Havre churches form combined Common Mission Choir

Singers from churches throughout Havre have joined together to form the Common Mission Choir, a group with representatives of five different Christian denominations, which has begun singing at worship services around town.

First Lutheran Music and Worship Coordinator Sue Ost, who is also the new choir's co-conductor, said member churches have done something similar in the past, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, but she thinks this time around it has been much more successful.

"We really enjoy being together," Ost said.

The combined choir is made up of members from First Lutheran, Messiah Lutheran, First Presbyterian, Van Orsdel Methodist and Fifth Avenue Christian churches as well as from the former St. Mark's Episopal congregation, St. Mark's Episopal Church having shut down due to having too small a membership.

The primary motivation for the formation of this combined choir, Ost said, was low participation.

She said attendance in choir had been decreasing before the pandemic, but after the worst of it they had only eight members, and other congregations didn't have enough for any choir at all.

"We really felt that having a choir is an important element of worship and we're not ready to give it up," she said.

She said they had tried to do something similar the fall before the pandemic hit the U.S. but it was a little rough around the edges, and this time it has gone much more smoothly.

She attributed this largely to her co-conductor Michael Stevenson, who she said has been an excellent organizer for the group.

Stevenson said this new combined choir has been working very well together and now that the group is so much bigger they have been able to take on new and more complex music, and the effect has been easy to hear.

"As a congregation we enjoy listening to this combined choir," said First Lutheran Pastor Megan Hoewisch. "The voices are so beautiful and strong, and the pieces that they're able to do are just incredible."

Hoewisch said the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was earlier this month and this combined choir is a representative of that event's mission, to find togetherness through shared belief.

Stevenson said an alternate name of the choir has been the Common Table Choir, meant to symbolize the openness of the venture and the same kind of unity Hoewisch mentioned.

Ost said they enjoy performing at various congregations, and, when they can, they make a point of staying for the service or the fellowship hour after to connect with members of other groups.

Stevenson said the group has now sung for worship services at First Lutheran, Messiah Lutheran, Van Orsdel United Methodist, and First Presbyterian and Milk River churches.

He said he's made a point to make sure the group isn't being taxed too hard and they've been able to keep up very well.

Ost said she also wanted to give credit to the group's accompanying pianist, Brooke Donovan, and said the group is "a blessing to the community of believers."