The next performance in Bethel’s Organ Recital Series will be a celebration of hymns.
Dr. Cynthia Neufeld Smith, Topeka, will give a recital Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in the Administration Building chapel, or by livestream.
Her program is titled “Known or Unknown – Familiar Hymns Arranged by Less Familiar Composers.” It comprises arrangements of 16 hymns, most of which can be found in Voices Together, the hymnal used in many Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada congregations.
A lifelong church musician, Smith will include in her program a few chances for the audience to sing along.
Smith has degrees in music theory, theology, organ performance, choral conducting and church music from Bluffton (Ohio) University, Bowling Green State University, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) and the University of Kansas.
She and her husband Roger retired in 2018 from pastoring Southern Hills Mennonite Church in Topeka. In addition, she taught worship and liturgical arts courses through the AMBS Great Plains Seminary Education Program, and applied organ at Washburn University in Topeka.
She counts it a particular delight to have been part of the committee that produced Voices Together, which was released in 2020.
Smith continues to serve as music coordinator for Southern Hills and as assistant organist at First Presbyterian Church, Topeka. She has two adult children and three grandchildren.
Bethel’s Organ Recital Series is free and open to the public, supported by a generous memorial gift from the family of Kathy Voran.
All Bethel music department events are livestreamed. Subscribe to the department’s YouTube channel to receive notifications.
Bethel is a four-year liberal arts college founded in 1887 and is the oldest Mennonite college in North America. Bethel is ranked #25 in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Regional College Midwest for 2026. Bethel was the only Kansas college or university to be named a Truth, Community Healing and Transformation (TCHT) Campus Center, in 2021. For more information, see www.bethelks.edu
PHOTO: Cynthia Neufeld Smith at the organ in Grace Cathedral, Topeka
