On Tuesday, December 6th, the Moravian Archives, the Moravian Music Foundation, and Central Moravian Church hosted their annual German-English Advent Singstunde. All the hymns are available in both languages and can be sung at the same time. The Singstunde is a traditional form of Moravian worship whereby the hymn stanzas form the message of the service. The message of one stanza continues in the next stanza and the singing is interrupted only by scripture readings and a prayer.
In addition to the Moravian tradition of the Singstunde, this service takes up another tradition of the Moravians: the use of the German language. In the early years, the Moravian Church in North America was a predominantly German-speaking church. Many non-Moravians join us for this rare opportunity to sing Advent and Christmas hymns in German. Because all hymns can also be sung in English, non-German speakers appreciate the time of musical contemplation as well. Those gathered also enjoyed an anthem shared by a group of singers from various Moravian choirs under the leadership of Gwyneth Michel.
