Why Attend Moravian Music on the Mountain?

Music on the Mountain is the annual Moravian Music Weekend at Laurel Ridge Camp, Conference and Retreat Center.

It is interesting that we don’t have a completely different group of participants each year; in fact, many come year after year, and I think there are a handful who haven’t missed a single one!

If you’ve been before, we hope you’ll come back again this March 10-12; if you haven’t been, then now’s the time to make your plans to come for the first time!

Who comes? Band players … choir singers … and listeners. No one need audition; no one will be singled out or embarrassed; everyone goes away encouraged, built up in faith and in musical experience, and in joy. And of course, there’ll be plenty of opportunities for conversation amongst the participants and time to talk to the Music Foundation staff about all those things you’ve been meaning to ask us …

Band players have a chance to play chorales and other music with a full band, under a different director each year, with a different experience than can happen in your church band. You’ll learn new techniques (and new jokes), and strengthen friendships. Pick up your horn, your chorale books, and your folding music stand and come along!

Choral singers have a chance to sing through a group of anthems and learn a few to sing in worship on the Sunday morning, also with a different director each year. You’ll learn music that’s new to you, gain insights into choral singing from your director, and sing with different people than you sit beside week after week. And if you don’t in a choir regularly, that’s just fine too!

Listeners are those folks who just love to be on the mountain, but don’t want to participate in the band or choir. Some have spouses or roommates who are participating; some just come to be present and hear all the music making.

We’ll gather in time for supper on Friday evening, and have initial playing and singing time, and devotions together. Saturday we’ll have time to play and sing together, several hours of free time in the afternoon, and then comes the evening! On Saturday evening we’ll have an informal talent show! “Acts” in the past have included folk singing with guitar and violin accompaniment; poetry recitations; gospel hymns on the piano; original compositions by weekend participants; a “special visitor from the east”; and many other wonderful presentations, some serious, some not so much. And also on Saturday evening, the weekend band and chorus will play and sing for each other, sharing the results of our time together.

Sunday morning we’ll have a little more time to play and sing, and then we’ll go to share worship at Mountain Laurel Moravian Fellowship, just a few miles away. They are now in their new worship space, so make sure you get the NEW DIRECTIONS. Our weekend concludes with a joyful time of musical worship with this lively community, and then safe travels home ‘til next year!

Let’s fill Higgins Lodge with music, this year!

See you on the mountain!

The GemeinKat Project Update

I hope you’ve been keeping up with the good stories arising from GemeinKat – the Moravian Music Foundation’s project to convert the catalog to electronic records accessible world-wide! Let’s be clear – this project isn’t digitizing the whole collection; you’re not going to be able to download the  manuscripts themselves. But you do have growing access to the catalog records – you can see just what we have!

Barbara’s GemeinKat Blog

There are many, many steps to this project, and the results are growing in three areas:

1. GemeinKat is an online catalog, which includes records for all manuscript and printed music under custodial care of the Moravian Music Foundation. It is a component part of OCLC’s WorldCat Discovery family of online catalogs.
2. RISM: The International Inventory of Musical Sources – Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM) – is an international, non-profit organization which aims for comprehensive documentation of extant musical sources worldwide. These primary sources are manuscripts or printed music, writings on music theory, and libretti. They are housed in libraries, archives, monasteries, schools and private collections. Cataloging musical sources is financed and carried out by various national and international institutions. RISM documents what exists and where it is kept. RISM documents reside in the RISM catalogue.
3. Finding aids describe a wide range of formats, including card indexes, calendars, guides, inventories, shelf and container lists, and registers. A finding aid is a single document that places the materials in context by consolidating information about the collection, such as acquisition and processing; provenance, including administrative history or biographical note; scope of the collection, including size, subjects, media; organization and arrangement; and an inventory of the series and the folders.

You can access GemeinKat right from this web page – start here… and follow the links.

Barbara Strauss has been GemeinKat Project Manager since December of 2014, but her involvement predates that by many years. A specialist in catalog conversion projects, Barbara has been leading the MMF staff and board in setting the vision and seeking funds for this project for nearly 20 years now, and it is a wonderful experience to see it coming true. She works with Project Cataloger (and now MMF Research Librarian) Dave Blum, setting project strategies, training and supervising part-time catalogers and incipit writers (we have 3 now – Jill Bruckart and Jan Harke in Bethlehem, Donna Rothrock in Winston-Salem; we have had quite a few more over the years, some of whom began as student interns and just stayed around!), and providing the long-term vision of the entire project. As of early in 2019, we have completed the cataloging of nearly all the major collections and a number of the smaller collections; incipits have been written for the majority of the Bethlehem holdings and a number of the Winston-Salem holdings; and I am faithfully writing the text of the finding aids.

