“Hope Marches On!”

NYSB Visit to Western Pennsylvania Division

By Major Jodi Lloyd (Program Secretary, Western Pennsylvania Division)

NOVEMBER 19-21, 2021 – It was a joy to host the NYSB and welcome them to the Western Pennsylvania Division. On Friday evening, we hosted a concert at the Pittsburgh Temple Corps to celebrate the kick-off of this year’s kettle campaign: Hope Marches On.  After a beautiful reception welcoming Advisory Board members, donors and friends of The Salvation Army, the NYSB treated the full chapel to a beautiful concert.  Many of the concertgoers had never heard the NYSB before.  Their response to the band was overwhelming and even a couple of weeks later people are sharing with us their appreciation and love of the band’s ministry from this special evening.

On Saturday, the band hosted a workshop for young people from around the division, many of the children joining in from the weekly Greater Pittsburgh Music School program.  A favorite moment was when all the young people joined the band for chorus time and together, they sang a song the music school participants had been working on, “He Knows My Name.”  The song Is a beautiful prayer for these children to sing – and alongside the NYSB – will be a lasting memory.

It was thrilling to have the NYSB participate in downtown holiday kickoff activities that same evening.  To begin the evening, the band played in front of the Pittsburgh Creche, the only authorized replica of the Nativity scene that Saint John Paul II commissioned for the Vatican.  This is the 23rd year it’s been displayed in the city; a beautiful scene to hear and see the band play in front of this city’s annual landmark.  The band then traveled in groups of small ensembles to play throughout the city to support local corps’ kettle stands.  As hundreds of people turned the corner or crossed the street and began to hear the band’s music, their faces lit up and bodies swayed back and forth – Christmas is here!

The weekend ended with the staff band leading the Pittsburgh Temple worship service, another beautiful ministry opportunity to listen and be encouraged by their music and the sharing of the word by Lt. Colonel Kathleen Steele.

WPA will long remember this weekend and is so thankful for the connections that were made and the joy the NYSB shared with so many throughout these days together.