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+ The Holiness of Beauty
+ The Kleuker Organ
+ 5:15 Organists
+ Junior Choir Opinions
+ Singing in the Senior Choir
+ Choir Librarian
+ Music as Welcome
Wylie S. Quinn, Organist/Choirmaster
It has been nearly thirty-one years since I began to play the organs and conduct the choirs at the Chapel of the Cross. This work, which I consider to be my life's work, has been a deep and abiding joy. Week after week I have endeavored to bring to light and to full expression the holiness of beauty; and through my organ playing and the singing of our choirs and congregation, to create something beautiful for God and for the edification of his Church. While the teleology of every aspect of worship is the glorification and adoration of God, it is also the church musician's intention to inspire and shape a distinctive Christian consciousness on the part of those who participate either through performance or active listening in these transcendent moments of grace through art. Is there anything quite like the singing of a great hymn, accompanied by a great organ, with soaring harmonies and descants to lift us into the very presence of God? Organ voluntaries and choral music can also call forth what Saint Bernard called the "deeper intelligence" which seeks out ultimate Truth, Beauty, and Goodness and elicit an aspiration to live in the heights and depths and not simply on the surface of reality, to see and hear and feel the deep things of God while still in our earthly mortality. Of course with all works of the human will, as T.S. Eliot reminds us, between the thought and the act "falls the shadow," and this is no less true of liturgical music than of any endeavor. But it is enormously gratifying to me to see in the following pages how many people at the Chapel of the Cross share this vision and are drawn to give their best in this place in pursuit of this high and holy aspiration. Through singing, playing the organ, tuning the organ, managing the choral library, teaching and conducting, and through active spiritual listening, many people seek to create something beautiful for God and through this endeavor to grow in faith, hope, and love.
These thirty-one years have been a deep joy, but also a deep frustration. This has always been a "full time" job, and for much of this time I treated it as such, in effect working two full-time schedules (and commuting to Raleigh to boot!) although in recent years I have had to cut back because of the demands of secondary teaching. I have always believed that there was a need for more music from more people at the Chapel of the Cross, and for a higher level of ministry from the parish's professional musician. The prospects for my new full-time position are exciting and challenging, and I want to thank everyone who had a part in this change. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to focus all of my efforts on one set of responsibilities, all of which are directed toward goals which I believe to be of ultimate importance. I have loved being a teacher for the past 28 years, but am looking forward to new ways of exercising my pedagogical personae.
The shape of this expanded ministry will have to evolve over time. I do, however, foresee at least the following things happening this year.
(1) There will be time and energy for complete involvement with the staff in the work of the parish. All administrative work, and most preparation for rehearsals and performances can be fitted into the parameters of a business day. I can be easily available for funerals, wedding consultations, and other pastoral activities.
(2) I want to expand the membership of the Senior Choir to give us a "deeper bench" and, perhaps, to be able to divide the group on occasion for special services, as well as for performing larger scale musical works.
(3) I want to devote more time to the Junior Choir with greater flexibility in the structure of rehearsals in order to meet the needs of both younger and older singers in the group. I want to incorporate some of the more sophisticated methods of the Royal School of Church Music in training methods for choristers, and foster our children's participation in regional or national activities of that organization. The Junior Choir is a marvelous thing as it is, but some aspects of this program can be enriched.
(4) I want to do music with older youth. Tammy Lee and I are planning to do a full-scale musical this year in conjunction with EYC, and from this limited-term project we should get some idea of the interest in having an ongoing choir for older youth.
(5) I would like to start a "parish choir" for people who would like to sing, but for whom the Senior Choir is either inappropriate or impractical. This group could rehearse twice a month and sing with some regularity at 5:15 services, could perhaps sing evensong, and perhaps perform on occasion in conjunction with one of our other choirs. I would like to have more involvement with students, and this might be one avenue for that purpose.
