The Purpose of Sacred Song (Why We Sing)
I thought I was so clever. As I prepared to teach a class at CDSP this past June, I readied a YouTube video to introduce the class to the concept of inviting people to join in song. The video took place on a train car in Perth, Australia. My thought was, “this piece of performance art gives a great “how-to” for would be leaders of congregational song.” I pressed PLAY and the video began with a young man standing on the train and inviting people to sing. And then he began singing Bob Marley’s “Every Little Thing’s Gonna Be Alright.”
A ukulele player (and obviously a friend of the singer) started strumming as well. Some of the passengers smiled and were soon chiming in with their own voices, rocking of heads, toe-tapping and laughter; some kept their heads fixed on their cell phone screens, and a few sat there looking perplexed and/or embarrassed. The performance lasted all of a few minutes, from one train stop to another. (Here’s a link for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u949rI20F0)
As the video ended I asked the class for comments. Initially students spoke of the infectious joy of participating in group song. “Bingo,” I thought, “mission accomplished.” But then one student added they were not OK with this at all and that it was “a hostage situation.” Others added their two cents with comments like, “they were trapped in an uncomfortable situation with no escape.” Our post-video conversation became more than a little animated, and took up a good deal of my teaching hour. It was a good lesson for me about awareness of the gathered people. Maybe we can call it, “Reading the Room.”
You may have noticed that I really enjoy bringing the practice of invitational song to my ministry, as we begin each 10:30 service with some form of song. This is a practice I’ve done for decades. I find it to be empowering, liberating, perhaps even challenging. I realize that many people feel like singing makes them feel exposed, even naked and/or ashamed. My hope is to help us all find our own voices, and to realize that each voice is essential to the assembly.
I see my own work as an Animateur: one who gathers and equips the Church for heading back out the doors to share the Good News. This inexorable rhythm seems, to me, the very definition of Church. We enter the doorway to give thanks, and to re-gather ourselves as the Body of Christ. We learn our stories, both Scriptural and familial. We pray for the Church and the world, and our own community. We take, bless, break and share the gifts of bread and wine. And then we are sent out to BE that Body and Blood of Jesus in the world; only to repeat that rhythm every time we gather again. And I find SONG to be an integral part of this mystical formula.
Whether it’s a well-loved Angel Band piece, a quietly chanted psalm, a choral offering, or a barn-burner hymn, song has a remarkable way of helping us learn our stories, our traditions, and our theology. It also has a unifying effect. We breathe and resonate as a group, so that 120 voices become one voice…not through impressive blending and vocal technique, but in the very act of offering ourselves to God.
This week marks my first anniversary serving among you, and I’d like to treat this little article as the beginning of a richer, fuller conversation for the future. How do you want to participate?
Would you like to join the Angel Band or the Choir? Excellent – There is no limit to the open seats and hearts in music leadership here at All Souls!
Would you enjoy being in our Main Choir – which is the CONGREGATION? Wonderful – you’re already there, and I invite you to participate with even more gusto.
Would you like to explore further about the ways song builds us, changes us, & heals us? Super – Phil and I will be leading a three week forum in January about words married to music. What does our song do to us? What does it do for us?
I encourage everyone to accept the invitation to make your own kind of music, whatever it means to you. You’ll find a place here.
–Dent Davidson
Homecoming
Much has changed at All Souls in the past few years – Jordan Court is complete and full, we have weathered the pandemic, the Living Waters Capital Campaign is almost ready to remake important parts of our space, and we will soon welcome our new Associate Rector, Emily Boring. It seems right to gather and celebrate this church home we are constantly re-creating.
On August 27th, we will have a Homecoming celebration to gather to reflect, relax and reconnect. If you have a friend, or know a family, who may be looking for a church home, this is the perfect time to invite them to experience All Souls first-hand.
Homecoming Sunday will start with our standard service at 10:30. The choir will be in full voice and Children’s Chapel will be offered during the service.
The Homecoming festival begins in the courtyard immediately after the service, about noon. We will close off Spruce street to make room for a taco truck and a bouncy house. We will be releasing the new Children, Youth and Family Ministries fall plans as well as the Adult Formation calendar for the academic year. We will have an abbreviated version of the ministry fair that was so successful in MAY(?). We will have a photobooth if you’d like to update your directory photograph or just take some silly souvenir pictures. It should be a fun afternoon.
