Unity of faith: Six churches combine for choir and program
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REDMOND, WASH.
Unity was the goal when the St. Jude Catholic Parish brought together six different churches for a choir concert and program in the Redmond, Wash., area, with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints represented by the Redmond Washington Stake, said Tallee Whitehorn.
Sister Whitehorn, a member of the stake's Sammamish 2nd Ward, said the event, held October 4 at St. Jude, was planned in hopes of unifying the Christian Churches in the area. Since the LDS Church is not always recognized as a "Christian" church, and because the churches hadn't before collaborated in such a capacity, Sister Whitehorn said the choir concert represented progress among all the groups.
"This was a big step forward to uniting these groups," she said.
The Redmond Washington Stake supplied 70 voices, as well as a flute and oboe, to the choir, bringing the total up to 170. As far as how successful the choir was in unifying the faiths of the area, Sister Whitehorn said, "It definitely has made an impact.
"I think we get used really feeling the Spirit, we get really used to bearing testimony," she said, and sometimes members of the Church take the feeling of testimony and the Spirit for granted. The Spirit was strong at the concert, she said.
"I really didn't anticipate the Spirit being so strong and such a feeling of unity," she said.
The leaders of each congregation spoke before the choir's performance about what made their church special, Sister Whitehorn said. Stake President Gordon W. Tanner he began his remarks by first listing the ways in which each of the faiths' beliefs, including those of the Latter-day Saints, were similar. A belief in Christ and of the Old and New Testaments as the word of God were two particular points on which spoke, and the Book of Mormon and living prophets as some of the reasons the LDS Church was different from the rest, Sister Whitehorn said.
His testimony was a reminder to Sister Whitehorn of how important bearing witness of belief is, she said. Although sometimes members might feel their testimony is weak or poorly articulated, their words can make an impact.
"The Spirit can be conveyed through testimony," she said.
Often, members might feel afraid or reluctant to talk about faith with others, she said, but the event on Oct. 4 reminds members that a lot of good can come in simply stating identity as members of the Church.
"All we have to do is open our mouths," she said.
