by Janet Gora

Back in the day, the church was looking for musicians for Wednesday evening Lent services and asked members of the Praise Team if they could help out.  I had always loved harmony and thought that Lutheran hymns had such interesting chords, especially Lenten hymns, so I figured it might be pretty cool to sing a hymn without instruments in order to bring the harmonies to the forefront.  

As everyone knows, Dyann Cooper has a beautiful voice with perfect pitch so I thought she would be great to sing the melody.  I had just met this cool new guy, Brad Lark, and knew he had a great voice and sang harmony so I asked if they wanted to sing one song together and they fortunately agreed.  Our first, (and still favorite) song, was “Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted.”  The haunting words and beautiful harmony had us all hooked from the first note.

Fast forward eleven years later, and we know over 25 songs and still love to blend our voices together.  Harmony is such a beautiful, fleeting occurrence that happens only with diligence and unity between people pursuing the same goal of making beautiful music.  There’s not a better sound than voices combining in perfect harmony.  It sometimes brings shivers down my spine.

But most importantly, we hope we are giving people an opportunity to prepare spiritually for the service as they quietly meditate on the words and think about the sacrifice that Christ made for each of us.  

We invite you to join us at 6:50 before each Wednesday service to take a deep breath, point your heart towards God and focus on the true meaning of Lent amidst a profusion of beautiful minor chords.