Homecoming also marks Emily Boring’s first Sunday as our Associate Rector! As she begins to settle into her new home, she will be at the festival talking about her plans for the Children, Families and Youth ministries this fall. Emily has been a marine biologist and she will be inviting people to join her for a tide pooling excursion to be scheduled in the coming weeks.
We will also be introducing the Other Homes project. We will be welcoming people to share a description of other spiritual homes they have lived in before arriving at All Souls. Your spiritual path may have taken you from the church of your baptism to a support group or to a Yoga practice that helped you find balance. Or you may have started your spiritual path when you walked through the door at All Souls. The Other Homes project is a collaborative art project that may give us all a glimpse of the paths All Soulsians have followed to arrive at this spiritual home.
To mark the beginning of the school year, there will be the traditional Blessing of the Backpacks. If you are starting on a new path – a new year in school, a new job or some other new beginning — bring a backpack or some other symbol of your undertaking and join in the Blessing of the Backpacks.
We are inviting many neighbors who may be looking for a church home to join us on the 27th and we may have more new faces with us than usual. Please make our visitors feel welcome as they encounter All Souls for the first time.
Every week on the front page of the bulletin, we are reminded that at All Souls, “No matter who you are or where you are on your spiritual journey, you are welcome here.” Homecoming will be a tangible opportunity to practice that welcome, both for current All Soulsians and for people who may be coming to a new home for the first time.
–Richard Lynch
Real-Time Conversations: The ASP Mid-Year Financial Summary
One of the goals of the Finance Committee is to share information during the year with all parishioners as to our financial results. This is the perfect time to provide the summary below as it is a good snapshot of for the first half of 2023. We want to make the information readily available to you and easy to access and present a big picture focus.
Real-time conversations throughout the Parish on the numbers will provide valuable information for all ministries in the church and help guide us going forward. Thank you for exploring the information below and we welcome any questions, feedback and ideas. Don’t skip the chart — Just dive into the numbers and enjoy!
First Half 2023 Highlights
Net Operating Income – “The Bottom Line”
The results as of June 30, 2023 are encouraging as we are slightly above a break-even position with Operating Income to date higher than expenses by $5,092. This is very good news as earlier, during the budget process, we expected to be in a loss position for the full year of ($85,105). In other words, at June 30, we are $47,644 ahead of where we thought we would be at this point in the year.
Balance Sheet is improving due to the generosity of so many. The story is in the numbers. The results signal that we have more timely and consistent giving. We cannot discount the intangible factors that are so significant to the financial health of the Parish and contribute to the bottom line – the energy of the congregation, our ministries and our amazing leadership — we see signs of a real desire for engagement by so many in our All Souls community and beyond.
Living Waters. The outstanding success of the Living Waters capital campaign is also a major factor in the 2023 financial results so far. Giving leads to more giving. It is amazing as some might think the opposite. Just in the six months ending June 30, we have received $821,515 in cash or cash equivalents to Living Waters and the balance of LW total liquid assets is $1,955,650.
Highlights / Operating Income
Pledges & Offerings Income received were $407,439 (7% higher than projected at mid-year)
Facilities Use Income has generated $52,942 (2% higher than budgeted)
Total Gross Operating Income at $470,662 exceeded the budgeted amount by $35,196 (4% higher).
Highlights / Operating Expenses
Stewardship Expenses of $428,988 are slightly higher than the year-to-date projections by $5,142 (1% over budget). This classification includes General Operations, Church Property and Assessments.
Parish Life of $31,216 is below the budget by $7,031 (9% lower) and includes Music, Worship Activities, Community Building and Hospitality.
Formation is $5,365 and well below budget by $10,560 (33% lower). This includes Children/Family, Youth Ministries, Adult Ministries and Mission & Outreach.
Total Operating Expenses of $465,570 YTD are $12,448 lower than the budget (1% lower)
A Special Welcome and Thank You to Betty Winnacker, our new Bookkeeper at All Souls. Thank you, Betty, for all you have accomplished in just the past few months.
–Shelley Altura, Treasurer