An expected consequence is an increase in the number of research requests – and that’s happening indeed! For many researchers today, the thought of traveling to a library or archives just to see what they have is inconceivable; so that if it’s not accessible online, it’s often pretty well overlooked by many students and scholars. As we continue to bring more collections online, Dave is getting more requests – and that’s a good thing, as the Moravian Music Foundation continues to preserve, share, and celebrate Moravian musical culture!

For those who have contributed to GemeinKat, we thank you very, very much! We are still seeking contributions to help us reach the finish line of this very, very important project in MMF’s history and future!

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture.

Maybe you’ve been a once-a-year donor, by check or credit card. (And we thank you for that!) But I’d like you to consider some other ways you might give.

Let’s start with monthly giving. You can set up a monthly donation to MMF through a debit on your checking account, a regular credit-card charge, or through PayPal (we can help with this). This spreads out your gift over months and may make it easier for you to increase your total giving to MMF.

But let’s also remember that not every gift has to come from your income (what we would call our “operating budget”). There are many ways to give, some of which don’t decrease your current income; some may provide income during your lifetime; some will help you (and your heirs) avoid taxes. This is but a sample of the types of gifts you may consider:

• A gift from your estate, through a will or trust, is a direct method of giving that lets you maintain control of your assets through your lifetime and provide benefits to the Moravian Music Foundation after you are gone.
• You can designate the Moravian Music Foundation as the beneficiary for a retirement plan, life insurance policy, or other assets.
• You can set up a life income gift such as a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder unitrust (*see example below!).
• You can set up a donor-advised fund that can provide you with immediate tax benefits while making your charitable giving easier for years to come.
• You can give appreciated stock which you have owned for more than a year; with careful planning, you can reduce capital gains tax while supporting the Moravian Music Foundation.
• You can make a gift of retirement assets, such as an employee retirement plan, IRA, or tax-sheltered annuity; this can shield your heirs from taxes while supporting the Moravian Music Foundation.

The Moravian Ministries Foundation of America (MMFA) has knowledgeable staff and the tools to help you determine your best gift and to make it a reality. The Moravian Music Foundation is pleased to work with MMFA to help our donors choose the right mechanics of giving! Please contact our office or the MMFA to get started:

Moravian Music Foundation: 336-725-0651; erik@moravianmusic.org

Moravian Ministries Foundation of America: 336-725-2589; cspaugh@mmfa.info

*Jane is 80 years old and has a $1,000,000 IRA account with her daughter listed as sole beneficiary.  Jane loves Moravian music and is concerned about the tax liability her daughter would have when Jane enters the more immediate presence of her Lord.  Her IRA would have to be fully withdrawn in 10 years after Jane’s death and her daughter would owe income taxes on the entire amount.  Jane’s daughter is only 42 years old and doesn’t need a huge amount of money or a tax liability within a 10-year span.

– MMFA

Jane instead creates a charitable remainder unitrust.  She works with the Moravian Ministries Foundation in America and names her daughter as the beneficiary of the unitrust.  When Jane enters the more immediate presence of her Lord, the charitable trust will be the beneficiary of her IRA.  Her daughter will receive a 5% distribution based on the value of the charitable trust every year during her lifetime.  When Jane’s daughter passes way, the Moravian Music Foundation will receive the full amount to preserve and create music for future generations.
This is a great way to protect and shield your family while helping the ministries you love.

– MMFA

* For illustration purposes only.  For real scenarios concerning individual situations and gifts, please contact Chris Spaugh at cspaugh@mmfa.info or call 336-725-2589.

While I write this, MMF’s first self-produced CD, Joining Our Voices, is playing on my computer. I’m the only one in the building as yet (not unusual for before 8:00 a.m.), and the sound of the voices singing joyfully brings comfort.

Yes, the Winston-Salem office staff are working in the office these days; it’s a big building and we’re exercising our social distancing, and being careful not to answer the phone in anyone else’s office or share computers or anything like that. Hand sanitizer is at all the entrances. So we’re each working largely alone, but there’s some comfort in keeping the old routines of getting up, dressing, coming to work …

After reading below, come back and
check out this more recent article about
music ensembles and infection transmission.

