Every holiday has its traditions and the singing at the Old County Church the Sunday before Thanksgiving has become a Pike County holiday tradition.

For 10 years, John and Mary Sue Senn have opened wide the doors of the Old County Church and invited those who enjoy a cappella singing to join them for one hour and 15 minutes in song.

The Senns rescued the original Hamilton Crossroads Church of Christ building more than 10 years ago for no reason other than to preserve the historic structure.

“The church was offered to anyone who would move it to make way for the new church building,” John Senn said. “We didn’t want to see it torn down and we had a place for it but we didn’t have any plans for it other than to preserve it.”

The Senns enjoy a cappella singing and they decided to invite a few friends to the church for a singing and, right away, they realized that others enjoyed singing as much as they did.

“At first, we had a singing in the spring and around Thanksgiving and they both worked fine, but it just seemed like the best time was right before the holidays,” Senn said. “So, we started having the singings at the Old Country Church the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This will be our tenth year and that’s a milestone year.”

The Singing at the Old Country Church is now held only once a year and that seems to make it more special.

“We have people who come from all around – Ozark, Dothan, Samson, everywhere and we welcome them all,” Senn said. “Some people come who have never sung or even heard the kind of music we sing. I guess you could just call in harmony singing.”

Senn said the church is small and the acoustics are good so “harmony” can be sung from anywhere.

“At the Old Country Church, you don’t have to sit together to sing in harmony,” he said.

The singing lasts one hour and 15 minutes because an hour is not long enough and an hour and a half is too long.

“We start on time and end on time,” Senn said. “During the first half, the leaders choose the songs they like to lead and we invite anyone who want to lead to lead. The second half, we take requests. All of the songs are from ‘The Songs of the Church’ songbook and many of them are the familiar ‘church’ songs that we all enjoy singing.”

The singing at the Old Country Church will begin promptly at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18 and end promptly at 3:15 p.m.

No refreshments are served. No offering is taken. The service is simply one of song.

The Old Country Church is on the left about three miles south of Brundidge on Highway 231. Come early because if you’re on time, you’re late. When the clock strikes 2 p.m. the singing begins.