SingCon 2025: Where Singing Becomes Prayer
Over a hundred participants from North America, Europe, and even Australia gathered from October 23–26 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, to pray and learn together. The fifth Intercontinental Church Singing Conference of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church - SingCon - brought together everyone interested in church singing.
Representing the Philadelphia Archeparchy were 39 participants, who will carry the knowledge and spirit of the conference to their parishes and the faithful of our Church. This year’s gathering took place at the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Assumption Catholic School in Perth Amboy. Thanks to the hospitality of Rev. Ivan Turyk, school principal Lisette Shumny, the Sisters Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará, students, parishioners, and volunteers, participants had comfortable conditions for learning and prayer.
The SingCon program was rich and varied: liturgical services, rehearsals, thematic workshops, and, of course, communal prayer — Vespers, the Hours, Divine Liturgy, and Parastas. The highlight of the second evening was the keynote lecture by Hieromonk Herman Majkrzak, “The Cross of Artistic Excellence: Church Musicianship as an Ascetic Path of Salvation.” He presented the idea of the cantor’s dual vocation — “Martha and Mary in one person,” which unites action and listening.
The culmination of the conference was the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, presided over by Metropolitan Borys Gudziak. In his sermon, he invited participants to recognize God’s closeness in the life of anyone who suffers: "The Lord does not look from afar. He touches. He enters into human pain to lift it up. This is not just a story of a miracle — it is testimony that God is concrete, personal, and near."
Metropolitan Borys emphasized that singing in the liturgy is not simply an art, but a breath of trust: "Bring to God during this Liturgy that place in your heart where you do not trust. Allow Jesus to touch this place. For the song we offer is not merely art — it is the breath of trust."
During the SingCon Town Hall, Metropolitan Borys called SingCon a “movement” that extends far beyond the conference itself, and Larisa Galadza added: "SingCon is not only a place to learn church singing; it is a community of people seeking God in the beauty of the liturgy. It is a place where a common language of prayer is born."
The next, sixth annual SingCon will take place September 10–14, 2026, at Saint Elias Church in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
