That was one the topics of conversation last night in my car as Eric, Mary Brooke, Kaya and I led a caravan of high schoolers to Wards United Methodist Church. This large, predominantly African American church is located just a few minutes from Friendship -- and we had agreed to sing there as part of a community worship service with other UM churches.
When you're visiting another church, you never know exactly what you're going to get - and last night was no exception. VIP warmed up with the talented, gracious and versatile Bob Snider, who had come to accompany us. (Hooray for Bob!) And then we had a team huddle. I told them the truth. There was no bulletin. No pre-planned order for the service. No selected hymns. Or pianist for the service. Or music stand. Or.. or - anything of the things we expect when we enter a church to participate in a worship service. I let VIP know: We have no clue what's going to happen or when it's going to happen. Be flexible. Follow me. Stay together. We'll be fine. And this group of singers just grinned - this was going to be interesting.
See, VIP usually performs well. But they have a special knack for performing well in situations that are... a little chaotic... unplanned....wild... a little who-knows-what's-about-to-happen-so-you-better-hang-on. We find ourselves in situations like that all the time on Choir Tour and as crazy as it may sound, I appreciate the opportunity. You can sort-of feel God saying, "So, this is not what you expected. What are you going to do?" And while it would be easy to freak out or panic or freeze, I think VIP tilts its collective head and says, "Bring it." We know what God's calling us to do and we're ready to deliver.
It helped that we had Byron and Bob with us. They're both amazing at what they do and while I think there was this collective sense of "Yikes," we're a strong worship team. We're not going to let a few curve balls keep us from having a grand slam worship service. Maybe God sometimes throws those balls just to make sure we know how to hit 'em.
We opened with a lovely piece by Craig Courtney called "Amazing Grace" with the words from the traditional hymn but not the tune. It's a beautiful song, with a lilting, Irish-esque feel to it. It's deceptively difficult but well worth the effort and as VIP sang the last note, the audience erupted into cheers and clapping. That was nice - but they hadn't seen anything yet.
Our second piece was a dynamic spiritual called "Lift Your Light" that weaves the old favorite "This Little Light of Mine" with a new melody. This is (probably) the choir's favorite piece in their folders right now and they could sing it all day long. It opens with a rich gospel a cappella section and then breaks out into this uptempo piece that just lifts you right up -- and that's what it did last night. The audience rose to its feet as VIP did what no one expects a choir like ours to do: we sang those rich gospel harmonies and we moved. The "step touch" is a staple of gospel singing and VIP can groove and move with the best of them.
As the conductor, I can't see exactly what's going on behind me but the audience is always reflected in the eyes of the choir. VIP lit up. And as the audience's cheers grew louder, so did VIP. By the time we hit the final line, there was more vocal praise, more whopping, and more clapping than I've heard in a long time.When we were done, I turned and the whole crowd seemed to be on its feet. I'm not sure who was smiling more: VIP or the audience. You could just feel your soul radiate with joy, warmed with the knowledge that what you'd just done was pleasing to God and to his people.
As I drove home, I could feel myself still smiling as I thought, "That was not what I expected -- and I wouldn't change a thing." I'm so grateful to Wards for letting us come sing and for the warm way they welcomed us to their church. At the end of the service, one of the visiting lay leaders, Mrs. Jones took roll of all the churches present. (Mrs. Jones happens to be one of my fourth grade teachers, but that's another story.) There were 15 churches present! Can you believe that? What a fun experience to come together on a cold and rainy night and hang out with some awesome, awesome people from different corners of our community.
Later in the evening, I was touched to receive this note, which I'll share with you now:
Holly:
Anne and I were very moved by the performance of the VIP’s tonight at Ward’s Church. You really “rocked the house”. Thank you for your leadership; and please thank the very talented young women and men who did so well representing themselves and Friendship Church! It is not easy to move into another culture and make such a strong and positive impact. You did it so very well!
Grace and Peace,
Don and Anne Stewart