Laurelville retreat celebrates 25 years
Posted by Brian Paff on Fri, Jan 20, 2012
MOUNT PLEASANT, PA (January 16, 2012)—Some 200 individuals from nine different states and one Canadian province gathered at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center for the Music & Worship Leaders Retreat in January, marking the 25th consecutive year the program has taken place at the camp and conference center in Western Pennsylvania.
Allan Rudy-Froese, professor at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, served as keynote speaker, addressing the role of confession in worship. Actor and playwright Ted Swartz also led an in-depth workshop on adapting Biblical texts for dramatic readings and sketches.
The program has evolved throughout its 25-year history, but its celebration of various musical traditions and hands-on style have become signature elements that bring many individuals back to Laurelville year after year.
In January 1988, Eastern Mennonite University professor Kenneth Nafziger assembled a small collection of musically minded pastors and worship leaders at Laurelville. Initially billed as a song leaders workshop, the gathering allowed Nafziger and his colleagues to experiment with familiar as well as newer hymns and arrangements for the forthcoming Mennonite hymnal they had been commissioned to edit.
Hymnal: A Worship Book—the product of countless hours of editing, revision and narrowing of selections, some of which took place at Laurelville—was published six years later, but the need to come together to examine, explore and celebrate music and the strong Mennonite tradition of worship never subsided.
Now known as the Music & Worship Leaders Retreat, the Laurelville gathering happens on the first full weekend of January each year. Registration typically reaches its 200-participant capacity several weeks in advance of the program, a testimony to its popularity and vital role within the context of Mennonite worship.
“The new moon cradled in the arms of the old,” Nafziger told a roomful of participants on Saturday evening of this year’s program, referencing a timeless Native American saying used to describe a waning crescent moon. “To me, that’s what we’re doing every time we gather for this weekend in January. There is a past. And we don’t know what that new moon is going to be, but we’re enjoying it in the meantime. It’s a thing of beauty.”
Joining Nafziger in leadership roles during the weekend are Marlene Kropf, Marilyn Houser Hamm and Swartz. Each individual leads from his/her own set of experiences and expertise, revealing a true synergy that has contributed to the growth and sustainability of the program throughout the years.
Kropf is a retired AMBS professor who served Mennonite Church USA as denominational minister of worship for twenty-seven years; Houser Hamm, a music instructor whose contributions include her role as chairperson for the Hymnal: A Worship Book committee as well as her tenure as director of worship and spirituality for Mennonite Church Canada; and Swartz, a seminary-trained playwright and actor who has provided great depth and insight through his original dramas for over twenty years.
“Their leadership has very much shaped the personality of the weekend,” said Laurelville program director Angela Dietzel of the input provided by Nafziger, Kropf, Houser Hamm and Swartz. “Each member of the resource team possesses such unique styles and giftings, so the experiences shared here inevitably carry their mark.”
Les Horning, pastor at Christiansburg Mennonite Fellowship (Christiansburg, Va.), has attended the Laurelville event numerous times. “I am eternally grateful,” he said during an interview on Saturday afternoon of this year’s program, “for the (resource team members) who have given their gifts to help open our eyes—to new ways of thinking about worship, to new ways of thinking about praying, to new ways of thinking about singing—and enriching our experience.”
The program signifies more than just musical excellence, though. For many, it represents an opportunity to connect outside of congregational walls and theological variances, to fellowship, worship and break bread with the broader church.
“(The Music & Worship Leaders Retreat) is a place where politics are set aside and we focus on the things we have in common, things like our faith and beliefs and our worship,” noted Amy Yoder McGloughlin, pastor at Germantown Mennonite Church (Philadelphia, Pa.) and a regular attendee.
Yoder McGloughlin, who went so far as to liken the program’s sense of community to a homecoming weekend, added that the environment lends itself to trying new things in and around worship. “It’s kind of this experimental ground where people are willing to try some risky things with musical arrangements and worship rituals,” she said.
To mark the occasion of twenty-five years, Laurelville is releasing a commemorative DVD with footage from this year’s event as well as interviews and commentary that reflect on the rich heritage of the retreat. Audio .mp3 tracks from this year’s event are also embedded on the DVD. The DVD is set to be released in mid-February; it is available for purchase at Laurelville.org/mwlr.
Next year’s event is scheduled for January 4-6, 2013; registration will begin on September 1, 2012. For more information, visit Laurelville.org/mwlr or call 800.839.1021.
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