Dear friends,
It is exciting to think that we are just a month away from the beginning of a new Plymouth Choir season. Rejoining the routine of our Wednesday and Sunday gatherings will be a welcomed addition to my week, and I can't wait to reconnect with our choir family! As we embark upon our third year together, I am grateful for all that we have discovered in our shared mission and ministry thus far, and I am amazed to consider the possibilities of what beautiful opportunities await us. Our service together enriches our spirits. Even as we give our time and energy to our ministry through music, we receive countless blessings for our offerings. I often sense that I leave choir rehearsals with more energy than I brought into them! The space we share has become holy ground-- true sanctuary. This year, we can grow in our commitment to making our choir a safe place to find our voice and to sing our faith.
I was talking with Jack Levick on the phone yesterday, and we both talked about how amazing it is that people sing in choirs in churches. No other volunteers within the church invest as much time in a ministry as a choir member does. No groups in the church meet weekly-- or more than once per week. No other groups within the church have such faithful worship attendance. No other groups within the church have as many longterm, longtime members. Thank you for accepting your call to our choir, and thank you for the many ways you commit to the mission and ministry we share. Fewer and fewer churches have choirs in our time-- less than 40% last I heard. This is, in large part, because of the commitment that is required by members to create a beautiful choir. By contrast, our First-Plymouth Choir is growing year by year, and that is because your commitment, enthusiasm, and spirit have inspired others to come to support and sustain you. Everyone feels welcome to give the best they can. The work we do is holy work-- true sanctuary. This year, we can grow in our commitment to making our choir a true instrument of the amazing grace and unceasing love of God.
Attached to this e-mail, you will find a copy of our First-Plymouth Choir Calendar for the 2011-12 season. There are many exciting services, concerts, and collaborations for us to engage in this year. I am very excited, also, that Donna Harler Smith is coming back to teach voice class this fall-- both for men and women this time. I would encourage you to give yourself the gift of allowing yourself to participate in these energizing and motivating and illuminating sessions. As each of us grows into the full beauty of our individual voice, so does our whole choir grow into its full possibility of beauty. We all come together with confidence in the gifts we have and their value to the group. We also come with humility for all that we can become. The work we do is holy work-- true sanctuary. This year, we can grow-- individually and collectively-- in our commitment to sing our best in praise and thanks to our God.
Not a day goes by that I do not give thanks to God for bringing us here together. May God continue to guide our journey together through a new calendar...and always...
Grace and peace, and many thanks for all you are and all you do.
TT
