New Bethany Ministries extending pandemic housing program to aid homeless
Updated Dec 20, 2020;
Those seeking help in paying rent, preventing eviction and needing other housing assistance can continue to turn to New Bethany Ministries for help.
The nonprofit organization’s Housing Assistance Program, designed to help prevent homelessness in the Lehigh Valley during the coronavirus pandemic, will become permanent, representatives said.
The program initially began when Gov. Tom Wolf ordered a shutdown of all non-essential businesses and issued a stay-at-home order in March to help thwart the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, residents of Bethlehem and other Lehigh Valley areas either newly unemployed or experiencing a pay reduction began contacting New Bethany Ministries for housing assistance.
It has been since March, the last time the Bach Choir of Bethlehem sang together, but in October, the choir s 65 members got together for the first time in more than six months at Little Pond Arts in Moore Township, Northampton County, where the group â socially distanced and outdoors - recorded music for its first-ever virtual Christmas concert.
The choir s concert, Opening Up Our Hearts: The Music and Inspiration of Christmas, will premiere online at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
The event is the result of 52 separate rehearsal sessions of small groups of eight led by choir director Greg Funfgeld.
The program includes Robert Parsons Ave Maria; traditional favorite Ding Dong Merrily on High; Go Tell It on the Mountain; as arranged by Paul Sjolund; and the choir s traditional concert closer, Franz Xaver Gruber s Silent Night.