New Song, Geneva College’s traveling singing group, has journeyed the world to share God’s love through music for 25 years. To mark its silver anniversary, New Song sponsored a reunion concert at Geneva’s Home coming Oct. 20. Not only was it a joyful performance, it was a great time to reminisce about the adventures and experiences by the group’s past members. Although some of the tales may differ from New Song’s first concert in the 1970s to the present day, the mission has been to same: exalting the Lord in song.

This summer nine Geneva College students piled into a van and set out on a six-week road trip. from Pennsylvania to Colorado to New Hampshire, these students toured the country for the al most two months, spending their days on the highway and rarely bothering to find a hotel to stay in at night. Everyone enjoyed the excursion immensely, but for these five women and four men the trip was more than just an opportunity to see the nation.

The individuals who took part in this journey were not indulging themselves in the average college student summer vacation, “It was more of a musical missions trip,” explains senior Rose McChesney, member of New Song. “I was reminded of the verse where Paul says that he would gladly spend and be spent for the Lord’s work. We stayed in different beds nearly every night, lived in a van every day, spent lots of time with the same ten people, and tried to do ministry throughout the whole six weeks. It was a fabulous opportunity and I am so grateful that I was given the privilege of being in such a great group of people.”

The group, which has thrived cinder the direction of Prof. Louise Copeland. traveled to 11 states in order to reach a diverse cross-section of America. Some of New Song’s stops included prisons, county fairs, retirement homes, and Geneva alumni events in addition to frequent church performances. ‘We averaged about six concerts a week during the summer tour this year,” Copeland estimates. One of the facets of the group that makes it so versatile is its large repertoire of songs. “We have the ability to tailor-make a program for virtually any group” Copeland says, and it’s hard to disagree. Every member of New Song has memorized over 40 psalms from which they can create a moving musical performance. Programs held on weeknights also include dramatic performance.

For college students juggling a full course load, finding time to prepare such an elaborate presentation is difficult. For this reason, the most intensive work is done after the school year is completed.

The process begins in the early part of the spring semester, when tryouts are held to determine who will make up the next year’s group. Musical talent is an obvious requirement for inclusion, but Copeland tells of a more important qualifier for members of this elite group.”The students’ ability to articulate their faith is what we look for when choosing members,” she says.

Once the roster has been set, the new members have a short period of time until they come together in June to train for their trip. This training involves a grueling 1 2-hour-per-day rehearsal sched ule for two weeks, affectionately referred to as “boot camp.” It is during this time that these ten people learn what the summer has in store for them, both through the New Song ministry and in relation to each other.

This year’s group is a close-knit bunch, and they used this time to strengthen their relationships with their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. “I don’t know of any New Song group (in past years) who referred to themselves as a ‘family,’ but that’s how we see ourselves—brothers and sisters in one large family,” junior Sharlynn Verner explains. “We may have our quibbles, but people can tell we really love each other and just enjoy being together. It has been such a blessing to watch these very different people come together and simply gel… It shows how the Lord has been at work in our group!”

Rose McChesney echoes this sentiment. “I won’t lie and say that each clay was ‘cake,’ but through it all God was my strength. He provided a group of people to love me and care for me so that when I was clown they could lift me up, and vice-versa.”

In addition to ministering to each other, members of New Song also touched the lives of many who saw their performances, and they found out what it was to be used of God. “Nine kids from different backgrounds, in a van for six weeks, learning to live together and love each other can be enough work on its own for the summer, but we understand we have a higher call,” stresses Verner. “We’re not there for ourselves, we’re out there for the Lord, spreading His message of grace through our music. We entrust Him with our lives, and we allow Him to teach us and give us what we lack so we can do His work. We’ve really let Christ work in us; so when we sing about Him, it’s really coming from our hearts.”

The Geneva College student body also gets to hear this heartfelt performance, as New Song not only tours during the summer but spreads the joy of Christ during the school year, too. The group sings at seven chapel services per semester in addition to devoting two weekends a month to sharing their faith with the surrounding community.

Many changes have taken place in the group’s history, such as fluctuations in the number of members. New Song began as a select four-person singing group, but came perilously close to fading away by the late 1980s. Interest in New Song had dwindled due to the understandable worries students harbored about not having the opportunity to earn money with a summer job. This concern led the administration to conclude that members of New Song should he compensated for their efforts on behalf of the college. It was also agreed that the group should include more members. Starting in 1990, New Song was doubled in size to eight students; and events during the school year were added to the performance schedule, which had previously only included the summer tour.

Changes like these have proven to be insightful, allowing the group to continue even if an emergency occurs. This summer, junior Caleb Foster had to leave the group several weeks into the tour due to a severe back injury that required immediate surgery. Once assured of Foster’s health, New Song was able to continue its ministry, weakened by the loss of a friend and colleague hut stronger in trusting the Lord’s mercy. Caleb has since recovered and will be joining the group for its fall dates.

“Our group was special despite the health problems we faced on tour,” senior Tim Duguid says. “The Lord really did work through us this summer. I don’t think there was a concert in which we did not receive at least one comment on how the Lord worked in the lives of the audience members. It was just incredible to see the \Void of God working in the hearts of those who heard our music.”

Duguid and his fellow singers inspired people off the stage, too. To help defray some of the costs associated with the trip, housing and meals for New Song during the summer are provided by the host churches. This arrangement not only provides help to the group, but also allows the group members a chance to minister on an individual basis. “I think that the fellowship with our host families was very encouraging, both for our audience and ourselves,” senior Johanna Hemphill says, adding that she felt this was one of the more rewarding aspects of the trip. “I know that in the future, when I look hack. I will see just how much the experience changed my whole outlook on life.”

Over the past years, the words of Psalm 98 have be come the theme for New Song:

‘O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has clone marvelous things. Rejoice and he glad. His wonderful mercy proclaim.”

Inspired by this verse and their ability to make a difference for the kingdom, the members of Geneva’s traveling ministry group take joy in their calling. The focus of the dramatic presentation this year was, “Obey God and Make No Compromise,” and each member has taken that message to heart. Although it was not always the easiest job in the world, everyone knew that they had not made the commitment with the expectation of a problem-free journey. As in life, things didn’t always go exactly as planned. The strong leadership provided by their heavenly Father helped them through, however, and every member was strengthened in the process.

As summer ended and the members of New Song pre pared to return to Geneva, they realized that they were not the same nine individuals that had left Beaver Falls that humid Sunday in June. They had now become, even more so than before, lights in our dark world. And even though they had not radically altered the course of human history, they had been vessels of the Lord for His purposes. They knew that, through them, lives had been changed. The impact God enabled them to have on those they met was unmistakable. But for all the lives they had an impact on, the ones that were perhaps affected most dramatically were their own.

New Song’s 25th anniversary is one of the most anticipated events in school his tory. Events scheduled to commemorate the occasion in eluded a full-cast performance during Homecoming week end, with members from each of the past 25 groups taking part in the production. This reunion of the NewSong “family” was scheduled for Oct. 20 at Geneva. A CD recording of the concert is also expected to be available.