News and Views

By Kathy Mellott

Emory Grove, located in Glyndon, Maryland, has been a center for summer worship for 156 years. In 1973, a cottage owner of Emory Grove, Rev. George Lovell, realized that there was no worship mid-week. He felt that going from Sunday to Sunday without praising God was unacceptable in this special place that originally provided full one- or two-week worship sessions.

He proposed having a Hymn Sing on Wednesday evenings. He also proposed two rules: 1) No sermon, and 2) No passing the plate. The Emory Grove Hymn Sing would be free and open to the public; the public that likes to sing hymns. The rules for choosing a hymn were, and still are: raise your hand; select a hymn by its number in the hymnal; pick two verses. As many as twenty hymns can be sung in an evening with these rules. A caveat to the rules is that if you select a hymn not known by the pianist, you sing it acapella. Fortunately, this has not happened in 50 years.

On July 5, at 7 p.m., Emory Grove will open its 50th year of Hymn Sings during July and August.

Bill DeHaven, the host of the Hymn Sings for more than 35 years, will be there to open with a prayer and host the song selection for the evening. This summer, Rev. Malcolm Stranathan, the pastor of Westminster UMC, will be alternating weeks with Bill as host. A new pianist to the Hymn Sing, Nancy Rodo, will join as an accompanist for several weeks this year, alongside annual pianists, Peggy Brengle, and Kevin Callahan. Harriet Clark, a past cottage owner, will again spearhead Hymnologies each week. A hymnology is the history of hymns. This year’s theme for hymnologies is “Hymns from 1868”.

Included during the weekly Hymn Sings is special music provided by visiting musicians. There are vocalists and instrumentalists, including Tom and Tom on guitars, singers Alexa Hayman, Linda Wood, Sue Hughson, Will Allen, Nancy Rodo, and Marcia Wessel, the Praise Band at Center and Main, and the Oregon Ridge Dulcimers. The last night of Hymn Sings on August 30, known as the Hymn Sing Party, will feature music by the Celebrate Recovery Praise Team in a more celebratory concert format in the Emory Grove open-air Tabernacle.

Refreshments and fellowship follow each of the Hymn Sings, but for the Hymn Sing Party, The Cow Truck of Reisterstown will supply Italian ice and frozen custard for the Party.

Hymn Sings and Sunday evening worship services are free and open to the public. A full schedule of services and events can be found at www.emorygrove.net.