Okay, I know this is the Asphalt Jesus blog, but since I’m on tour with Countryside’s Faith Singers right now, I couldn’t help but give an update on how the kids are doing. Call this a shout out for Affirmation 4 – artful and spirited worship!
Last night was the Faith Singers’ fourth performance on the road. They performed at the Congregational Church of San Mateo, CA, just south of San Francisco. Their performance spoke to me on a number of levels, not only about music, but also about life and Spirit. I’ll explain this, but need to back up a couple days.
The Faith Singers tour started with two performances in North Platte, singing for the Annual Meeting of the UCC’s Nebraska Conference last Saturday night, and for worship at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) the following morning. Both performances were extremely well received, with a “standing O” the first night and lots of glowing accolades after church Sunday morning.
As good as those performances were, the kids were pretty much focused on the mechanics of performance, having just started their tour. There were little glitches here and there (nothing serious), and if you were familiar with the Faith Singers, you could tell they were getting their feet wet.
The second night of the tour, the kids performed at First Plymouth UCC in Denver, CO. With two performances under their belts, the kids were no longer so focused so much on mechanics. With most of the rough spots smoothed over, they were free to focus more on their audience, projecting their sound out into the sanctuary. They sang confidently and clearly, filling the sanctuary and giving their sound texture and shape. By the end of the program, there was so much energy in the audience that people were literally dancing in the aisles during the final song (“Stop By, Lord”), which Jim had the singers repeat after a standing ovation went on and on.
My favorite performance, though, was last night in San Mateo, though the kids were not well set up to have a great performance,. They had spent much of the day in airports and on the plane between Denver and San Francisco. After being fed a tasty and nourishing meal by the church, which perked them up, they entered the sanctuary to perform only to find it mostly empty. Despite the fact that the concert had been advertized on a large, professionally-created poster on a prominent San Mateo street outside the church, a scant dozen or so showed up for the performance – not even as many as it takes to provide home-stays.
I feared for the Faith Singers’ morale. In college I toured with a singing group, and while finishing my doctorate at Princeton I served as a part-time, interim minister for a congregation of twenty-five members. In both cases I learned first-hand how much energy it takes out of a person when few souls are occupying the pews. No matter how much energy you try to project, it can feel like it’s all disappearing down a bottomless void and quickly deflate you unless …. well, let’s hold the “unless” part aside for now.
While deflation and discouragement was what I worried over for the Faith Singers as they entered the nearly vacant sanctuary, I needn’t have worried. Our youth discovered the “unless” part quite on their own. Since they had gotten the difficult mechanical issues worked out the first night of the tour, they didn’t need to put their energies there. And since there was little audience to project to, it was pointless to focus on the audience as they had the night before. Last night, the Faith Singers focused neither on mechanics nor projection, simply on the joy of listening to each other, and responding to one another, singing as a group.
As an audience member, you could feel the singers actively listening to each other, taking in the energy around them and reflecting it out to their fellow group members. They didn’t need an audience. They were caught up in each other and the beauty they were creating together. Throughout the entire concert they smiled as they sang like I’ve never seen them smile before. To be sure, the Faith Singers had been prompted to smile more in their pre-concert talk. But these smiles came from more than just prompting. You could tell that they arose from within, from a since awe and wonder.
It was an electrifying experience to take all this. It was magical. It was sacred. As I sat and listened, trying to hold back tears, I thought to myself, “This is what church looks and feels like when it starts becoming aware of itself and the magic in its midst.” When people can move beyond the mechanics of worship and committee meetings, and when they move beyond “projection” (or the notion that the “true” mission of the church is “out there somewhere”) and simply focus on their connection to each other – the harmonies and interwoven rhythms they create under the Master’s direction – magic happens. Sacred space enters our world. That special sense of sacredness is an amazingly attractive force. You want to jump up, jump in, and become a part of it.
Last night, the Faith Singers didn’t need anyone in the room listening to them. In listening deeply to each other, they started responding to an energy (and dare I say a Presence) far greater than them all. And that energy (and Presence) was deeply attractive. Isn’t it ironic that when a group of people become deeply engaged with each other and the power that unites them, without concern for what they are “doing” for others, that they become a powerfully attractive force to the rest of us?