(I was just jolted out of my peaceful mood by the obnoxious sound of the fire alarm. Oh yes, I did know that this morning would be the annual test of the fire alarm and sprinkler system. Turn up the volume, Nola.)

Spoiler alert:
This is closer to a sermon than to an informative musical post!

Why listen?

The hymns are a reminder of things that do not change – “The one eternal God, whom heaven and earth adore – for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore” (Moravian Book of Worship, hymn 533, verse 3). Sometimes to listen to a hymn asserting God’s goodness and power is itself an act of faith – it may not feel like this now, but I choose to “keep the faith” – to hang onto the things I have known to be true, to cling to the God whom I have known throughout my life, even as the number of COVID-19 cases keeps rising, hospitals are facing shortages, too many people are suffering and dying …

God never promised that we would not go through hard times. God never told us we’d never suffer, never be sick, never die too young, never lose our job, never face hunger or homelessness. God does promise that we will never face those things alone, for God is with us. In this time of Lent, we remember what Jesus suffered – setting his face toward Jerusalem, knowing that anguish and death would soon come to him. Jesus suffered all the agonies of pain, loneliness, and death. And God the Father suffered the death of his only Son.

Friends – brothers and sisters – God has suffered, known in God’s own self, every pain and grief we bear. That is the source of my stubborn, resilient faith. I can cry to God with all my anguish, knowing that God can truly say, “Nola, I know how you feel.”

I close this not-very-musical meditation with two final words:

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my help and my God”

Psalm 42:11

The final word isn’t a word from me; it’s from Joining Our Voices.

Click the link and listen, and be uplifted.
The peace of Christ enfold you. — Nola (March 22, 2020)

Holy Trinity, We Confess With Joy

The quickest and most fun way to experience some of the unique musical culture of the Moravians is to view the videos posted on our YouTube Channel.  You may go to MoravianMusicFndn or click on the YouTube symbol at the top right sidebar of most MMF webpages.

For a variety of selected YouTube links, visit our Links & Shares Page.

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture.

The Unitas Chorale was founded in the fall of 1996 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, by the Moravian Music Foundation, under the impetus of the energy and organizational skills of founding director Jill Bruckart. Unitas’s purpose is to provide an opportunity for the performance of both selections from the Foundation’s archival collections and newly-written Moravian music. Membership in Unitas is open to any interested singers; just talk to the director or any Chorale member!

Jill Bruckart remained the director of the Unitas Chorale through the 2011 concert season. With the 2011-2012 season, MMF’s Assistant Director Gwyneth Michel became the director of the Unitas Chorale. Now entering her 8^th year, Gwyn is working on programming for spring 2019, and would love to hear from you if you’re interested in joining! The Chorale rehearses the 1^st, 3^rd, and 5^th Sundays of the month, January through April, with a concert late April or early May.

Like the Moramus Chorale, this performing arm of the Moravian Music Foundation provides excellent quality choral singing experiences for its participants, and uplifting concert programs for its home community – and sometimes beyond!

Each year, Gwyn chooses a theme and crafts the concert program exploring that theme. For 2019 the Chorale will focus on The Passion of Christ: A Walk With Our Lord Through Holy Week. This year’s concert will be on Sunday, May 5, 2019, at a location to be determined.

Looking for a new venture to help you keep that New Year’s Resolution to do something wonderful for yourself and others? Why not sing in the Unitas Chorale? Contact conductor Gwyn Michel – gwyn@dev.thesignalcompany.com/foundation – and she’ll be happy to have you join in! The first rehearsal for 2019 is scheduled for Sunday, January 6, 3:00-5:00 p.m., at College Hill Moravian Church in Bethlehem, weather permitting. There is no audition required, just an interest in performing choral music and a commitment to come to rehearsals.

Next time … composer Johannes Herbst, and what he brought with him to North Carolina in 1811 …

Recording Moravian Organ Music

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture.

“All the ducks in a row” – that sounds too often like wishful thinking, but for the Moravian Music Foundation, it really happened, the week of January 14-18, 2019, when everything worked just like it should have to record more music than we need for the forthcoming CD of Moravian organ music!

