Singspiration returns to Washington this Sunday at 4 p.m. at Beebe Memorial CME Church in Washington.

Singspiration, which is open to the public and which has its roots in a dream Fritz Tanner Sr. had, is a pan-Methodist songfest that features several choirs from different churches singing, not in competition with one another but in praise and worship. Any church with “Methodist” in its name may participate, according to the Rev. Charles “Charlie Mike” Smith, who helped Tanner in his effort to turn the dream into reality.

The inaugural Singspiration was held last year at Washington’s First United Methodist Church, where about 150 people — eight choirs from six churches — participated.

“It went so well we said, “Let’s do it each year, if we can, and let’s move it around,’” Smith said Friday. “We very intentionally have placed it at Beebe Memorial this year.”

The songfest will feature congregational singing of nineteen favorite hymns, concluding with the beloved revival benediction song, “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.” Other well-known hymns include: “Blessed Assurance,” “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” “Lord, I Want to Be a Christian,” “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” “We Shall Overcome,” “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

Smith will introduce each of the hymns with a brief story.

“We’ve tried like mad to bring in not only the downtown black and white Methodist churches. We stuck to Methodist because we were trying to figure out, OK, what’s a group we can get together? So, let’s do a pan-Methodist thing. So we’ve invited church in Beaufort County that has the name Methodist in its name to take part, and we’ve been fairly successful,” Smith said.

The Rev Doris N. Gorham, pastor of Beebe Memorial, expressed her delight that her members are hosting this year’s songfest.

In eastern North Carolina, that usually means the Christian Methodist Episcopal church, the African Methodist Episcopal church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and the United Methodist Church, according to Smith.

Smith knows a thing or two about music. In 1972, Smith was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera’s young-singers competition in Atlanta. In an interview in 2011, Smith said he was fortunate to take voice classes while a student at Duke University and be in a position to earn a scholarship to The Julliard School in New York City. Smith chose another career path.

Smith is a Washington native, retired minister and a member of the committee that produced “The United Methodist Hymnal 1989.”

Beebe Memorial CME Church is located at 427 N. Respess St, at the corner of West Fifth and Respess streets. A reception will follow the service, and parking is available both on street, behind the church, and across the street