(6) I look forward to new teaching opportunities. Examples of fresh initiatives would include a class in singing, in general church music, or in theological or biblical subjects in which I have some knowledge. I am particularly interested in helping to deepen the spirituality of our parish through liturgical music, and hope to have a class on the theological, spiritual, and musical dimensions of Gregorian chant, an ancient and contemporary avenue of transcendent Christian experience. Could a "Compline" Choir grow out of such a class?
(7) I want to develop a concert series at the church, especially to exploit the magnificent resources of our organ. Plans are already in the works for a return of our popular "Bach's Lunch" concerts in the Fall.
(8) I want to work closely with clergy, the 5:15 organists, and others among our musicians to enrich the musical dimension of the 5:15 service.
This will be a beginning, at least, and we will see how things go from there. To all who have played a part in the rich musical life of our parish I want to say thanks. I also want to thank those who have written for this issue of "Cross Roads." May God who has begun this good work at the Chapel of the Cross give us all the grace to strengthen and enrich it.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Lawrence Wall
I first learned of the Chapel of the Cross, the Kleuker organ, and Van Quinn in Sewanee in 1981. It was standard fare back then among my choir friends to vie at supper for preeminence in matters musical and liturgical, and Susan Warner (daughter of Seth and the late Emily) was always a major contender. "Well, aside from the fact that my father plays a recital at Duke every week," she clucked, "did I tell you that my church just installed a 61-rank German tracker organ?" "I can just hear it now," I thought, " the tonal equivalent of a razor blade -- no nobility, kazoo-like reeds, a weak pedal division, and a key action that responds to musical intention like a cord of wood!"
Soon, however, I would be in graduate school at UNC and eating every word, almost. This wasn't a German tracker. This was a real Episcopal Church organ. Whoever designed it knew what he wanted, and what he wanted was right. Each division had tonal independence and distinctiveness, upperwork sufficient for brilliance and clarity, colorful flutes, shimmering strings, batteries of reeds, and a beefy pedal with something to say in the basso register. This organ also had an expressive division behind swell shutters and a combination action to manipulate the stops! I had to meet Susan's wonderful Dr. Quinn. I felt sure we would discover a common birth mother.
For two years I sat in the congregation, where I became familiar with Van's repertory and style, and with certain of the Kleuker's actual idiosyncrasies. Particularly disappointing in those mid-range frequency-eating days of the voracious wooden floor, was that the organ sounded all woofer and tweeter. There was a hole in the middle of the sound, a problem later remedied beautifully with the stone floor.
By the autumn of 1988, I had become the regular tuner. In the early years, I was up and down the chamber ladder every fifteen minutes, ranting about temperature swings (deadly to tuning) and trying to keep the organ perfect all the time. But experience, responsibilities, and age have tempered me, and nowadays when the reeds sound rough, I heed the old wisdom: "Leave them alone and they'll come home." With over three thousand pipes to account for, I have had to trust that good tuning will stay put; and it generally does.
In closing, I want to emphasize how important Van's work has been in my spiritual life. He plays only the greatest and most profound works, thereby setting a standard for what I must do with my gifts. Charles-Marie Widor, of ubiquitous toccata fame, once defined the true organist as someone whose "playing manifested a will filled with a vision of Eternity." How nice for us at the Chapel of the Cross to be able now, through generous gifts, to increase Dr. Quinn's resources, making it more possible than ever to approach Eternity through our music making.
Twenty years of living with his Germanic brainchild have given Van the opportunity to confirm her virtues and isolate her faults. The present renovation has been a thoughtful undertaking, addressing some old problems and augmenting an already beautiful instrument for more years of service in the worship of God. But you still have to be a Teutonic lumberjack to move that cord of wood!
Clare Baum
As volunteer organists for the 5:15 service, our group of seven regularly scheduled musicians view this contribution as our way of returning something of the gift that each of us has been given so that it helps us all worship God. For me, this is an avocation in the true sense of the word. Although we each bring varied approaches and skills, our gifts are lovingly and wholeheartedly given.