A lot of work went into this ahead of time. The project was three or four years in the “dream” stage, and in early 2018, things began to come together. Organist Mary Lou Kapp Peeples (with, I’m sure, the consultation and counsel of her composer husband Wade Peeples) reviewed dozens upon dozens of compositions, to begin to narrow down to the selections on this CD.

“But wait,” you say, “Nola, you’ve been telling us for years there isn’t much Moravian organ music. Where did all this come from?” And you’re right – if you’re thinking early Moravian. There’s very little pre-20^th-century organ solo music written by Moravians (at least that we now know). There are the preludes by Christian Latrobe, Francis Florentine Hagen’s arrangements and transcriptions, and in the early 20^th century, E. I. Erbe’s preludes. These are all good pieces, but hardly enough to justify a whole CD.

But in the latter quarter of the 20^th century and the early years of this century, Moravian composers have been busy! With careful work, and that indefinable factor called “inspiration”, many composers are writing wonderful pieces based on Moravian chorale tunes old and new. And even since we recorded in January, we’ve become aware of many more pieces … dare I sniff out a second CD coming in a couple of years?

So. What “ducks” had to line up for this recording, this year?

There is, of course, the usual cast of characters – performer (Mary Lou Kapp Peeples); producer (Gwyn Michel); recording engineer (Wade Peeples); liner-notes author and general “project manager (yours truly). And then we throw in another cast of characters – the instruments themselves! Mary Lou had the ambitious thought to make this an exploration, not only of Moravian music, but of Moravian organs, and so the recording takes place not at one location, but at five. That meant five organs had to be tuned and checked over; five locations had to be reserved; air-handling units in five locations needed to be turned off or minimized; all the recording equipment to be hauled in and out of Frank’s truck (not 5, but 6 times, as we had 2 sessions at Home Church!). Everybody had to stay healthy, and (in January, no less!), the weather needed to stay cooperative. OK, I’ve lost count of the “ducks” that needed to be in a line. The organs featured were: 1798 Tannenberg, Single Brothers House; 1800 Tannenberg, Old Salem Visitors Center; 1830 Henry Erben, Single Sisters House; 1926 Hook and Hastings, Calvary Moravian Church; 1959 Aeolian-Skinner, Home Moravian Church.

So you have an idea of the week, here’s the schedule, starting on Sunday, January 13:

Sunday            Gwyn flew in from Bethlehem (NC folks, you’ll remember there was a LOT of ice here that weekend! Gwyn was able to arrive safely, but her drive in from the airport was strange, in that there were very few lights along I-40 and Silas Creek Parkway all the way into Winston-Salem!)

Monday          We did not plan to start recording until late in the day, in case Gwyn’s Sunday flights were delayed or cancelled. As it turns out, she did arrive on time. We began at 5:00 p.m. in Gray Auditorium of the Old Salem Visitors’ Center, with the 1800 Tannenberg organ, and recorded until about 10 that evening.

Tuesday          All day at Home Moravian Church

Wednesday     5:30 p.m. at the Sisters House, Salem College, to record on the 1830 Erben organ

Thursday        evening at the Single Brothers House, on the 1797 Tannenberg

Friday              Morning at Home Moravian Church

                        Afternoon at Calvary Moravian Church on the 1926 Hook & Hastings organ.

But wait! (my turn to say that) … That’s not ALL we recorded that week! You’ll note that we had sessions on Wednesday and Thursday evening, so on Wednesday and Thursday days, we worked with violinist Warwick Lister and pianist Barbara Lister-Sink to record the three-movement Sonata for Violin and Piano by Charles G. Vardell.  This lush, mid-20^th-century work will be part of a forthcoming recording project, to include many of Vardell’s piano solos. This was a great opportunity to do this, as Frank and Gwyn were “booked” for the week; Warwick was free to visit here from his home in Florence, Italy; and Warwick and Barbara had had rehearsal time the summer before to prepare the piece.

So now we’re up to 8 recording sessions, 6 locations, 5 days, 3 performers, 1 producer, 1 engineer, 1 project manager, organ technicians, facilities managers, staff of Old Salem, Salem College, Home Church, Calvary Moravian …

And it all worked. And when you hear the recording (coming this fall!), you’ll know, as we already do, that it was worth it. Can’t wait to share this wonderful music so beautifully played!

Next time: What does the “Psalm of Joy” teach us?

“Does your choir sing Moravian anthems?”

