After circumstances barred the choral event from happening last year, the Community Choir Festival is returning this weekend.

The festival, which will feature about 70 singers from First Baptist, First United Methodist, First Presbyterian and First Christian churches, kicks off with group rehearsals Friday night and Saturday. Anyone interested is invited to join.

Sunday at 4 p.m., the public is invited to hear the finished product.

Dr. Greg Barmer, music director at First Baptist, said this year’s performance is moving to First Christian Church’s new sanctuary, and the Roberson-Bagwell Endowment Fund covers performance-related costs.

“It really has been a prime example in the community, I think, for ecumenical work among the churches,” Barmer said. “It really is a beautiful thing and a sacred thing.”

Most of the appeal of the festival weekend is the fact that the four different denominations put aside their little differences to create this experience, according to Barmer.

“I think they will catch, and have in the past caught, part of that spirit of unity under the lordship of Christ,” he said. “I think that’s the most significant thing that takes place.”

A brass quartet will accompany the choir, featuring a wide range of music styles, from spirituals to contemporary Christian to classic hymns. Dr. Gregory Parker, chair of the Department of Music at Washington and Lee University, will be welcomed as the guest conductor.

In Washington’s faith community, it will be a welcome event, especially after a tough year last year, Barmer said. First Baptist lost head pastor Dr. Jimmy Moore to cancer, First Presbyterian lost its music director, and First Christian was recovering after a church fire.

The festival has been an annual event for the past decade.

“We all had serious challenges going on at the time. Really, that was the reason, not because it had faded or lost its glamour,” Barmer said of last year’s hiatus. “It was just a challenge all the way around.”

Everyone is glad to be back, and they are ready to share the spirit of unity with the Washington area, Barmer said.

“When that’s paired with the power of the Holy Spirit at work, it becomes a powerful thing,” he said.

The Community Choir Festival performance will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday at First Christian Church, 307 E. Third St., Washington. There is no cost to attend.