Joe Trojcak, Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish’s Music Director/Pipe Organist, right, and Leah Payne, pastor of In His Presence Ministries and Christian Churches United’s director of Help Ministries, collaborated to tell the story of the birth of Jesus on the 2025 edition of Joy to the Burg.The reason for the Christmas season opens an album created to combat homelessness in Harrisburg, thanks to a lifelong member of Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Middletown.
“Our Savior, The Christ,” features the story of the birth of Jesus as told in Luke 2:8-14. Seven Sorrows’ Music Director/Pipe Organist Joe Trojcak composed and arranged the piece for Joy to the Burg 2025, a two-disc collection of religious and secular holiday music from Harrisburg-area artists.
“Every year I have been known as the anchor keeping the real meaning of Christmas in the album,” said Trojcak, who has been involved with Joy to the Burg since its inception in 2019. “I could literally feel my guardian angel and others helping me as I did this.”
The project is special for Trojcak because it gives him an opportunity to practice Jesus Christ’s teaching to serve “the least of these.” All proceeds are donated to Christian Churches United, which uses the funds to serve the unhoused in the Harrisburg area.
“I am given this musical talent and Joy to the Burg allows me to put my talent to work,” Trojcak said.
The piece also builds ecumenism with our Protestant brothers and sisters. The story of Christ’s birth, as told by Luke the Evangelist, is read by Leah Payne, pastor of In His Presence Ministries and Christian Churches United’s director of Help Ministries.
“It is the word of God, it is living, and tells the story of one of the greatest stories ever told,” Payne said. “We are allowed to be who we are because of the miracle that happened.”
Trojcak’s love for music began in the same parish he serves today, Seven Sorrows. He remembers his second-grade class performing a play about the story of Noah’s Ark. Trojcak was supposed to hold one end of a rainbow that appeared in the sky after the great flood, but the young boy was more fascinated by the church’s pipe organ. He began taking piano lessons the next year and never looked back.
In addition to serving as Seven Sorrows’ music director/pipe organist since 2020, Trojcak has owned Progressive Enterprises Sound Studios for 40 years, taught at HACC and Lebanon Valley College, and performed in several local bands. His involvement with Joy to the Burg began in 2019 when the project performed its first concert at HACC. He has contributed a religious piece to the album every year since and also serves as the concert’s stage manager.
The two-disc CD set of Joy to the Burg is available at all locations of Karns Foods. Listeners can also find it on Apple Music and Spotify. Proceeds from streaming platforms are minuscule compared to those from the album, so people who prefer to listen online are encouraged to donate to help the homeless at www.joytotheburg.com.
(Photo by Alex J. Hayes, a freelance reporter for The Catholic Witness.)
By Alex J. Hayes, The Catholic Witness
