Carol Penner, an assistant professor of Theological Studies at Grebel, has been on the planning committee since the website was initially conceived. 鈥淭wo of Grebel鈥檚 core values are faith formation and leadership development. The Together in Worship project directly resources church leaders, helping them as they plan worship services,鈥 Carol explained. 鈥淭he students involved in the project had the opportunity to develop their own worship leadership skills.鈥
Sarah Kathleen Johnson, who chaired the committee, won Grebel鈥檚 Distinguished Alumni Service Award this year and was heavily involved with the new Hymnal.
Choosing songs, prayers, and readings to go on the website took a lot of work and much of it was done by Master of Theological Studies students at Grebel. Mollee Moua, Paul Plato, Joseph Kim, Peter Kranenberg, and KyongJung Kim were all involved in cataloging the bulk of the resources into the website. Undergrad student Kim Rempel had a co-ordinating role the second summer she worked on the project, training students involved.
鈥淢embers of our team from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and Eastern Mennonite University have received two significant grants this year, which will allow us to add more visual art to the website,鈥 said Carol. 鈥淭his project encourages collaboration of faculty from Mennonite colleges.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 a thrill to see something that was just a dream become a reality,鈥 added Carol. 鈥淪eeing the live website is a payoff for all the hard work our team has put into it!鈥
Congratulations to all of the Grebelites who contributed to this project. This website is an invaluable resource to the Mennonite Church and the broader ecumenical community and will be used for many years to come.
Explore Together in Worship:
Written by Abby Rudy-Froese