Posted: Dec. 29, 2009

Marta Ballering and Marge Rankin, members of Stony Hills Presbyterian Church in Germantown, had a vision: a free community concert of Handel's "Messiah."

In May, e-mail inquiries were sent and an organizational meeting was held. Five people attended. They could have thought: Bad timing? No interest? But they kept getting nudges to continue. Weekly practices began in June.

All summer attendance steadily increased as Marta directed and Marge accompanied, even though they wanted to sing. Finally, another volunteer director joined us in October and, miraculously, his wife was a musician.

Instrumentalists and soloists were found. Stony Hills was no longer large enough to hold all of us. St. Gabriel's in Hubertus agreed to let us use their space.

Our concert night came recently. We had more than 70 singers from more than a dozen different congregations and a total of about 85 musicians participating. Attendance was around 650. A free-will offering collected more than $1,700 for the Milwaukee Rescue Mission.

The year 2009 was tough, but it's ending on a positive note for me.

Strangers six months ago, many never having sung "Messiah" before, were led by a director conducting an orchestra for the first time resulting in a glorious sound that was also a statement of faith. No wonder we could sing with such confidence: "Hallelujah! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!"

 

- Jackie Volk

Germantown