Camilla Faragalli, reporter

Funded by the Local Journalism Initiative

Andrea Smith (lead vocals) and Kathryn Perry (piano and vocals) led the dozens gathered at the New Hope Christian Fellowship Church in an evening of old-fashioned hymn singing on Sunday.

“It lifts our spirits to sing about Jesus, and we want our town to radiate with his love,” said Perry, a parishioner at the church who taught piano for 53 years prior to retiring,

She and Smith, who were united by a mutual love of music and their religion, initiated the now-regular hymn-sings together about a year ago.

“We have these sings once a quarter and we’re hoping to have them a lot more often,” Perry said.

The two women were joined on stage by Steven Beattie on tenor saxophone, and Paulette Gauthier on violin. The group took requests for hymns from the audience for the entire duration of the event.

“Hymns are the church theology,” said Pastor Walter Perry of Pembroke. “We learn more about God, about his love.”

Angela Jonkers, a parishioner at New Hope who lives just outside of Shawville, said her love of singing – especially old hymns – had brought her to the event.

“And I’ve gotten used to this church,” Jonkers added, “I really like the people in it.”

It seems Jonkers was not the only person present who felt that way; nearly everyone that attended the hymn-sing hung back afterwords to chat – and sample from the dazzling array of homemade cookies provided by Smith’s mother, Lorna (Smith).

All proceeds from the event were donated to the Snowsuit Fund, a program that provides low-cost snowsuits to families facing financial stress.