Music is an effective tool for creating community, as demonstrated at this year’s Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies on February 3. A full house gathered to hear guest lecturer Dr. Kenneth Nafziger of Eastern Mennonite University, a scholar and hymnody expert, lecture on “Melting the Boundaries of Our Being: Explorations in Singing Together.”
Throughout the evening, the audience joined voices to experience the melting of boundaries, and the joy that comes with doing so. Remarking on the fleeting nature of singing together, Professor Nafziger said “It is a one time thing, this musicking. What we did when we sang this evening, or any time you sing with others, can never be repeated exactly. Never….What a gift it is to have persistent newness in an action that we can never ever repeat.”
As part of the lecture series, Nafziger also offered a Song Leaders Workshop as part of the Anabaptist Learning Workshop, and led a community hymn sing in Grebel’s chapel. “Singing or playing with joy is the best pathway for learning music, well before theories and rules and advanced technical skills take over,” he maintained.