The preparation of hymn accompaniments, music for voluntaries and more reflective pieces, and the practicing are all part of getting ready for a service. Times for practice are worked around scheduled services and uses of the chapel or, many times, done on one's piano at home.
Joe Khoury, one of our 5:15 organists, comments as follows and, I think, aptly speaks for all of us:
As an organist at 5:15, I hope to serve God and the congregation through music by inspiring thoughtful hymn singing and prayerful meditation. To quote Robert Schumann, "Music to me is the most perfect expression of the soul." I read these words 30 years ago as an organ and piano student and always felt that we as organists have a unique opportunity to make the worship service uplifting for God's glory.
The junior choir is open to all treble singers from third grade through high school. They provide music at the 9:00 a.m. service each Sunday during the academic year and for several special services throughout the year. During a recent rehearsal, choir members were asked to write briefly about why junior choir is important to them. Here are their carefully transcribed, unedited responses.
I am able to sing. -- Daniel Ripperton -- 3rd grade; 1st year
Junior choir is important to me because I like singing to God. I don't like Junior because we have to stand up to much and my legs achse. -- Sarah Hybels -- 3rd grade; 1st year
Standing up long times and snack. -- Carson McGuffin -- 3rd grade; 1st year
Because it is a better way to be in Church and do something that is not boring. -- Ike Gant -- 3rd grade; 1st year
I wanted to be singing with my brother Andrew. -- Michael Blanton -- 3rd grade; 1st year
I like it because of the parties and some of the songs. -- Traynham Larson -- 4th grade; 1st year
I like it because it helps me project my voice, and it's very fun. We get to sing fun -- and boring -- songs. -- Andrea McKerlie -- 4th grade; 1st year
I like the Junior Chor because I think it is fun to sing and we have a great teacher. -- Julia Holt -- 4th grade; 1st year
Because I like sing. It's fun. It has great music, it talks about God, Jeuses, and our teacher is great, and we get to talk in Old English. -- Shelly Norwood -- 4th grade; 2nd year
I like it because of all the partyes, and some of the music. -- Joe Shaffer -- 4th grade; 2ndyear
It's a good expirense, we learn a lot about the Bible, we have a good view of the stuff that happens by the choir stalls. I enjoy it, and I've always liked to sing but have never had an opertunity to be in a Choir! I love it! -- Maddie Miller -- 4th grade; 2nd year
Because I get to meet new people and learn to sing. -- Sam Jamieson-Drake -- 4th grade; 2nd year
I got to meet new people and I like singing. -- Adams Conrad -- 4th grade; 2nd year
I don't like standing up so much (I get tired) -- L.B. Lawrence -- 4th grade; 2nd year
I love singing and Dr. Quinn has really helped my voice. I have made a lot of friends here. It has made Church more enjoyable for me. -- Sarah Compton -- 5th grade; 1st year
I like to sing and also my mom wants me to. Plus, it's like a free music lesson and I meet lots of new friends. One thing I don't like is getting up early on Sundays. -- Valerie Davidson -- 5th grade; 1st year
Well it's fun! You meet new people, make new friends. It opens up more possibilities at school & other places. It helps build confidence & introduces you to music. -- Chase McBride -- 5th grade; 2nd year
I love singing, and so I love the junior choir. We get to sing in front of everyone every Sunday. It's just fun! -- Emma Poole -- 5th grade; 3rd year
It is important to me because I represent my church and my religion. Plus I love singing, and with Dr. Quinn as my choir master I can improve my voice. -- Katherine Nicholson -- 5th grade; 3rd year
When you are having a very stressed day, and you don't even want to come to church at all you sing, and all of it comes in your singing. Some people think I have a good voice, but I'm not competing, I like it. -- Sarah Pickering -- 5th grade; 3rd year
It is a fine experience that helps being in front of people and sining easier. -- Marli Koch -- 6th grade; 1st year
It is important to me because I love singing & I feel that it is important to sing to God & make him happy. -- Lindsay Norwood -- 6th grade; 3rd year
