 |
|
Fantastic, fantastic, absolutely fantastic! On July 12th over 400 listeners enjoyed the Global Praise concert in the municipal hall in Korntal near Stuttgart (Baden-Württemberg) and at the conclusion many were so thrilled that they were speechless. Almost everyone of importance in the field of music in worldwide Methodism was present. From all of the continents of the globe and twenty-three countries they were united through a common faith and through music. That had never happened in Germany before and it won't happen again so quickly.
During the first part of the program the members of the worldwide Global Praise Working Group and the newly founded European study group presented the results of their meeting in Stuttgart, which lasted for several days. It was a musical trip around the globe. Every song has a story, and such a story was told with his hands and feet by Tomas Boström, the Sunday School teacher from the Swedish Island of Gotland. The audience heard about the 800-member United Methodist congregation in Tallin, Estonia and its six or seven choirs; it learned to sing spontaneously in an Asian style; it came to understand why music plays such an important role in Brazil; and it joined in singing whenever asked by the presenters.
During the second part of the program the vocal quartet, Klangfarben (Sound Colors), which was especially put together for this evening, sang. Songs and music were experienced as the elements of worship: from the prelude and opening hymn to the Old Testament lesson George Mulrain sang the story of Jonah with a Caribbean flavor. Then there were the Gloria and Kyrie and yet another Gloria, interspersed with prayers in the native languages of those who prayed. Confession, chorale, sermon. Yes, there was a two-minute sermon (which, however, did last a few minutes longer): the story of a composition for an AIDS victim by Carlton R. Young from the USA. David Plüss and Helmut Kandert, both German-speaking instrumentalists, accompanied the entire Global Praise gathering in the singing of a new hymn for Holy Communion. Finally there was the Lord's Prayer, a blessing sung by S. T. Kimbrough, Jr., and the South African Sing Amen sung in two languages.
The moderator, Hartmut Handt, announced at that conclusion that
there would be no encores, but that the songs heard will resound again and again in
one's ears for a long time.
from the German United Methodist Church Newspaper Unterwegs (No. 20/2000, July 23, 2000), English translation by Sabine Englehardt and S. T. Kimbrough, Jr.
URL: http://gbgm-umc.org/news/2001/jan/germanystbm.stm