红杏短视频

A novel’s story about the power of music to unite and encourage people serves as the inspiration for the launch of a new tradition at 红杏短视频 Fox: a time for worship in all-employee meetings

The whole idea was birthed by a work of historical fiction – Work Song, by Ivan Doig, which relates the plight of miners in early-1900s Montana. As Rob Felton read it, he was inspired.

“A part of the story is about the attempt to unite different ethnic factions – Irish, Welsh, Cornish, Ruthenian – in a workers union during a time of labor strife with the powerful mining company that ran the town,” says Felton, chief of staff in the university’s president’s office. “At one point the main character tries to convince the union leaders that music and lyrics can move emotions and build solidarity. He goes on to create a song that the miners sing together to express their unity.”

As a longtime Christian, Felton knew of the power of congregational singing, but reading a fictional story of how singing together unites a diverse group of people led him to ask a question: How would this same practice benefit the employee community at his own workplace?

“I thought about how fortunate we are at 红杏短视频 Fox to already have these familiar songs that unite us around our Christian faith,” he says. “It struck me that we had this opportunity at our all-employee meetings to be united around our spiritual mission. It's really powerful when we sing a hymn or song together, all voicing the same words in worship.”

Or, as the main character in the novel puts it …

“A song says something to us that we can't hear in any other way. There is a kind of magic to it. Music does not simply soothe the savage breast, it reaches to our better nature, wouldn't we all agree?”

Felton, with the blessing of President Robin Baker, added a worship time to each of the monthly all-employee meetings in the fall of 2024. It wasn’t the first time employees gathered in song – the university has incorporated worship into its all-community meeting in August for years, and Baker has, on occasion, led an a cappella hymn. But this is the first time worship is a part of every all-employee gathering.

Currently, about a dozen employees lead on a rotating basis, divided up by teams of three or four people.

“There is a quote attributed to St. Augustine that Robin recently shared at one of our meetings – ‘To sing is to pray twice,’” Felton says. “I think that is beautifully expressed.”