“Are you kidding? They’re too high – AND too hard! We haven’t done those for years.”

“Yeah. Same here. Wish we could.”

Yes, we’ve heard that concern at the Moravian Music Foundation, and we’ve been listening. In response, we’ve launched a new sub-series in the Moravian Star Anthem Series. In this new series (printed with green covers, in contrast with the red and blue covers – see below!), anthems from the 18^th or 19^th century are arranged to be accessible to a smaller choir. We transpose the piece down a whole step or more, recognizing that today’s standard pitch (A=440) is about a half-step (or more) higher than the pitch standard of 200 years ago, and acknowledging that the singers in Moravian settlement congregations 200 years ago received, in general, more vocal training than our church choir members do now.

Transposing the pitch down isn’t the only arranging that’s done, however. When you lower the pitch for the sopranos, you also lower it for the basses – and our basses can only go so low … So often some re-writing of the bass line is needed. And many congregations don’t have enough singers to have a four-part choir; so we have arranged these anthems for a three-part choir – soprano, alto, and baritone (in a mid-range, singable by both tenors and basses). In these anthems we print only the English translation, in slightly larger type size as well. (In the “blue series” we print both English and German texts.)

Two of these “green series” pieces are in print now: O the Blessedness Is Great was originally in F major, so that the soprano part went to the high F quite frequently, and was originally written for two soprano, alto, and bass parts. (In an early 1950s publication it was arranged for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass parts.) The new arrangement is in D major for three-part choir.

The Fruit of the Spirit was also originally for four-part choir with flute, in the key of A major, where the soprano “hovers” in the high E-F#-G# range. The new “green series” publication is in the key of F, so the soprano hovers in the C-D-E range, and again, the piece is arranged for SAB choir.

Several other three-part “green series” pieces are in the pipeline for publication now. Do you have old favorite Moravian anthems you wish your choir could sing? Let us know, and we’ll see if we can make it work!

Arranging musical compositions for smaller forces is an effective way of making the music more widely accessible. Do you remember learning and singing classical masterpieces in more accessible arrangements in high school and college, pieces we would never have been able to sing or play in their original versions? This new “green series” has just that goal – to make this body of music, written by our forebears in the Moravian faith, written for Moravian worship, available to as many of our congregations as we can.

Moravian Star anthems already have been published with blue and red covers. Those with blue covers are editions from the old manuscripts in our care; most of these anthems were written in the later 18^th and 19^th centuries, and we’ve pulled out those manuscripts, transcribed them into modern notation, translated the German texts into English, and (where needed) created a part for piano or organ from the original string orchestration. Those with red covers were written by living Moravian composers – people like Brian Henkelmann, Jill Bruckart, Dirk French, Jonathan Sidden, Zach Bailey. These anthems carry a fresh new sound, using today’s musical language to express and deepen our faith.

Launched by the Moravian Music Foundation in 2007, the Moravian Star Anthem Series seeks to publish Moravian sacred choral music of all eras. Over 80 anthems have been published in the series to date, about one-fourth of which are by living Moravian composers. Most of these publications have been funded through sponsorships, with the sponsor dedicating the publication in honor or in memory of someone or of an organization or event. To inquire about sponsoring a publication, please contact the Moravian Music Foundation: info@dev.thesignalcompany.com/foundation; 336-725-0651.

Next time: The Moravian Music Festival – T Minus Two Years and Counting!

Ready to do it again? We’re not – quite. But we’re working on it! Excitement is building among our staff and leaders as plans are shaping up, two years out.

Do you have the dates on your calendar? Better yet, do you have them memorized? July 18-24, 2021, in Bethlehem, on the campus of Moravian College and Central Moravian Church.

What’s going on, this far in advance? Let me give you some hints.

Program Leadership. We have much of the musical leadership in place, including these:

John V. Sinclair, choral conductor   Allen Frank, concert band conductor   Rebecca Kleintop Lepore, Festival organist and rehearsal accompanist   Donald Kemmerer, trombone choir conductor    Jan Harke, handbell conductor   Joni Roos, chamber music coordinator   Myra Jones, children’s program coordinator  Randy Gibbs, choral assistant

New to this Festival will be two additional morning ensemble opportunities – Worship Ensemble, to include anyone with any instrument who wants to learn more about playing and leading worship; and Steel Drum Ensemble, to explore and enjoy the wonderful steel drum tradition. Leaders for these two morning activities haven’t yet been put in place.

