Geneva Remembers 9/11: United Methodist Church to Perform Scott Stevenson’s Original 'Requiem 9/11'

Whether you call it irony or luck, the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks falls on a Sunday this year.

Some folks in Geneva are calling it “the Lord using circumstances kindly.”

There is nothing kind about the circumstances of 9/11, but gathering together in a service of worship, remembrance, prayer and forgiveness is something every community seems to be searching for on the anniversary of the attack on America.

As with many area churches, the is making a special effort to ensure that their service on 9/11 is both respectful and appropriate.

Bill Obalil, pastor of the United Methodist Church, said that he felt it was important to incorporate some commemoration in his 9/11 Sunday worship service.

“I know the catastrophe of the event will be on everyone’s mind, so I want to do something that is meaningful, moving and reverent,” Obalil said.

In preparation for the 9/11 service, Obalil approached Scott Stevenson, who has been the director of music at the United Methodist Church for over 20 years, to create a piece of music for the 9/11 service. Stevenson is an organist, jazz pianist and composer who was eager to accept the challenge.

“I knew that whatever he produced would be high-quality music that was sensitive to the situation and appropriate for Christian worship,” Obalil said.

Stevenson titled his original piece, Requiem 9/11, because as a requiem, it serves to provide a memory of the dead and take on the human experience of grief.

“Requiem 9/11 is a three-movement piece. The outer movements—titled 8:46 and 9:02 for the times the two planes struck the World Trade Center towers—set portions of the traditional Latin Requiem (Mass for the Dead) text, interspersed with English translation. The middle movement (O God Beyond All Time) is a setting of a paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer.

The service will also include Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, Obalil said. The church bulletin for the service will contain portions of the English and Latin text of the music for people to follow along if they are interested.

The Cantata Choir and Chamber Orchestra at the United Methodist Church will present Scott Stevenson’s Requiem 9/11 at the 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. services Sunday, Sept. 11. Church community members and the public are invited to attend.

“Requiem 9/11 is essentially our prolonged musical response to God’s grace and the blessings he has given to all of us,” Obalil said.