I like to sit in front of church. For fun. Nothing else to do on Wednesday & Sunday. Snack. You get free time before rehersal. -- T.J. Lovejoy-Hinkel -- 6th grade; 3rd year
It give me a sense of self confidence. When you are up there in the choir stalls singing your heart out for your god, it makes you feel important. I also like to be with my friends, since for some of them, I only see them at church. Oh, one minor detail, I love to sing. -- Rachel Wilson -- 6th grade; 4th year
Because I'm with my friends & I'm able to happily sing praises to God. The people in the Junior Choir have a special place in my heart & I'm very thankful for them. Dr. Quinn teaches us a lot of things during rehersal. I enjoy learning about stories from the bible & about hymns. -- Margy Shaffer -- 7th grade; 4th year
Junior Choir is important to me because I enjoy singing and it lets me pay full respect to the Lord. -- Andrew Popio -- 7th grade; 5th year
Because I really learn a lot about singing, music. Plus you get to sing praises unto God with glad and joyful hearts. Dr. Quinn always knows something interesting about the music we sing. -- Stacey Ramsey -- 7th grade; 5th year
I think it is important because it helps me wake up -- even at the end of the day. I have lots of friends and always have fun. I also like a lot of the songs we sing. On Sundays I arrive with tired bad attitude, and when I leave, I have waken-up, alive, good attitude. It always helps me with the homework I do after practice & Church. It gets me ready for the day, and whatever it might include (like my little brother attacking me). -- Jess Johns -- 7th grade; 5th year
The respect that it takes to stay in, and the divotion it gives to music. -- T. Kyle Mitchell -- 8th grade; 5th year
To be quite honest, one of the major factors that kept me in the choir longer than one year was the junior choir sleepover, at which i had a blast. After the second year, however, i realized that i actually did enjoy the singing part as well, and have learned now to love it. I have heard that singers pray twice: once in prayer, once in song, and i really believe that the junior choir is important to me because i love to sing, and there it is. -- Abby Jamieson-Drake -- 9th grade; 6th year
The junior choir is important to me because it is a classical choir environment. The techinque that Dr. Quinn uses is helpful to me in other choirs and ensembles I am in. I have learned to read music in the junior choir. I can match pitch and sight read well. These skills have helped me achieve many goals in my singing career. I owe this to Dr. Quinn and hope to sing with him for the rest of my highschool years. He is a great teacher and a wonderful organist. This has been and will continue to be a wonderful experience. Thank you so much. P.S. I encourage all to join the choir and sing! -- Emily Maginn -- 9th grade; 7th year
I came to the Choir the first year because my parents made me but then I grew to love it. Doctor Quinn has become a mentor and a role modle. Now it is my ninth year and I am the oldest boy. -- Andy Maginn -- 9th grade; 9th year
The music is so beautiful and it's so much fun to sing. I never get a chance to sing as much classical music at school. -- Leila Lackey -- 10th grade; 7th year
Several members of the Senior Choir took time to write about what that experience means to them. Here are their descriptions.
Have you ever entered one of those glorious cathedrals in Europe? It is an architectural wonder with stained glass and magnificent statuary in abundance, but still cold and bleak. Then you chance to hear a choir singing, and the bleakness becomes light and life. Music is like a human-created incense rising to the glory of God. Each and every person contributes to that incense by their singing, be it in a choir in a grand cathedral or as an individual singing the chants and hymns in the smallest parish church. Although I realize that one can read the office without music, to me it is the music that makes the service come to life. Each hymn is a miniature sermon, some very complex, others very simple. The hymns, chants, and offertories complement and emphasize the lessons and psalms.
