By Kenneth Dahl
The community will come together as the Utah Valley State College Interfaith Student Association sponsors a free Christmas concert at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday Dec. 11 in the Provo Tabernacle, 99 S. University Avenue.
The program includes music from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Springville and American Fork Presbyterian Combined Choir and the Seventh-day Adventists.
The Interfaith Music Association aims to establish common ground of worship among varied religious disciplines in Utah County.
“The Interfaith Music Association provides events to unite individuals of all faiths in a common purpose of worshipping,” said Dan Davis, spokesperson for the Interfaith Music Association. “Utah County is unique – people are propelled to activity in some faith.”
The IMA was founded in 1999 by Mariah Fralick. Fralick, who was raised in the East and is a member of the LDS Church, said the IMA has helped her connect with the Utah County community.
“As a member of the LDS faith in the eastern United States I was the minority,” Fralick said. “After settling here, I started feeling like I was getting a myopic view of this community because I was not reaching out as much as I would like.”
Fralick said the IMA has helped her to look beyond the LDS environment she has lived in for the last ten years.
“I wanted to look beyond the scope of my world as an LDS mom in my little neighborhood,” Fralick said. “This has been a great connection with the community. I wanted to become involved in the community with other faiths. I knew there were some interfaith programs already in place.”
Fralick now serves as the IMA director. The IMA provides a gathering place for residents to volunteer their talents. Currently there are 36 people volunteering with the IMA.
“We are always looking for musicians and people willing to share their talents,” Fralick said. “We will be starting an e-mail list at the concert of Wednesday to help spread the word about our events and needs.”
IMA helps match the needs of smaller churches with the rich resources of the Utah Valley interfaith community.
Not only will various local religious disciplines participate, but the IMA also pulls local talent from the community organizations. The Y Mountain Bag Pipe Band and the Porter Family Singers are community organizations participating in the event.
Even with the variety of groups performing in the concert Fralick said the theme for the concert will be the Christmas story as found in Luke 2.
“There will be congregational carols and scripture readings,” Fralick said. “All of the music is faith based.”
Approximately 10 different religious disciplines will perform.
