Our first congregational hymn on the evening of January 21, 2025, thrilled me with the magic of 500 voices singing thrilling harmonies and powerful words. I had not expected the moment. Strong sopranos and altos, with high tenors and low basses, stirred me with their voices in harmony in the audience at Park View Mennonite Church upon the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist-Mennonite movement.

Mennonites from Old Order horse and buggy to progressive members of MC USA sang in worshipful praise. “In Thy holy place we bow, perfumes sweet to heaven rise.” I had sung the song before from Church Hymnal and Hymnal: A Worship Book. But on the quincentennial, and after a year of planning for the event, my spirit came alive with worship and awe at the beauty of John D. Brunk’s music. At home I checked, and the hymn is included in Voices Together–I put in a request for us to sing it on Sunday morning at church.

Samuel Frederick Coffman, who grew up in Virginia, and John D. Brunk, also from Virginia, wrote this beautiful hymn. The lyrics match the tune: “Holy light doth fill this place, Spirit light our way to guide.”

This inspired hymn has been in my heart since the event on a cold winter night in late January—it’s a Virginia hymn through and through: “Saints low bending, prayers ascending, Holy lips and hands implore; Faith believing and receiving Grace from Him whom we adore.”