Gratitude flows...

Dear friends,

Thank you for spending your Saturday with one another and with Jeremy and me. It was a beautiful day in Lincoln before we gathered, but it was a blessed day in Lincoln because of what we experienced here. Coming together on a summer Saturday was a huge sacrifice on your part, but I hope you can join me in feeling that it was one worth making.

I am thankful for how welcoming and supportive you have been. I am thankful for your willingness to explore some new ideas and to share honestly. I am thankful for your energy and enthusiasm. I am thankful for your patience and openness. I am thankful for your spirit and commitment. I am thankful that God has brought us all together. You possess so much collective talent, and the time we spend together (and the discipline we employ along the way) will determine how fully we are able to realize our potential and possibility.

There are two great loves in my life. One was affirmed on June 27 and every day since, when my partner Brent and I celebrate our commitment to one another and to the God who brought us together to share life and ministry. The other will be affirmed week in and week out as you and I share life and ministry together, celebrating over and over again our commitment to one another and to the God who brought us together. Sharing faith, building community, supporting each other, creating beauty, discovering artistry, expressing wonder, communicating light-- WOW-- what blessed work we do. Thank you for inviting me here to serve with you. We are already beginning to truly share and grow.

You just left a few minutes ago, and I already can't wait to continue our process on Wednesday evening! On Wednesday, we will begin to 'seat' the choir. This is not a hierarchical process of placement. It is not about determining who is good or bad. The goal is to have all singers sitting in the best place for them to sing their unique voice, even as we enable the choir sound its collective best. The sopranos will be the first to have a sectional time, Wednesday from 7:00-7:25 p.m., then the rest of the choir will join us for rehearsal from 7:30-9:30 p.m. No one will be asked to sing on their own, but we will sing in rotating groups of 3, 4, 5, and so on as we shuffle folks around. We do this seating not to cause anyone grief or to put anyone on the spot. We do it because we want to use every possible tool, including acoustical placement and space, to make ours the most beautiful choir it can be. I appreciate your willingness to trust me that this is an important part of our process and pedagogy. I also appreciate the time you invest in that process.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon, and please remember to let Sarah Gauger or Jim Carr know soon if you would be willing to host one of the DINNER FOR EIGHT parties. As we shared today, the volunteer hosts or hostesses can choose the date of the meal, and we will randomly connect you with guests who are free the same night. Our goal is to enable some interaction between people in the choir (singles AND couples) who may not otherwise spend much time together. For more information on that activity, please contact me, Sarah Gauger or Jim Carr at your convenience. We hope that everyone can be involved, either as host/hostess or guest/guestess or both/bothess! : )

Grace and peace, and many thanks for all you are and all you do.

TT

Choir Beginneth

Dear friends,

Today I share with you the schedule for our first few months together. Please do whatever you can to be present for whatever you can. The choir is not complete without each and every person. No matter how big or small your voice, no matter how big or small your personality, no matter how big or small your resume, no matter how big or small your age, your presence is essential to enable us to truly form a sense of community. Try this motto for those who try to dissuade you on Wednesday nights: "I can't. I have rehearsal!" Reality sets in, and conflicts arise, but I promise that if you invest your time in our process, you will be rewarded fully and that your time will not be wasted. That is my covenant with you: I value your contributions, and will not take advantage of them.

Some new things appear on your schedule:

1. a Summer Community Sing of the Brahms' REQUIEM next Wednesday at 7:00. Invite your friends to this as well-- it is open to the whole world! :) This is a no-pressure, full-immersion experience. We don't sing enough just for fun...this is the time and the place and the piece!

2. TOf particular importance is our choir retreat day on Saturday, August 29 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Please let me know as soon as possible that you will be attending. We will provide refreshments and lunch for you. We will spend a good bit of time rehearsing and singing, but we will also invest in some activities that will help us work better together, acknowledging our challenges but affirming our abilities to unite as we move forward. Again, please know that your presence for this particular experience is ESSENTIAL to our progress and process. I am so grateful to have this special time with each of you.

Each Wednesday evening or Sunday morning you have many choices. The fact that you ever choose to come to be with us at First Plymouth is an amazing gift to those of us you find here, and I believe that it is also an amazing gift to you, too. That's why you come back. That's why we come back, too. Ministry and service are gifts that flow seamlessly both ways. I am thankful to have been called to serve with each of you, and I look forward to helping us all find our collective voice, offering our gifts to the One who has given us so much.

Grace and peace,

TT