Last night was a truly sweet event that will remain with me for a long long time. It was in January of 1988 that I began work at Holy Communion as their Minister of Music- and 20 years later, the senior choir decided to meet together at Charcoal Grille and Rotisserie, my favorite local restaurant, for a gathering in my honor. 28 choir members and/or spouses braved the snow for a 5:30 dinner- complete with balloons and a wonderful roast/toast given by John Salvo. It was fantastic – and part of what made it so fantastic is that it was lovely and simple and completely heartfelt – and I got to enjoy the celebration with the very people who have been so central to these 20 happy years at Holy Communion. If there was anything I would have changed, I would have tried to put us around a couple of big round tables rather than at one really long one which made it impossible to really talk to everyone all at once. But on the other hand, it was good exercise for me to pop up from time to time and do my Social Butterfly flitting thing – and I hope I managed to make everybody there feel welcome and appreciated.
The roast/toast- was incredible. John Salvo is one of the basses in the choir and a very important member of the congregation . . . who knows the Bible cover to cover, knows major league baseball from coast to coast, and who has one of the best and sneakiest senses of humor I have ever encountered. He was a perfect choice to pen a tribute, which basically described me as someone from another planet, a strange planet where “everyone is a music major.” He also suggested that it’s the same planet Mozart came from. (blush blush) I was especially glad that he paid tribute to Kathy for being just the right person to smooth off most of my most serious “bumps” and to make me a halfway normal person. It’s weird how these words, rather roughly paraphrased by me, look very strange on the screen- because they aren’t conveying the affection and respect with which they were delivered. Perhaps my favorite moment was when he likened my remaining in Racine all these years to Clark Kent remaining in Smallville instead of heading off to Metropolis and his illustrious career. What I tried to convey in my ragged, spontaneous reply is that I LOVE being in Racine and it’s where I want to be . . . and I spend no time whatsoever pining over the adventures I’ve missed out on in far-off Metropolis. “Smallville” has afforded me all kinds of excitement and adventures and joy. And if I had headed off to the proverbial big city in search of musical fame and fortune, I almost certainly would have not gone on to become the choral equivalent of Superman . . . more likely I would have been Obscurity Guy or Kid Flop. But in a community like this and especially in a church like Holy Communion, it was just the right soil where I could really bloom and flourish and be happy.
Quick story- I have now pretty much forgotten what prompted me to apply for the Holy Communion position when it opened up in the wake of Dr Windh’s retirement back in 1987. I don’t remember if someone called me about it or how I even knew about it. (How odd that I can’t remember something so basic about such a momentous turn in my life.) I just know that I applied- I was one of five finalists the committee wanted to interview- and then realized at the last minute that i couldn’t go to the interview after all. (I can’t remember what had come up, but I’m pretty sure it was something with the station.) The committee accepted my apology and went ahead with the other interviews- and didn’t find the right fit in any of the four, so called me back to see if I was still interested in being interviewed. I was. . . although at the last minute I got a TERRIBLE case of cold feet, because by that point I had come to understand how big the shoes were that I was going to asked to fill. John Windh, the previous choir director, had led the Carthage Choir for more than thirty years at that point- and had been much admired at Holy Communion as well. . . and here I was without any experience whatsoever in conducting a church choir. I remember sitting in the parking lot of Popeye’s Chicken trying to scrape up the courage to show up for the interview, and what finally gave me the nudge I needed was when I realized that the committee had been kind enough to reassemble to meet me and the least I could do was meet them. So I was interviewed by a committee that included John Berge, Jeri Smith, Bill Diekhoff (one of the high school choir directors in town, who also sang in the senior choir) and a formidable retired music teacher named Henrietta Welch. I don’t know what I said or did or what they saw in my resume, but they were willing to give me a chance in the form of a six-month probationary hiring. And that’s how all of this began. . . and 20 years later, my probation has yet to be revoked!
I guess I am especially grateful for these 20 years because another minister of music in town has just been terminated in a move which has been intensely painful for him and horribly divisive for the congregation. It was a rude reminder that church music is an arena in which you can find yourself in a vortex of conflicting opinions, delicate balancing acts, turf wars, and plain old burnout. I am so blessed to have tasted so little of any of that over these years.
The ingredients that have made my experience at Holy Communion so overwhelmingly positive have included the congregation itself and what I would regard as a collective taste in music that is congenial with my own. . . not too highbrow (like some large affluent city churches where it would be all about doing Vivaldi motets with chamber orchestra) yet not too lowbrow (they don’t need bland or predictable praise music or a steady diet of pops-style stuff). They like a mix of musical styles and like them done well. Then there is a joy I’ve had in working with the pastors there. . . Ross Larsen, Sandy Roberts, Walter Hermanns, Kris Capel, Kathy Brown, and especially Jeff Barrow. JB and GB have had a scuffle or two over the years, but I am a better person and better church musician because of it and because of him. And most importantly, I have been so blessed to stand in front of such a wonderful group of singers over these many years. They are talented, they are fun, they are patient, they are positive, they are fearless . . . and I feel every bit as lucky as they do that we are in this together.
Not that it’s been a waltz through the park. I have said on a number of occasions that of my three jobs, my church job is the one that I wouldn’t / couldn’t do for free because it brought me such worry and stress. (Most of the time, I love my radio and college jobs so much that I feel like I should be paying someone instead of being paid.) But as I reflect on last night, which sets me to reflecting on the bigger picture at Holy Communion, it strikes me now for the first time that I enjoy HC so much and have become so comfortable in the job there that I probably would do it very happily for free. Of course, there is the pesky matter of our mortgage that prevents me from doing any of these jobs for free. But I count myself absurdly blessed indeed that I have three jobs that give me such joy and fulfillment with so little tedium. And I feel very certain that such a thing would not have happened had I blundered off to Metropolis. Nope, I found this life Racine, my wife’s hometown and the place I now call home, my Smallville.
Soli deo Gloria. To God alone be the glory.
pictured above: Kathy and me at the Charcoal Grille and Rotisserie with the senior choir. At this point, we’re listening to John Salvo’s delicious roast/toast.