Wonderful words of life

The Wonderful Words of Life Singing Group of Saskatoon has been ministering through music at nursing homes for more than 50 years. Since most of the choir members are now older than the people in their audiences, however, they figure it’s high time to retire. They did their last program June 16 at Central Haven Nursing Home.

Choir members in photo above, back (l–r) Martha Hamm, Peter Hamm, Victor Nickel, Herman Berg, Roy Skeldon, Helen Froese, Dan Fisher; front, Frank Froese, Bertha Froese, Kay Nickel, Irene Skeldon, Esther Berg, Albertine Speiser and Meta Wiebe. Photo: D. Polachic

The singing group was organized in 1952 by Abe Sawatsky to bring a ministry of sacred music to patients in the city’s Geriatric Centre.

“I don’t know how big the group was back then,” says Albertine Speiser, 88, who has been leader of the group for the past 27 years. “My late husband, John, and I joined in 1965 when we moved to Saskatoon from the farm. Jake Nickel was the leader then.

“We sang every three weeks on Mondays. The Geriatric Centre had long wings with lots of patients in each wing. We started at one end and worked our way down to the other end. I soon began playing for the group – on an electric keyboard that could be carried in a satchel. We just plugged it in and kept moving it along the hallways.”

In 1976, Speiser was asked to take over leadership of the group. Having played for choirs previously, she came well-equipped for the task. She was also a piano teacher.

In the early 1980s, when the Geriatric Centre was pulled down, Wonderful Words of Life moved on to sing at two other nursing homes: Central Haven, on the second Monday of every month, and Sunnyside Nursing Home on the fourth Sunday of every month. The routine has been the same for the last 20 years.

During her involvement with Wonderful Words of Life, Speiser says, the size of the group was always between 12 and 15. “We sang in full four-part harmony, men and women, and a fairly equal number, at that. People have come and gone, but it’s been amazing how the Lord always brought the right people so we could keep on singing.”

The choir members come from a variety of churches, including West Portal Mennonite Brethren, Friendship Baptist, Westmount Evangelical, and Hope Fellowship.

Speiser drew up the programs and chose the songs. “I usually picked a theme,” she says, “like encouragement, thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, faith, joy. I chose songs that fit the theme. We did a 45-minute program. No longer, because the audience attention span isn’t too long. We always did hymns, and sang the first, second and last verse.”

Speiser accompanied the group on the piano, but choir member Peter Hamm, who has been with the group for 30 years, also performed instrumental numbers, sometimes on violin, sometimes on guitar and mouth organ at the same time, occasionally on the omnichord.

The program was further varied with special music, often by a quartette composed of Herman and Esther Berg and Victor and Kay Nickel. “My good friend Mary Wall was our soloist for many years,” Speiser says. “She also sang duets with me. But she just passed away in April. She was 86.”

The choir never rehearsed. “We sang together out of the old hymnbooks, and the songs were hymns everyone has known all their lives. Besides, everybody can read notes,” Speiser says. “The only time we ever rehearsed was when we were invited to sing in Dalmeny at Spruce Manor Home. I think we had the rehearsal because some new people had joined up.”

The response to the music ministry has always been very warm and positive. “Some sat with tears in their eyes and said: ‘Thank you, thank you.’ Some sang along . . . they know all the words to every song. Others sat and slept – even when we were singing very loud.

“Their favourite hymns were ‘Love Lifted Me’ and ‘Haven of Rest’. One fellow with Downs Syndrome loved to play along on his guitar. His favourite hymn was ‘O For a Thousand Tongues To Sing’. We always started and closed our programs with a verse and chorus of ‘Wonderful Words of Life’, but one time we closed with his favourite, ‘O For a Thousand Tongues’. He was thrilled, but he said: ‘You forgot to do “Wonderful Words of Life”.’ When I told them this was our last time to sing, he wouldn’t let go of my hand.”

The choir saw their music as an avenue of ministry. “We were there to serve,” Speiser says, “to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ through our programs. I always opened with Scripture and prayer, and Rev. Frank Froese, who is 95, did a devotional. He and his wife Bertha, 92, have been with us all these years.”

Is she sad to be stepping down? “It’s time,” Speiser says philosophically. “How many people like me, at 88, are still doing this kind of thing? Or Frank Froese, at 95? The youngest person in the group is 75.”

This article first appeared in the Saskatoon Star–Phoenix. Reprinted by permission.