A large church in Guangdong formed an "iCloud choir"to present praise during the Holy Week and Easter.
The "choir" of Guangzhou Guangxiao Church began rehearsal two weeks ahead of this year's Passion Week in preparation for daily online evening services during the special week, said Rev. Zhang Chengtao, the church's senior pastor.
While the "iCloud" choral songs received positive feedback from the congregation, the "choir" faced many challenges in online practice. However, a womens' choir comprised of elderly female believers successfully presented a hymn called The Nail Scarred Hand after overcoming software difficulties.
Sister L, a co-worker in the church, shared the moving story behind the "iCloud" choir.
"Some of choir members repeatedly recorded the song until later than 12 am every day. A 78-year-old woman started recording after having just been discharged from hospital; one member insisted on appearing in the choir despite suffering from measles and recently recovering from cancer; a woman waited for her daughter to come back home from work so that she could have two smartphones for the recording. The aged conductor was busy with taking care of many things... Every sister was dressed elegantly for the performance. After each of them went through more than dozens of recordings, the choir finally finished the challenging choral ministry. They gave special meaning to a very special time!"
Rev. Zhang added that the "iCloud" choir was also an opportunity to bring together the members toward the fulfillment of a common goal.
In fact, during the past months when forced to provide online ministry for their congregation, the pastor and other co-workers have realized that the one-way support ministry needs to be updated. Feeling a sense of urgency and innovation, they are devoting themselves to making the new online ministry more targeted and effective.
- Translated by Karen Luo
