Cedarville University

This past weekend a small group from the ensemble had the opportunity to sing at Parkside Church’s annual Christmas concert in Cleveland, Ohio! The whole weekend for me was amazing not only because of the wonderful ministry at Parkside, but also because not only was I with my OneVoice family, but I was in my hometown at my home church!

We arrived on Thursday night so excited for the whole weekend ahead of us. There was a full orchestra and special lighting and it was totally sweet, to say the least. The choir was lovely and the whole church was decorated for Christmas. After rehearsal, some of us went back to houses that the church provided and some went back to my house where we were able to hang out and study for finals week! (fun fun) On Friday we slept in and then went to perform for our first evening concert.

It was such a blessing and we were so excited to get to do that amazing concert 3 more times!  Saturday morning my mom made us all brunch and then we went to the church to rehearse for Sunday morning worship before our first afternoon concert. The rest of Saturday and Sunday were jam packed with singing with the choir and fellowshipping with them. Ruth Juergemeier and George Ohman, the two people in charge of the concerts were so awesome and hospitable and did such a wonderful job putting everything together.  Alistair Begg, who is the Senior Pastor at Parkside, was so welcoming and came to talk to us multiple times. So many wonderful relationships were formed with the people at Parkside that we will never forget!

Over the entire weekend we had four concerts which were all completely packed and we were able to minister with Parkside to so many different people. Our gospel style mixed in with the orchestra and the choir was just a great example of how every music style can just come together to worship the Savior that we all have in common.  We had so much fun with the choir every night, teaching them how to sway and sing, and them teaching us how to stand still…. I’m still not sure who had the hardest time teaching the other. We were so blessed by everyone that we came into contact with and that took care of us, especially Theresa Durbin who made us AMAZING tacos on Friday and my mom who cooked for us on Saturday and Sunday! I LOVE YOU MOM!

This weekend was such a wonderful experience and we learned so much. Hopefully we will be able to go back to Parkside again. God has been so good in opening doors for us to build relationships with churches and people all around the world, and yet again showed up this weekend!

Grace Komar – Senior, Education Major

I couldn’t believe that it was already time for the annual Parent’s Weekend Concert featuring OneVoice, HeartSong, Jubilate, and Expressions of Praise.  This is one of my favorite concerts of the year because it features the gifts and talents of almost 300 students on campus.

 About an hour before the concert, all of the groups met in the choir room for a time of prayer led by Jim Cato, director of HeartSong.  As I looked around the room my heart was overwhelmed with gratitude as I remembered that I was part of something so much bigger than myself.  Jim encouraged us to worship with freedom and to remember that there were people in the audience who didn’t know Jesus.  With that in mind we prayed and sang together and went out to thank people for coming.

Jubilate opened the concert with a excellent set of songs focusing on the resurrection of Christ. Next, Expressions of Praise danced beautifully to ‘At the Cross’.   After that, HeartSong did a phenomenal set of songs with lyrics that forced you to reflect on who Jesus is and the reality of His love for us. Then OneVoice came on stage and sang some of my favorites including ‘Glorify Him’ and ‘No Other Name’. 

We ended our set with ‘For Every Mountain’ led by the chair of the department of Music, Art, and Worship, Ms. Beth Porter.  Ms. Porter’s elegant, beautiful voice combined with the dynamic and powerful voices of OneVoice was incredible. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as people reflected on the many mountains and trials that the Lord has brought them over.  You can watch the video on our youtube site: For Every Mountain 

We ended our concert as a combined choir singing ‘Your Great Name.’  I couldn’t have thought of a better way to end the concert…focusing on the name above all names…Jesus Christ.

Briana DuPree

Senior, Comprehensive Bible Major