Church invites Austin native to sing with worship team
Published 8:50 am Friday, March 6, 2015
A local church will have a special, musical treat for the congregation this weekend.
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Austin will welcome Austin native Bret Hesla to worship at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and at the 9 and 10:30 a.m. Sunday worship services. Hesla will be leading the congregation in singing some of his original music and also music from around the world for the church’s annual “Listening to the World” Sunday.
Hesla has a long history of making progressive, community building and good-time music: leading vocals, writing songs and playing for churches, schools, rallies and community sings.
Bret Hesla
What: Austin native Bret Hesla will play this weekend at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church worship services.
When: 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 and 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
He is a founding member of the nationally acclaimed music group Bread for the Journey, a Minneapolis-based group specializing in teaching songs of faith, hope, justice and inclusion from the Christian church around the world.
He recently cofounded the group Minnesota Community Sings, www.mnsings.com, which works to revive the tradition of public community singing in Minneapolis, where thousands of citizens gathered on a nightly basis all summer long in the 1920s and 30s to sing together.
Minnesota Community Sings leads monthly community sings in the Twin Cities area and occasionally other communities around the state.
Hesla also works for St. Paul-based Advocating Change Together, an organization working to advance human rights and build leadership of people with developmental disabilities. He and his wife Jaimie Bennett live in south Minneapolis.
The public is invited to attend the worship services. Our Savior’s Lutheran Church is located at 1600 W. Oakland Avenue in Austin. For more information, please call Ruth Monson at the church, 507-437-4516.
