An estimated 200 unique individuals gathered throughout this past weekend in Martin Chapel to participate in the first known full sing-through of the Voices Together hymnal. Organized by EMU’s own Benjamin Bergey, the group spent a total of 21 hours singing through the worship book. Published in the fall of 2020, Voices Together marked the first full Mennonite hymnal to be put out in 28 years, going back to Hymnal: A Worship Book in 1992 and its two supplements, Sing the Journey in 2005 and Sing the Story in 2007. This three-day event also served as a fundraiser for the EMU Chamber Singers, who will be traveling to Europe in May for the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism.
“I am looking forward to singing some of my favorite hymns that I grew up with…, and making music with my friends, and people I’ve never met before,” mentioned long-time Chamber Singers member senior Canyon Penner on Friday before the event kicked off. Starting right at number one in the book, “Summoned by the God Who Made Us,” the group was together singing for four hours on Friday evening, twelve hours on Saturday, and five and a half hours on Sunday afternoon. The population size certainly fluctuated throughout these three sessions, with lolls getting down to a dozen or so people and the high points reaching upwards of 60. Retired nurse Lorie Grosh traveled three and a half hours from York, Pennsylvania to sing with the group after hearing about the event through Facebook.
“I was involved in music a lot when I was in high school and I like to follow what is going on at EMU,” Grosh remarked after day two of the singing was complete. She said, “I thought this was a good opportunity to contribute to the trip that [the Chamber Singers] are going on.” The Chamber Singers themselves played a big role in making the sing-through happen, with numerous members helping to direct the congregation, playing instruments, taking photos, and keeping the snack/tea table stocked. The trip to Europe in May is one that happens every other spring; however, as mentioned earlier, there is something a little more unique about this trip. The EMU Chamber Singers have been selected as the North American representatives, one of five choirs to be performing at the 500th anniversary celebration of Anabaptism in Zurich, Switzerland.
“Part of what I’m particularly excited about is being able to stay with the other four choirs, and interacting with them, so we’ll be singing together, there will be some songwriting after, and just five different countries of choirs coming together is going to be really interesting and fun,” Bergey notes. Bergey, along with one other person to his knowledge, were the only two people to be present the entirety of the weekend, creating some big emotions when the event wrapped up Sunday afternoon.
“Besides being pretty tired, I think one thing that carried me through was just seeing how many people came to do this that just wanted to be a part of it,” Bergey says. This sense of community coming together to do something that has not happened before, and will likely not happen again for a while, thoroughly fulfilled him and those present throughout the weekend.
