Mennonite choir to perform at Church of Covenant
When the Mountain Anthem Mixed Chorus takes the stage, members often aren’t sure what songs they will be singing.
With a repertoire of about 150 gospel songs and Christian hymns, the choir may add or delete a certain piece of music during its performance.
And the reason is simple: Each performance is tailor-made to the individual audience, said director Michael Yoder, who prays and seeks God’s direction on what music a particular church or audience may need to hear.
“There are times in the service when God tells me to skip a song,” Yoder said, prompting him to whisper or mouth the name of the next song to the singers.
The choir, which sings four-part harmony without an accompanist, will perform at the 11 a.m June 29 worship service at Church of the Covenant, 267 E. Beau St., Washington. This is the first time the choir has performed at the church, although it has performed at other area churches.
The choir travels every other weekend from March until the end of October, and performs about 65 concerts during that time. The outreach is part of the ministry of the Mountain View Mennonite Church in Salisbury, which was founded in 1927.
“It’s been a very good experience for me and others,” said Yoder, who joined the choir at the age of 18 and is now twice that age. “It’s a privilege to be in other churches and have an opportunity to build friendships.”
The majority of the choir members belongs to the church, where, in the 1950s, director Menno Beachy held a singing school for the church’s youth group. The group began receiving requests, and soon the chorus was traveling to other churches. In 1970, the choir made its first recording. Four years later, it purchased its first coach bus.
As Mennonites who believe in dressing modestly, female choir members wear prayer veils and long skirts, and the men where trousers and button-down shirts. Mennonites believe in living holy lives separate from worldy values, so church members shun television. However, choir members do rely on computer programs to help them get a specific tune. Yoder said they learn music by ear, not by reading it.
Their culture also values the unaccompanied human voice, and they focus on singing clearly so every word can be understood.
Choir members vary in age from 15 to 60, but most of the younger members wait until they have graduated from high school to join because of the weekend commitments. While most of their travel is within three hours from their home in Somerset County, they have ventured as far away as Indiana, New York and Canada. They never charge for a concert, but sometimes ask if a meal can be provided.
Requests are honored on a first-come, first-serve basis, and they never refuse a request if they can fit it into their schedule.
As a result, Yoder said they’ve sung before 1,000 people in a gymnasium as well as a small church where there were more people in the choir than in the audience.
“That’s OK,” Yoder said. “It’s a ministry. It’s not about money and tickets and fans.”