Free community concert to feature faith formation ministry and local musicians
Published: August 28, 2025
The Soil and The Seed Project will also offer a workshop for parents and teachers
By Annette Brill Bergstresser
ELKHART, Indiana (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) — A free concert to be held at Goshen (Indiana) College’s Sauder Concert Hall at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, will feature The Soil and The Seed Project, a Christian ministry that creates resources for spiritual renewal for individuals, families and communities. The public is warmly invited to attend.
Founded in 2021 as a nonprofit ministry of Virginia Mennonite Missions, The Soil and The Seed Project creates music, art and Little Liturgies to nurture faith in Jesus through the ordinary moments of life. The project has released more than 165 songs; collaborated with more than 100 musicians, artists and poets; and now shares materials freely with people in more than 140 countries.
The Sept. 10 concert will feature project founders Seth Crissman, MDiv, and Greg Yoder and include local musicians Kent Dutchersmith, Gwen and Les Gustafson-Zook, Seth Hendricks, Aaron Johnson, David Kempf, Madalyn Metzger, Faith Miller, and students from Bethany Christian Schools, Goshen High School, Goshen College and the Elkhart County area.
Crissman and Yoder will also offer “Teach Me, O LORD: A Faith Formation Workshop for Teachers, Parents, Caregivers, Church Leaders” on Thursday, Sept. 11, 8:30–11:30 a.m. ET, at Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship, 2509 Berkey Avenue in Goshen. The workshop will build on the resources they create that weave together original music, visual art, prayers and invitations to theological reflection that grow out of the Anabaptist tradition of Christian faith and practice. Children are welcome to attend; childcare and/or child-friendly activities will be available. There is no cost to participate, but registration is encouraged.
Crissman and Yoder have been singing, writing and working together in various capacities since 2010. Their current project brings together their background and experience as musicians, special education and music teachers, local missionaries, directors of nonprofit organizations, worship leaders, speakers, gardeners and parents. As songwriters and members of The Walking Roots Band, they last performed in Elkhart/Goshen in 2013 and 2017.
“I first heard of Seth and Greg and The Walking Roots Band when I listened to a music CD that accompanied some Shine Sunday school materials from MennoMedia,” said Malinda Elizabeth Berry, PhD, Director of the Faith Formation Collaborative of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana. “I was so pleased that a group of Mennonite songwriters was adding to the catalog of Sunday school and camp songs. What they’re offering Christian communities of various shapes, sizes and traditions is a fresh way to nurture relationships that complements traditional ways of doing church.”
The Faith Formation Collaborative — which works with the church to form people who respond to God’s presence, sense the Spirit’s movement and know Jesus at the center of their lives — is hosting The Soil and The Seed Project’s Sept. 9–11 visit to Elkhart County. Berry said she’s excited to be part of introducing the project leaders and their faith formation resources to the community.
The project’s latest release, published in May, is “Sermon on the Mount,” the first of a series of Bible Memory collections to be released each summer through 2027. The first half of the project sets 48 of the 111 verses of Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount to music word for word. The second half features original songs by artists who respond to the text in poetry, prayer and praise. An accompanying print resource includes 11 weekly liturgies, questions for conversation, artwork, and lyrics/chords for all of the songs. MP3s and PDFs, including five coloring pages created for the collection, are also available. These free faith formation resources will be available to participants at the Sept. 10 concert.
“While I grew up singing, I didn’t grow up doing much Bible memory beyond Psalm 23, the Lord’s Prayer and the books of the Bible,” Berry reflected. “What inspires me about The Soil and The Seed Project is the way it fuses these two spiritual practices — singing and Bible memory — in a contemporary way. This project has a wonderful intra-Anabaptist and ecumenical reach, making it a natural partner for AMBS’s Faith Formation Collaborative.”
During their visit, Crissman and Yoder will also perform for and interact with students of Goshen College and Bethany Christian Schools in Goshen.
Located in Elkhart, Indiana, on ancestral land of the Potawatomi and Miami peoples, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary is a learning community with an Anabaptist vision, offering theological education for learners both on campus and at a distance as well as a wide array of lifelong learning programs — all with the goal of educating followers of Jesus Christ to be leaders for God’s reconciling mission in the world. ambs.edu
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