Goshen College Hymn Club loves to sing, and they are inviting everyone to join them as they sing through a hymnal in a hymn marathon.
Hymn Club, along with a number of local churches and other groups from the community, will be singing through the entirety of “Hymnal, A Worship Book,” more commonly known as the blue hymnal. Hymn Club is partnering up with area churches and organizations that will provide song leaders, instrumentalists and snacks.“We wanted to do another hymn sing through the whole hymnal because it is important to us that Hymn Club isn’t just a fun activity for us on Tuesday nights,” Eliana Neufeld Basinger, a junior, said. “It can even be something that benefits the broader world in a concrete way.”
Basinger is one of the students who helped to plan the event, alongside Julian Harnish, a junior, and Christian Stoltzfus, a sophomore.
“We are raising money for Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT),” said Stoltzfus, “CPT is a peacemaking organization that partners with local peacemakers to work against oppression through accompaniment and activism.”
Two years ago the Hymn Club had a similar fundraiser for CPT in which they sang through the hymnal in about 30 hours. The hymn marathon happening this year is a repeat of that event, but this time it will be spread across an entire week.
“We’re drawn to CPT because it offers direct action to promote peace, in the form of accompanying local peacemakers,” said Basinger. “It is one of the few organizations that offers a direct alternative to war.”
Stoltzfus said that the last time the hymn marathon happened, the event raised over $15,000 for CPT and was the largest fundraiser in its history.
“Supporting CPT’s nonviolent action is a small way of changing our beliefs from nice intellectual statements we agree with into commitments that drive us to respond to situations of real violence and oppression,” said Basinger.
Stoltzfus also said that it’s hard to gauge excitement for an event before people show up.
“We don’t know how successful the event will end up being,” said Stoltzfus.
The hymn marathon will be happening from Sunday, Mar. 12 through Friday, Mar. 17. From Sunday to Thursday, the singing will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., and on Friday, it will go from 9:00 p.m. until the end of the hymnal.
The event will be held in Newcomer Center, room 19 on Sunday through Thursday. On Friday night the singing will take place in the Music Center choir room.
“We thought that it would be nice to partner with local churches this time to involve the community more,” said Basinger, “and that it would be easier for community members to come and participate if we sang six consecutive evenings rather than through the night.”
The event also has a Facebook event page, entitled “Sing for Peace 2: Hymn Marathon and CPT Fundraiser.” More details regarding donations can be found on the event page.
Hymn Club welcomes all to come at any point through the week and encourages donations to be contributed to CPT.