I've been in the senior choir off and on since I was 13 years old (when I first came to Chapel Hill there was no junior choir, indeed no 9:00 a.m. service). In my early days the choir was told by the rector to sing only in English (the language of the people). Urban T. Holmes, a professor of Romance Philology and also a choir member, reminded Mr. Yates that there were many in the parish who were at home in Latin, French, German, Italian, Greek, and many other languages. At that time there were also other restrictions which somewhat limited the scope of the music. Fortunately, ideas change with the passage of time. The size of the choir has ranged from a dedicated octet to 40 or so singers. It has included devout Christians and non-believers. The rich interplay of music and liturgy has brought many who came simply to sing to a deep belief in God.
A choir is always a close group, but under the direction of Van Quinn this group has become a big family within the larger Church family. Together we have gone through the joys and agonies of births, baptisms, confirmations, graduations, weddings, divorces, sicknesses, and deaths. We have sent members into the priesthood and acted as wedding attendants, sponsors, and Godparents for each other. At one time there were four different sets of Godparents for children of other choir members. We are a very diverse group, both by profession and interest, held together by our love of music and respect for each other. Being in the senior choir is a true commitment of time and energy to the Church which we willingly give for the joy of singing to the glory of God. -- Emilie deLuca
Singing in the Choir is the culmination, and the distillation, of a long process. This process allows each of the members of the choir a sense of their individual contributions and, further, their corporate contribution and finally the congregational contribution toward the glory of God. Braggadocio could not prohibit my saying that our choral worship program has to be one of the best in this state, regardless of denomination. Certainly this is true if one considered the last 30 years as a frame of reference. Dr. Quinn is clearly the cornerstone of this effort. I am honored to be a part of it (even if I do have to drive here from Burlington).
The Senior Choir is a significant participant in leading the congregation in our service: through hymns, the service music, and anthems. In each anthem, the choir is allowed the grace to further develop themes appropriate to the lessons and gospel for the day. Each of our members provides special talents to contribute to this endeavor.
It is commonly thought that sopranos rule the melody, altos and tenors provide mere harmony, and basses provide a ground for all. In our choir, however, we recognize that each vocal part plays more important roles than the commonly assigned ones. Tenors and altos have decidedly thrilling parts that make melody what it is and realize the melody as what it might be if done with skill. Basses provide depth and power, but are also adept at beauty of line and expression. Sopranos here are no divas but are sensitive to each other part. Each singer in the choir is weekly tested to remember these dictates and observe them. Each member's sense is sharpened both to follow and to lead as required. Together we are able to provide immensely satisfying contributions to the service in a way that most of us in the choir could not do otherwise.
People find their connection with God in different ways: reading the scriptures, prayerful contemplation and reflection, observing nature, following the rigors of science or art or music. For me it is music that reveals God's love, power and majesty. Music, not performed alone, but with other similarly minded singers, is my best connection to God.
The reminiscence on the gravestone of an 85-year-old Welsh horseman, Fred Mitchell, says it best for me: The singing. There was so much singing then and this was my pleasure, too. We all sang: the boys in the fields, the chapels were full of singing, always singing. Here I lie. I have had pleasure enough. I have had singing. I have had singing! -- Gerry Whittington
I will sing praise to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
Psalm 104:33
Singing with a church choir is a labor-intensive act of love and sacrifice, often requiring several hours of practice to prepare for a Sunday service, Evensong, or other special occasion. Members of the Senior Choir prepare each week to reflect, through the gift of song, the power of the Scriptures, the beauty of the liturgy, and the mystery of the Eucharist. And so, throughout the seasons and years, we stand together and sing to this congregation with whom we worship.
We sing of Christ's birth, of His passion and death, and of His glorious ascension. We sing of the grace of Mary, of John the Baptist, of angels and archangels, of the Trinity, and the Holy Spirit. We sing the praises of the Psalms, the Song of Solomon, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah. We sing of Abraham and Moses, and of the prophets Elijah and Isaiah.
We sing for baptisms, confirmations, graduations, and ordinations. We sing for marriages and funerals. We sing while fighting disease and pain, while carrying children, while suffering the loss of divorce, and after the deaths of spouses and family members.
