Music

For me, some of the most moving moments of the network gathering occurred through music. Two Central Presbyterian Church bands performed during the gathering’s opening worship service, and the singing by an all-male bluegrass/Christian contemporary barbershop quartet particularly struck me. During that same opening worship service, those there also sang a series of hymns, mainly in Spanish. The singing of one hymn, “How Great Thou Art,” which Crescent Hill folks have heard sung in El Estor also, really struck me. Standing next to me, Gerardo and Pablo sang harmonies in Spanish that really warmed my heart.

A final magical musical moment appeared when an improvising Philip Beisswinger – the PC(USA) mission worker who led much of the gathering and who had threatened to start singing if folks at the gathering didn’t come back from a break quickly enough – sure enough, began to sing the old Gospel song “Stand Up and Tell Me if You Love My Jesus.” Soon, Philip had many of us (North Americans and Guatemalans) singing and – in turn – waving our hands, moving around, and even dancing. During each of these magical movements – and all the more so in the totally unplanned singing and dancing moment – the Holy Spirit seemed to really be at work in the Central Presbyterian sanctuary.

-Perry