Listener Letters
Thank you for showering Pastor Bruce Benson with your farewell good wishes and sharing your Sing For Joy memories with us! Here are a few of the messages we received on Facebook, via email and in handwritten letters from around the country:
"I have enjoyed Sing For Joy for so many years. Thank you for that privilege. It is a wonderful way to start a Sunday morning." -Bloomington, Minnesota
"Congratulations on an excellent job well done. I looked forward to hearing your voice and your messages of hope and inspiration you shared with the listening audience every Sunday morning. ... I'm both 'happy and sad' for you. Happy that you realize there is a time to stop and sad to see you go. May God bless you and give you a long healthy life span." -Chesapeake, Virginia
"I first heard your program on radio in the Philippines, not long after I moved there in 2014. ... Your program was a refreshing and welcome bit of home to me, and I looked forward to it every week. I subscribed to the newsletter, and you became my long-distance pastor in a sense." -Email
"I have loved your program for years and will dearly miss your calming voice on Sunday morning." -Email
"Thank you for your years of service, Pastor Benson. We wish you the very best, good health, safety, good courage and cheer." -Email
"Such a lovely program; have enjoyed it for years! With every good wish!" -Facebook
"I have appreciated your hosting of the program. It is part of my Sunday morning routine." -Facebook
"I have enjoyed every monthly letter! I will miss your wisdom, grace and especially your notes about church music and the joy of singing together. Sing For Joy is a treasure to be guarded." -Shoreview, Minnesota
"Thank you so much for your great work. We always trusted and appreciated your insights." -Roxboro, North Carolina
"Your kind words were often the perfect inspiration and encouragement for different times in the past. I especially appreciated the broadcast during times I attended churches that did not appreciate traditional/historic Christian music. God bless you in your retirement." -Facebook
"You will be greatly missed! When I couldn't attend worship during my cancer treatment and the pandemic I would listen to Sing For Joy often during the week ... especially when I couldn't sleep. I always felt my faith was nourished! Thank you!" -Facebook
"Thank you for the beauty!" -Instagram
"I have truly appreciated your excellent commentary for years. Thank you. No one else in my experience has related the choice and content of the weekly hymns to the Bible lessons for that week. I have found understanding this relationship meaningful and will miss your thoughtful insights! May you enjoy a long and healthy retirement." -Warrington, Pennsylvania
"Your meditations have been thoughtful and helpful, better than any sermon I hear on Sunday mornings. So, this is just a note to thank you for your beautifully written columns over the years. They mean a great deal to me and I will miss them." -Columbia, Missouri
"I especially appreciated your messages in the monthly paper ... my husband always listened to the program Sunday morning, as he was reviewing his Sunday sermon." -Montevideo, Minnesota
"Thank you so much for your intelligent, knowledgeable and insightful comments and musical selections. It has meant a great deal to us." -Lexington, Virginia
"I will miss your letters most of all — each one stunning. You will be missed more than you can imagine!" -St. Louis, Missouri
"I appreciate Pastor Benson's commentary on each week's selections. And I will appreciate the work of the next host of Sing For Joy. Pastor Benson, thank you for your many years of faithful ministry of music. Godspeed in the next part of your faith journey." -Millersburg, Pennsylvania
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your years of faithful service on Sing For Joy. Your voice has greeted my family every Sunday for well over 15 years. ... God's richest blessings on you. You have brought so much joy and peace to so many people." -Montevallo, Alabama
"Wishing him a long & happy retirement! ... His pleasant voice and manner have been perfect to narrate the musical program." -St. Louis, Missouri
"Thanks for this awesome ministry. Sing For Joy is our way of beginning the week on Sunday night." -Online
"Thank you to you and your staff for the past years of your service to Sing For Joy. It has been great. My wife and I started listening to Alvin Rueter at Sing For Joy about 1983, and you have lived up to the standard that he set. I am sure that Alexandra will do as well too. ... Enjoy your retirement, and thanks to Alexandra for carrying on Sing For Joy." -Goshen, Indiana
"We are going to miss you, Pastor. We want your retirement to be filled with music and joy just as your weekly broadcast fills our kitchen each Sunday." -Plymouth, Massachusetts
"Thank you Pastor Benson, for the monthly homilies and the superlative choice of music to feed our souls. You will be missed!" -Delmar, Maryland
"You have been an inspiration to many, with your thoughtful letters every month and commentary every week. Thank you!" -Milwaukee, Wisconsin
"What a gift he has been to us. He launches our Sunday liturgy each Sunday morning." -Cary, North Carolina
"Thanks to Pastor Bruce Benson for many years of thoughtful, but also joyful broadcasting." -Wheaton, Illinois
