It was Sunday, August 13th. The day began with a morning church service at Truth and Grace Mennonite Church. Some of the more scrupulous members of the group went at 10:00, in time for Sunday school, and those desiring more sleep made it in time for the 11:00 sermon. Following the service, we were blessed to be invited to a fellowship meal provided by Truth and Grace, where the food was delicious and the fellowship was even better. Following the meal, we went back to our respective host places to spend some time resting before the afternoon program. This was an extra good time of relaxation that helped rejuvenate us for the last program of our tour. We do take rest from time to time, but on tour, it can be difficult to get the needed amount.
(Above: A few gentlemen wait for the rehearsing to start.)
At 2:45 sharp(ish), we met at the Anabaptist Discipleship Center in Elnora to spend some time practicing before our program. The Center is located in a former Methodist church in downtown Elnora, Indiana. The space is old and a joy to sing in! We had more feedback here than we had at most of our venues, but somehow, this did not automatically fix the problems we have been having with flatting our songs. If that wasn’t enough, we even managed to sharp some of them in this space, a rarity for which we were not very grateful. However, with pitch problems and all, we finished our practice feeling tired but ready to sing our hearts out one more time. As the time for the program neared, a few early birds (actually people) arrived and listened to us as we finished up our practice. We made our way to the basement of the building as the time for the concert drew near and were led in a final prep time by Dave.
The program itself went well aside from the extreme warmth and the continued pitch issues. One special feature of the ADC building is that the AC is very loud and therefore makes singing (and staying in key) a challenge. So, for the program, we turned it off, which accounted for the warmth issues. As for the pitch issues, there is simply not a good explanation. One would think that after just over a week of rehearsing, touring, and recording, we would be quite capable of staying in key. However, we did not. But that is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that God is praised and glorified, and we trust that happened. God is not as concerned about a perfect singing voice (or staying perfectly in key) as He is a heart that humbly worships Him for His goodness and His grace. We thank God that we were able to do this in song this year and sincerely hope that the folks we sang for were blessed by it. As the program closed, bittersweet feelings set in as we realized that Tehillah Tour 2023 was coming to an end. There is a sense of relief in knowing that it is over but also a sense of sadness in knowing that it is over.
After the program, much time was spent mingling with the “Home Crowd.” Most of the members of the group knew many people in the audience so there was much catching up to do. We were also very blessed to have some former members of Tehillah come for the concert, so time was spent reconnecting with them and giving them a hard time for leaving the group. We only do that to people we like so it’s alright. Once we were able to free ourselves of the conversation-hungry concert-goers, we made our way over to Ruth Schrock’s parent’s house for the After Party.
The After Party, as we call it, is the party that happens after the tour is over, for those that may be confused. We had a wonderful time together, joking and laughing and every once in a while saying something useful. We were joined by some siblings of singers, the aforementioned former Tehillah members, and our recording engineer (otherwise known as my eldest brother).
One of the highlights of this time is a tradition that started at some point of having each of the members share how they got into the group. From one member’s delayed responses to Dan’s texts to “passing away” when asked to join the group to “my story is boring like a lot of the others”, we all thoroughly enjoyed recounting how we were inducted into the Tehillah Ensemble.
The rest of the time was spent eating (food), reading terrible tongue twisters, and singing some of our favorite songs for the last time this year. The night went away and morning came upon us, with most members of the groups staying at the party location until around 1:00 A.M. When the time finally came to say good-bye, goodbyes were said and when we would see each other next was discussed. For those that would not be returning to the group next year, this was an especially sad time. A good number of the group decided to meet together for breakfast the next morning.
When the next morning came, this group met for breakfast. We had a splendid time together at Stoll’s Lakeview Restaurant (where we had a view of the lake) and then slowly but surely said our last goodbyes. It was a tremendous blessing and privilege to sing with Tehillah again this year and I believe I can speak for the whole group when I say that it was a time of refreshment, encouragement, and growing closer in our walk with the Lord. May His name be praised, may He receive all the credit, and may the Tehillah Ensemble continue to sing to the praise of His glory for many years to come.
Thank you all so much for coming along for the ride and may God richly bless each one of you wherever you are. This is the Tehillah Ensemble signing off for 2023!
– Daniel Layman