Watch: A tour of Voices Together

It may be aimed at children, but everyone will learn something from a video exploring the new Voices Together hymnal.

The video walks viewers through everything that is on a hymnal page, as well as many of the hymnal’s indices. Melinda Metzger, a Waterloo Region music educator, created the video for the Sunday morning children’s time at St. Jacobs (Ont.) Mennonite Church.

“Would you be surprised to know that on every page, besides the music and the text, there are approximately 10 other interesting pieces of information?” Metzger asks.

Metzger concludes the video with the following: “My prayer for you is that you find new and old favourite hymns within the hymnal—hymns that challenge you and make you think; ones that draw you close to God; and ones that unite us and bind us together as God’s children. Let the musical adventures begin.”

Voices Together was released at the end of 2020 after more than four years of work by the Mennonite Worship and Song Committee, a 13-member binational group tasked with curating the hymnal.

After a couple of events—one in December 2020 and one earlier this month—Voices Together is scheduled to host a third virtual launch on Wednesday, March 10.

Prior to that, on Wednesday, Jan. 27, Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ont. is hosting two events featuring members of the Mennonite Worship and Song Committee.

The first is a lecture recital by Anneli Loepp Thiessen at 12:30 p.m. EST, which will focus on women composers in Voices Together. The second is a launch celebration with Grebel alumna Sarah Kathleen Johnson. It starts at 7:00 p.m.

Waterloo Region music teacher Melinda Metzger with her copy of Voices Together.