The Brethren & Mennonite Heritage Center’s fall lecture series will take place on Sunday, September 26, 4-7 pm, at the Bridgewater Church of the Brethren, and will feature two presentations on hymnody. Light refreshments will be served between the presentations (in a COVID-conscious manner) and an offering will be taken to support the Heritage Center.
Please note: due to the current high rate of COVID-19 transmission in our community, we ask that attendees of this event wear a face covering. For those who are unable to attend in person, the event will also be live-streamed online via the Bridgewater COB’s YouTube Channel.
The first presentation, given by Sam Funkhouser, will explore the early English-language hymnbooks of the Brethren, beginning with the first of these books, The Christians Duty (1791). Special attention will be given to the sources utilized in the compilation of The Christians Duty and the questions that they raise about Brethren worship, doctrine, and inter-denominational relations at the turn of the nineteenth century. This discussion of The Christians Duty will then be followed by an overview of the ways in which the hymns contained in The Christians Duty were retained, modified, or discarded in subsequent Brethren hymn books and hymnals, up to and including the books published by the Old German Baptist Church and the Brethren Church shortly after the divisions of the early 1880s.
Sam Funkhouser is the Executive Director of the Brethren & Mennonite Heritage Center and a member of the Old German Baptist Brethren Church, New Conference. He has been a regular writer and presenter on Brethren history and theology, and his forthcoming book on early Brethren hymnody serves as the basis for this lecture.
In the second presentation, Benjamin Bergey will explore the new Mennonite hymnal, Voices Together. Bergey will provide background information, insights, and innovations of the new collection while we experience many songs through singing together, focusing on the Anabaptist contributions included.
Benjamin Bergey is an active song leader and conductor. He is assistant professor of music at Eastern Mennonite University, where he conducts the choirs and orchestra and teaches music theory and conducting. He also advises the new Music and Peacebuilding major. In addition to serving as music editor for Voices Together, he is director of music at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church and conducts the Rapidan Orchestra.