Nuts and Bolts. Hank Naisby is chairing the local arrangements team, which includes such logistics as facilities, publicity, coordination of the children’s program, workshop topics and locations and leaders, hospitality, airport transportation, tours, and so on, and so on. The committee is already meeting, setting work schedules, making plans, getting the right people on board, reviewing costs, and so on, and so on…

MMF Office Work. Erik Salzwedel and Sarah Durham in the Winston-Salem office are already hard at work on the in-house details – online registration plans, income and expense accounting, publicity plans (with publicity chair Bryan Hay). Nola and Gwyn are looking at the layout and appearance of the registration form itself – how to include all the necessary information and still have it be eye-catching and appealing?

And your part … Everyone has a to-do list, and here’s yours:

1. Put the dates on your calendar.
2. Put the dates on your congregation’s calendar. (Don’t schedule a choir trip or mission trip or vacation Bible school that week, please! Remember there will be all sorts of wonderful activities for children and youth!)
3. Ask your church to start putting money aside to send your music director, organist, band director, brass choir, handbell director, children’s choir director, etc., to the Festival on at least a partial scholarship. The experience will energize their ministry within and beyond the congregation!
4. Make sure you receive the registration information (scheduled to mail fall 2020), and if you need extra copies to pass along to friends, just ask! (And remember – it’s not only for Moravians!)

See you at the Festival … just two years from now …

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture.

Next time: GemeinKat Progress Report!

If you’ve been following these posts, you surely know of the variety of the activities of the Moravian Music Foundation! There is always something interesting going on in both offices – making preparation for concerts; researchers asking things we’d never thought to look for; reviewing music for publication; working with a congregation planning an anniversary; looking at a newly-written hymn … No two days are ever the same!

And looking ahead, we see yet more challenging and exciting times – the 26^th Moravian Music Festival (in 2021); a CD of Moravian organ music (coming this fall!); perhaps a songbook including songs from around the Moravian world; more discoveries in our cataloging work … and who knows what’s coming next year?

All these activities have one thing in common.

Well, two. First, they’re all connected to our mission – preserving, sharing, and celebrating Moravian musical culture.

And second, they all cost money.

“Moravian” is in our name. “Moravian” is in our mission statement. “Moravian” is a crucial component of all our work, and indeed, of the very identity of the organization. However, the Moravian Church is able to support only about 4% (yes, that’s four percent) of the Foundation’s annual operating budget. The remainder must come from other sources – some from sales of publications and recordings, some from the income generated by invested funds, and a LOT from individual donors!

So we ask. Twice a year we send a letter to the approximately 3,000 people on our mailing list, inviting them to join us as supporters of the Moravian Music Foundation (by “join us”, I do mean to emphasize that all of the staff and board members ARE donors to the Foundation’s Annual Friends Campaign!). Not everyone responds to those letters.

This year – this month – we’re doing something special. We’re sending out a special mailing, inviting you to “chip in” for our summertime expenses (the time of year when donations are typically at their lowest). We’re calling it a “Mid-Summer Night’s Dream” or, alternatively, “Christmas in July”! Will you join us with a special gift of $20 or more, this month, in addition to your regular contributions?

Some facts and figures … If 100 people gave $20, the resulting $2,000 would cover our office supplies budget for the entire year.

If 100 people gave $40, the resulting $4,000 would cover our CD duplication costs for the upcoming organ recording.

If 100 people gave $48, the resulting $4,800 would cover staff health insurance costs for the month of July.

If 150 people gave $40 (or 100 people gave $60), the resulting $6,000 would cover our building occupancy costs for the month of July (both offices – space rental, air conditioning, electricity, telephone, alarm system, etc.)

You can do the math from here – what I’m saying is that every size gift has an impact! Many small gifts can multiply, creating a huge impact … as a pebble thrown into still water creates ripples that move farther, and farther, and farther … and the duck hundreds of feet away floats on the waves.

When you receive this mailing, please be generous! And, while we love gifts designated for special projects, please keep in mind that the electric bill still has to be paid, the staff health insurance still must be funded, telephones still need to work, and so on … unrestricted gifts are the “bread and butter” that keep everything humming in both offices!

If you’re not on our mailing list, you can follow the link from our home page and make your secure gift online!

And – thank you very, very, very, very much!

Next time: The “Green Series” of Moravian Star Anthems