WEST PARIS – Choir members from several small western Maine churches will use their singing talents to bring the joy to others this Easter season.

Voices for Christ will present Cornerstone, an Easter cantata, at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 20, at Oxford Hills Assembly of God Church in Oxford.

The group has evolved over the past three years. At the West Paris Baptist Church, the choir was mostly made up of women. At the Paris Hill First Baptist Church, the choir was mostly men. The two got together, and joining them over the last two Christmases and Easters, have been choir enthusiasts from six other small churches. One or two voices who love to share their joy through singing come from Mission Congregational in West Paris, Dixfield Congregational, Woodstock Seventh Day Adventist, Oxford Advent Christian in Oxford, St. Joseph’s Catholic in Bridgton and Oxford Hills Assembly of God in Oxford.

It’s an ecumenical choir.

“Most of these are very small churches with no chance to have a real choir, so the Voices for Christ evolved from people who love to sing and have joined together in this united effort,” said Mary Standard, the cantata’s director, organist at West Paris Baptist Church and lifelong music enthusiast.

For Standard, music has been a crucial part of her life ever since she was growing up on a farm in Mississippi.

“When I was young, church was the only place I heard music. Music was something I could do anytime and anywhere. Music was my release,” she said.

Ron Blake, pastor of the Paris Hill First Baptist Church and a carpenter, sings bass, and sometimes tenor, also loves music. His mother always made sure he was in a choir as he was growing up. And he’s glad she did.

“The opportunity to sing is always an expression of life itself,” he said. “When I sing, I feel the music and want to give you the blessing, the joy and the happiness.”

And for Jean Tyner, a member of West Paris Baptist Church whose husband, Bruce, is also its pastor, music is an integral part of life. “I feel really good about singing,” said the soprano who sometimes sings alto. “But part of it is being in this group and the friendly faces and hugs. We don’t concentrate on the differences, but on the common thread – the love of Jesus and the love of music,” she said.

They want to share that with as many people as possible. “It’s an outreach to the community,” said Standard.

“We want to convey an energy and effort that is Christianity itself,” said Blake.

“What we do for this is what makes us happy,” added Tyner.

Tom Standard is narrator for the contemporary cantata that depicts God’s plan for humankind from the 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament to Christ’s crucifixion. Solos will be performed by Blake, Debbie Verrill of Woodstock Seventh Day Adventist Church and Laurie Verrill of the Assembly of God Church.

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