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Winnipeg, Man.
CMU premieres praise & worship event


Canadian Mennonite University’s first annual Infusion Praise and Worship night filled the chapel April 6 with enthusiastic students and teens from across southern Manitoba.

CMU and the CMU Praise and Worship Band organized the event for a time of worship for CMU students as well as youth and young adults from Manitoba.

The evening praise night came just days before CMU exams. But the late timing didn’t stop about 200 people from coming out for a Friday night of songs and worship. The chapel, lit by two small house lamps on stage, provided an intimate atmosphere for worship.

Darryl Neustedter Barg, a sessional instructor and leader of the CMU Praise and Worship Band, was pleased with Infusion’s premiere. “It was wonderful. We didn’t know what to anticipate in terms of a turn out,” he said after the event. “It was great. It’s nice to finish our year with something like this.”

The CMU Praise and Worship Band performs at about 10 events each year, ranging from retreats and conferences to chapels, and now Infusion. Music at Infusion included praise standards to a moving piano solo by Jeremy Penner and a bongo drum duet featuring Joel Kroeker and Don Willms.

But Infusion was not simply a night to let loose.

“To help people come into the presence of God. That was our only goal. It has nothing to do with numbers or a particular sound,” Neustedter Barg said.

Sarah Schwab and Adrienne Redekopp, youth group members of River East Mennonite Brethren Church in Winnipeg, said Infusion was a rare chance for them to sing at a large praise and worship night.

“It was good just to sing for awhile. Singing is my favourite subject,” Redekopp said.

“We don’t often come to things like this so it was neat,” Schwab said. “The atmosphere, everyone here into the same thing – everyone here for the same purpose.”

The next Infusion night is scheduled for January 2002.

 – CMU release

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Last modified May 17, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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