How to submit your hymn to OpenSpirit.ca: an Exchange Site for Original Hymns & Worship Music

1. Cut and paste the text below and, if you agree to its terms, send it in the body of an email to submissions@OpenSpirit.ca. For multi-author works, each author must submit a separate email; or one person can submit the material on behalf of all if they have the consent and agreement of all authors.
2. Ensure that your words or music are copyright free. Specifically, any words or music you submit must either be completely original to you, or if you are submitting words to an existing hymn tune, that hymn tune must be free of copyright. If you are taking the tune from an existing hymnal, copyright free hymns will likely be marked “traditional”. Any hymn tune with a date attached or a company or composer name for that tune is not copyright free and cannot be used.
3. Although there are many fine hymn writers from many traditions and countries, this website is intended to promote a minority: hymns submitted by Canadian Lutherans and Anglicans. Please submit accordingly.
4. The text of your hymn should, in general, conform to the ELCIC guidelines for appropriate and non-sexist writing, which can be found at: http://elcic.ca/Resources/Inclusive-Language.cfm
5. While we will take care to respect the range of theological positions and pieties in our churches, we reserve the right not to post or alternately, to remove from posting, any hymn we deem inappropriate.
6. If you have based all or part of your hymn on certain scriptural passages, it will help congregations to use your hymn if you include those passages in your submission so that we can index them.
7. Hymns that are intended for youth ministry or for worship with children are also encouraged.
8. Include the words “Open Spirit Submission” in your subject heading.
9. You may submit attachments in any of the following ways: (a) words only; (b) words and written (sheet) music; or (c) words and/or sheet music and/or mp3 music files. All text or written music files MUST be submitted in PDF format. Music files must be in mp3 format.

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Please fill in and sent in the body of an email the entire following text (your submission in PDF and/or mp3 is the attachment):

Name in full: Address (including postal code): Church affiliation: Email address: Phone #: I _____________________________, hereby state on this day _______________ (full date) that I am the sole and original composer or author of the attached hymn, text, or song; or that I am the sole and original composer or author of the text of the attached and that the tune(s) I have used is traditional and copyright free. OR: We, ______________________ and _____________________________ hereby state on this day_______________ (full date) that we are the sole and original composers and authors of the attached hymn, text, or song; or that we are the sole and original composers and authors of the text of the attached and that the tune(s) we have used is traditional and copyright free. The submitter of this email has consent and agreement from all of the composers and authors identified above to submit this email and this material. Furthermore, by uploading my/our work to the Open Spirit website or attaching it to this email, I/we hereby give permission for this work to be used, without the payment of royalties, by church congregations, synods or assemblies, for non-commercial use in public worship or Bible study, so long as my/our full name is written in any bulletin, powerpoint, overhead slide or other means of publication of the said hymn, together with the words: “used by the kind permission of the author/composer”. Sending this email/attachment and/or uploading material constitutes permission for use only, and all copyrights to this original work remain with the author/composer(s) identified above. If at any time the author/composer(s) wishes to withdraw their work from the Open Spirit website, upon acknowledged receipt of such a request the committee will endeavor to withdraw said work from the website in as expeditious a time as possible, however we cannot control the continued non-commercial use by persons who have accessed the material while posted.