Dear Partner in Ministry,
Last Thursday I had the pleasure of visiting Chip and Joan Filson at their home to talk about the capital campaign. Chip and Joan are former members of our choir, and Chip has long believed, as I do, that music is a vital part of the life of the church. At one point in our conversation he pulled me aside and said, Mark, I’ve brought this idea to several other churches and no one’s taken me up on it, but I’d like to try again. He proposed funding a New Orleans-style music ensemble to play before and after our July 5th Sunday service. He said he hoped that, at a time when we are consumed by some of the more political aspects of our Nation’s 250th, that some fun music, played to our community outside, could help remind people of the joyful music that is part of our country’s rich cultural heritage. With two days to work with, we found a wonderful group, and what happened on July 5th was something I won’t soon forget.
People from the neighborhood stopped on the sidewalk. Cars slowed down and rolled their windows open. After the service, the congregation gathered on the front steps, and at moments danced and even sang along to the music (some hymns we know and love are woven into this New Orleans Dixieland musical tradition). A couple of people passing by did a double take when they read the word “Presbyterian” on the church sign. As I stood there taking it all in, I thought, what a wonderful way to extend our beautiful community into the streets, like we do in so many other, albeit less noisy ways.
Grace Woodward preached a few weeks ago that people should be able to see the results of our faith; that we should be noticeable. As GPC spilled out onto the streets it was a living example of that. Several people told me, this needs to be a new tradition. I couldn’t agree more.
Mark
