Singing Through Psalter Hymnal in 5 Days

Terhi Miikki-Broersma, a former full-time church musician with the Lutheran Langinkoski (Finland) Church, who now lives in Lynden, Wash., and is the executive director of the annual Lynden Music Festival, dreamed up a hymn singing marathon April 6-10 in Lynden. Six organists played through the Psalter Hymnal—641 hymns—on the organs of Lynden’s First and Third Christian Reformed churches.

“Twenty-five years or more ago we did a hymn marathon in our (Finnish) Lutheran church with 632 hymns,” Miikki-Broersma said. “We started Friday morning and sang it non-stop until Sunday morning. Now I live in Lynden, and my mother-in-law was a founding member of Third CRC and used to play the organ there. She passed away a year ago, and her birthday is April 12. So I got this idea, honoring her plus all other grandmas and grandpas who have really enjoyed organ music and hymn singing.”

Marketing materials for the event promised “every song, every verse” from the Psalter and encouraged participants to “come for an hour, the day, or the whole journey” to “join your voice in song to our Lord and God.”

Unlike Miikki-Boersma’s first hymn marathon with the Langinkoski Church, this five-day hymn sing didn’t run non-stop. Starting Monday, April 6, hymns were sung from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday, with breaks for lunch; and from 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, with breaks for supper. On Friday they started at 10 a.m. and sang the last hymn by 4:15 p.m.

Miikki-Boersma thought the hardest part would be the first 150 psalms, noting “we are using the older psalter because there will be an option for more familiar tunes.” She kept a daily headcount, recording each day’s number of hymn singers: 49, 44, 41, 66, and 38.

The six participating organists were Miikki-Boersma, who plays for the Finnish Lutheran church in Vancouver, B.C.; Jacki Matter and Mary Matter, who serve Third (Lynden) CRC; Marilyn Kooiman of Lyden’s Bethel CRC; Jo Ann Stremler, who grew up in Third CRC and had her career at Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Wash.; Ken Potter from Browns Point United Methodist Church in Tacoma, Wash., and David Jewkes, board president of the Lynden Music Festival.

When Miikki-Boersma had the idea, which she calls “a crazy one,” she said she “contacted the three CRC churches in our town who I know use the Psalter Hymnal.” The hosting churches opened their doors for a modest fee that covers janitorial services. Miikki-Boersma said all the musicians are offering their time for free and she doesn’t mind paying the rent “as I am doing this in memory of my mother-in-law.”