In the course of a typical year, I am responsible for 260 morning shows – and over the course of well more than a decade of doing the program, that translates into nearly three thousand interviews I’ve conducted over the years- ranging from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter all the way to the most ordinary of citizens speaking on the radio for the first time (and often the last time) in their lives.
But today’s interviews were different, and not just because it was Saturday. It was also outside the familiar confines of WGTD’s studios, in another of my homes-away-from-home but a place that has nothing to do with my life as a radio journalist. . . Holy Communion Lutheran Church, where I am minister of music. I was asked by the stewardship committee if I would be willing to help them put together a twelve-minute video about Holy Communion in which various members of the church would talk about what it has meant to them over the years. The committee wanted me to help with the interviews themselves, not on camera as such but posing the questions to each person and doing what I could to make each person feel comfortable and able to share their thoughts as effectively as possible.
Sounded easy.
Actually, it wasn’t.
This was rather new, uncharted territory for everyone concerned- but especially for the church members who had agreed to do this. They did not know any of the specific questions ahead of time, and some of them seemed to have only the vaguest notion of what this project was about and for what purpose this video was being created. And while some of them had no problem answering the questions posed to them, others seemed to be struggling with questions which they had evidently never considered before, such as “Why do you belong to Holy Communion when you could belong to any other church in town? Or no church at all?” “How does Holy Communion fulfill your spiritual needs?” “Tell us about a memorable moment here at Holy Communion that you will never forget.” It was so interesting to see how some people took each question with unmistakable relish, a twinkle in their eyes, eager to share their thoughts- while someone else might be asked the very same question and grimace as though I’d just asked them to summarize the history of Lichtenstein. Actually, nobody seemed quite as thrown as that but there was marked difference between the naturals and those for whom this was a tough stretch, pulling them way out of their comfort zone . . . and it was my role to put everybody to ease as much as possible and to tweak the questions as we went along according to each person and their particular story.
And what was neat about that is that every single person contributed something valuable to the proceedings- even those for whom this was a tough challenge. I loved how Lisa expressed her hope for the church’s future as her beautiful, energetic young daughter squirmed beside her. I was moved by the words of Marianne who talked about her (only) daughter being killed in a car accident and of what this church did to help her through those incredibly dark days, and of the brilliant murals created in her memory that emblazon the hallways of the Sunday School wing. I loved how Tom, a talented singer in a rock band who also sings a couple of songs on my CD, talked about how so many congregations are building churches with stages and lights but that his very strong preference remains with a traditional kind of sanctuary such as we have at Holy Communion. And it was neat to hear from a young woman who is now on our staff but who has been a part of Holy Communion since preschool. Talk about a Journey of Faith. And in some ways my favorite thing of all was when someone in answering the question about “memorable moments” replied that while she absolutely loves Christmas Eve when I sing “O Holy Night” and Easter when Kathy sings “Resurrection,” what she cherishes most about Holy Communion is what happens on the so-called “ordinary” days.
I did not expect this to feel so completely different from my morning show interviews, but it did. Part of it was that the “guests” were to address their answers directly to me, and not be glancing all over the room – so I had to really look at them in turn, and it made me realize just how “twitchy” a person I am! And unlike the morning show format where there is plenty of time for luxuriantly lengthy answers, these answers needed to be kept as succinct as possible. So it was sometimes a matter of telling someone who has just done their best to answer a question that they need to do it again. (The cameraman actually did that more than I did.) And it was odd to be asking questions that were quite personal – (although I did resist the urge to ask that famous Barbara Walters question “if you were a tree, what kind of a tree would you be.”) – and which dealt with people’s religious faith. (Because WGTD is a publicly funded station, I have to swerve around most questions of this nature as though a ravenous alligator had crossed my path.)
A couple of times I sort of caught myself in mid-question, thinking “how can you ask somebody that?” before remembering “O yeah, I’m at church now. This is not the morning show.” And I eventually realized that the beauty of radio is that there is no picture, which makes a HUGE difference in how comfortable people feel – heck, they can pick their nose the whole time they’re talking, if so inclined- just so long as their speech isn’t affected. But to have to talk with a video camera staring down your throat and with studio lights blazing on all sides – that’s tough, and the challenge of keeping people comfortable was far sterner than it ever is at the station. But people by and large came through with flying colors- and not so much because of anything I did or said but because they genuinely care about Holy Communion and wanted to do as good a job as they could on behalf of their congregation.
pictured: just getting ready to begin this morning’s first interview. By the way, the phone rang this morning at 8:20, about two minutes after I had awoken and stumbled into the bathroom. Kathy answered it with a fully perky “hello” even though she was still half-asleep. . . I don’t know how she does it . . . and it was someone from church just calling to remind me about the interviews that were set to begin at 9. “I think he’s planning on it” she lied convincingly. . . when in fact I had COMPLETELY forgotten about it and I’m pretty sure she knew it. But I do have some experience when it comes to 45 second showers and 30 second teeth-brushing and I managed to get there well ahead of the first guest. I won’t be going to Razor Sharp today, so this little Frantic Dash was my aerobic workout for the day.