2006-08-01 issue:
A sacrament and a song
by Katherine DonnellyTwenty-five years ago, this Roman Catholic musician, completely unfamiliar with Mennonites, walked into a Mennonite church, heard the singing, and in a stunned split second of sound decided this was where she would stay. I heard difficult choral anthems sung well by an untrained congregation and led by an untrained leader with no accompaniment. It seemed like a musical miracle to me. Congregational singing is a weak area for Catholics, and as a musician I recognized the wonders of this musical treasure.