On Thursday, March 7, our Canterbury and St. David choristers sang for the St. David’s Society’s Annual Great Feast––the 22nd time our singers have been in attendance since 2000!

Twenty-three talented musicians represented our church under the direction of Zippy Hood, accompanied by Paul Reese. The children opened with a traditional a cappella arrangement of William Byrd’s “Non Nobis Domine,” which is intended as a blessing prior to a meal.  Then, they sang Mary Ann Cooper’s “What Wondrous, Marvelous Love,” which was also Sunday’s offertory anthem.    

The St. David’s Society made a special request for the closing song: the Welsh National Anthem––sung in Welsh. This was quite a challenge for our singers, as Welsh is “one of the toughest Western European languages to master and is even harder than Swahili,” according to a 2016 study reported by the North Wales Daily Post, which further reported that “at 1,040 hours, learning Welsh takes nearly double the time than it does to become fluent in French, which at 550 hours is one of the easiest of languages examined.”   

Our children were melodious, singing with a rich and elegant tone. They expressed the true joy of our God for what looked to be 80-plus members in the room. As the saying goes, you could have heard a pin drop.  When our children finished singing each piece, you could hear little eruptions of whispered commentary across the members: “Wow,” “Beautiful,” “Gorgeous,” “Exquisite,” etc. And after the Welsh National Anthem finale, a roaring applause came across the room like a large wave.

Each child was made to feel special and needed, with a sense of true accomplishment after so many hours of practice to achieve that moment. We are grateful that our God provides moments like these, as we were able to enrich the lives not only of those audience members by spreading the Gospel Truth, but also the lives of our choristers, so they know that God is real, and He is alive.

Our prayer for all of you this week is that God will reveal something special for you, and that you are blessed so you can be a blessing to others. 

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ––Philippians 4:19