the United States. In Maine, the move would mean millions in cutbacks for scientific research at places like UNE, Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, the University of Maine System and the MaineHealth Institute for Research. "It would be devastating," said Karen Houseknecht, vice president for research and scholarship at UNE. "It could shut things down." Elisabeth Marnik, science outreach director at MDI Bio Lab, said the "detrimental impact this would have on the scientific process is large" and in Maine would harm an economy that is increasingly connected to the life sciences. The NIH issued a policy directive earlier this month declaring that no more than 15% of each grant awarded for an individual research project can be spent on indirect costs, such as equipment, support staffing and facilities. Such indirect costs, Houseknecht said, are not unnecessary extras, but include expensive equipment needed to conduct experiments, as well as overhead costs at facilities, technicians to keep equipment operating and cybersecurity. In UNE's case, indirect costs make up 42% — about $7 million — of the $17 million in annual NIH grant funding they receive, and are key to the research continuing at its current level, she said. "Indirect costs are all part of the cost of doing business," Houseknecht said. "If it's cut, some very difficult decisions would have to be made." Houseknecht pointed to a liquid chromatography mass spectrometer at UNE's Portland Laboratory for Biotechnology and Health Sciences that cost about $1 million — paid for with NIH grant funding — which is being used for pain research that could lead to alternatives to opioids for pain management. The large white spectrometer looks a bit like a computer from a 1970s science fiction movie and measures tiny concentrations of drugs in bone marrow, blood and the brain. Those measurements in turn can be used to study effective ways to control pain. But the LCMS also has many different applications for other research areas and student training and is shared with scientists across the state. For instance, the LCMS can be used in forensics, like drug testing or DNA testing. "We are always asking, 'What else can this be used for, and who else can use it?,'" she said. The LCMS is one of several, expensive NIH-funded pieces of scientific equipment at the Portland lab. LAWSUIT FILED, FUNDING UNCERTAIN The cutbacks — which would affect ongoing grants that the labs are operating under — are currently paused by a court order. Twenty-two states, including Maine, sued the Trump administration this week over the NIH funding cuts, arguing that the funding formula was established by a federal law and cannot be dismantled by the executive branch without Congress passing a new law. "The United States should have the best medical research in the world," according to an unsigned NIH memo. "It is accordingly vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead." But the Trump administration has not provided detailed reasoning to justify the cutbacks or addressed the impact on medical research. Elon Musk, the billionaire leading Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, referred to the higher indirect costs as "corruption" in a post on X, his social media platform. He did not provide evidence or elaborate. Criticism of NIH and its grants is laid out in Project 2025, a document that outlined potential reforms if Trump were to be reelected. Among other things, it says the NIH grants support the "woke" agenda and liberal universities. The cutbacks mirror similar fights over other funding cuts that were imposed by the Trump administration without going through Congress, which holds the power of the purse. While indirect costs can vary by year and by the specifics of each grant, the NIH funded $35 billion in research nationwide in 2023, with $9 billion, or 26%, paying for indirect costs at labs. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, recently said that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was confirmed Thursday by the Senate as health and human services secretary, promised to "reexamine" the NIH cutbacks. Collins is a staunch supporter of NIH funding. "I oppose the poorly conceived directive imposing an arbitrary cap on the (NIH) indirect costs," Collins said in a statement on Monday. Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist who has recently attempted to distance himself from decades of falsely questioning the safety and efficacy of vaccines, was a controversial choice for HHS secretary. He was confirmed by the Senate on a largely party-line vote of 52-48. Collins voted in favor of Kennedy's nomination, while U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, voted "no" calling Kennedy a "danger" and "manifestly hostile" to the agency's public health mission. LIFE SCIENCES ECONOMY Houseknecht said that the NIH grants have a "ripple effect" on the economy, as supplies and workers are needed to support the research, and it's also used to train students across the state. The NIH estimates that every dollar invested in its research results in $2.46 in economic activity. "We train students in these labs for all sorts of careers," Houseknecht said. "It's important for our community." Marnik, of MDI Bio Lab, said that "life sciences contribute more and more to Maine's overall economy. We already are dealing with a worker shortage, in Maine and particularly in STEM fields" and the cuts would make it harder to attract and retain workers. MDI Bio Lab in 2024 landed a five-year, $19.4 million NIH training and workforce development grant. Called the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), the grant connects 17 educational and research institutions, with the goal of further boosting the life sciences industry in Maine. According to the Bioscience Association of Maine, life science jobs jumped 31% in Maine during the past five years, and there's now nearly 10,000 life science jobs in the state. The median income for a life sciences worker in Maine earns $108,287. "These investments in research are so important, and the economic impact is enormous," Houseknecht said. At MDI Bio Lab, the lost funding would be massive, as 69% of their NIH grants go for indirect costs, Marnik said. Of the total federal funds MDI receives per year — $7.1 million — the lab would lose $1.9 million from the NIH cuts, or about 25% of its total federal funding. Marnik said the research they do focuses on regenerative science using animal models, such as zebrafish, which are often used for biomedical research because the fish share 70 percent of their genes with humans. The zebrafish's abilities to regenerate its organs — including eyes, muscles and kidneys — are being studied by MDI Bio Lab to develop drugs that might treat a variety of diseases in humans. "We have staff working really hard studying ALS, Alzheimer's, cancer," Marnik said. "One of our labs is working at reversing macular degeneration." Macular degeneration is a disease of the retina that causes vision loss. The NIH grant process is intense, Marnik said, and they have to justify every dollar spent, and it goes through a vetting and annual auditing process. "These numbers aren't just something we arbitrarily decided to charge the government," Marnik said. The indirect costs pay for everything from electricity to chemicals, environmental science workers, and technicians to keep the machines running properly. "For instance if we can't pay people to maintain the equipment, we have to have our researchers doing it, taking time away from doing the research," Marnik said. "A better use of our researchers' time is doing the lab work, not trying to figure out why the centrifuge isn't working." Copy the Story Link
