Communities across the Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada fellowship will soon hear a familiar sacred repertoire through an entirely fresh lens, as Bethel College announced that Dr. Cynthia Neufeld Smith will headline its next campus performance on Nov. 10 at 7 p.m., bethelks.edu reported.
The upcoming recital, titled “Known or Unknown – Familiar Hymns Arranged by Less Familiar Composers,” takes place in the Administration Building chapel, with a simultaneous livestream provided for audiences tuning in from afar. Smith has curated a program featuring arrangements of 16 distinct hymns, the vast majority of which find their home in Voices Together—the comprehensive hymnal released in 2020 that currently guides worship in congregations across both North American denominations.
True to her lifelong background in congregational music ministry, Smith plans to weave in specific moments for the audience to join their voices with the pipe organ.
Alongside her husband, Roger, she retired in 2018 from pastoring Southern Hills Mennonite Church in Topeka, though her involvement in sacred arts never truly paused. She currently serves as the music coordinator for Southern Hills and as assistant organist at First Presbyterian Church in Topeka. Her academic credentials span music theory, theology, organ performance, choral conducting, and church music, earned across Bluffton University, Bowling Green State University, the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), and the University of Kansas.
Beyond her local parish work, she taught worship and liturgical arts through the AMBS Great Plains Seminary Education Program and applied organ at Washburn University. When the committee assembled to produce the 2020 Voices Together hymnal, Smith counted taking part in that editorial effort as a particular professional delight.
The performance anchors Bethel’s ongoing Organ Recital Series, an initiative entirely free and open to the public, made possible by a generous memorial gift from the family of Kathy Voran. For those unable to travel to the campus, the music department livestreams all scheduled events via its official YouTube channel.
Founded in 1887, Bethel College holds the distinction of being the oldest Mennonite college in North America. The four-year liberal arts institution earned the #25 spot in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Regional College Midwest rankings for 2026, and remains recognized for its broader civic and cultural programming, including its designation as a Truth, Community Healing and Transformation Campus Center.
The Nov. 10 recital begins at 7 p.m. Additional details regarding the livestream and campus directions are available through the college at www.bethelks.edu.
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