This is the essence of the Choir's ministry to this congregation: that we sing of God's love and of His marvelous works throughout the living of our lives; that we praise Him through song as we support each other and the people of this congregation, according to our baptismal vows, in our Christian life together here at Chapel of the Cross.
May God continue to use our songs to provide to those who receive them a joyful witness of the power of His love in our lives. -- Lynn Wilson
I sometimes think there is no such thing as secular music. That would be a slight exaggeration, but I believe all music to some degree reveals the transcendent and the eternal. When a sacred text, in particular, is set to good music, especially for full choir, the effect is very powerful. I can't speak for the congregation, but I hope that many people's understanding and appreciation of the words we sing are deepened by the composer's treatment and our rendering of them.
Actually singing the words ourselves is a great privilege, and even more an intensely spiritual experience. It lasts, too; I often have an anthem or a motet resonating on my private soundtrack for days after we have performed it.
I am no psychologist, but I should think that singing hymns and (for junior choristers) anthems would play a particularly important role in a child's religious development. When our daughter Jane was 8 or 9, she fixated somewhat on Adoro Te Devote. Once we overheard her teaching it to a young Mormon friend of hers. (In return, the friend taught her "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam.")
Another sort of contribution that church music makes to worship is its community-building power. Everyone knows the effect of community singing, even in a secular context. In church, the service music and hymn singing play that role. And to judge by kind comments we receive, many parishioners do "associate themselves with" the choir as we perform sacred pieces, and take an active interest in our work.
And of course, the choir itself is a community among the congregation, under the pastoral as well as musical care of Van Quinn. I am very fortunate to have been included in it for the past 19 years. -- Bill Lycan
Singing in the choir not only deepens my appreciation of the church's music but also of the texts that are set to music. Our anthems and hymns are carefully chosen to reflect and amplify the liturgical calendar. This is quite obvious in the carols of the Christmas season and the "alleluias" of Easter, and throughout the year the anthems contain passages from the day's scripture or from texts appropriate to the occasion. An effective setting of a familiar text yields fresh meaning and lingers in the memory, leading to further reflection. In January 1998, when I was on the Vestry, we held a Saturday retreat, to which each of us was asked to bring a paragraph on Christian leadership. Mine was prompted by a piece the choir had sung at Lessons and Carols. The text, from Richard Crashaw's poem, "The Shepherd's Hymn," refers to the Lamb, "whose love must keep the shepherds more than they their sheep." It seemed to me that the passage captured the central paradox of the Christmas story -- the helpless babe who transcends all humanity -- as startlingly true for late 20th-century Americans as for the 17th-century English poet. It also suggested that all who are entrusted with authority are themselves in need of guarding and keeping, and that Christian leadership is the readiness to exercise judgement with humility, recognizing continually that our finite human powers are sustained by God's infinite grace. This is but one example of a text that acquired meaning via music. I also find when I am layreader that the words of the lesson bring to mind a setting the choir has sung, so the exchange works both ways. Nor can I read the inscription on the Celtic cross before the Chapel without thinking of Edgar Bainton's lovely treatment of it. As a member of the choir, I am grateful for the opportunity to learn both the music and the words. -- Kent Mullikin
Roberta Hedrick
We were new residents of the college community and even newer members of the Chapel of the Cross. We had been members of smaller congregations where everyone knew everyone else, and where I was always involved in the music programs. Music teaching was my profession, singing and playing my avocation, and libraries (as a student aide in college and as volunteer and trustee later) my great interest. The magnificent instrumental and choral music at the Chapel of the Cross enthralled me, overcoming my misgivings about the size of the congregation and my doubts about becoming involved. The item in the Sunday bulletin was truly an answer to my prayer to be of service. After the closing organ voluntary that Sunday, I became a choir librarian!
Our organist-choirmaster, Van Quinn, in addition to being a superb musician, is dedicated to bringing the best sacred instrumental and choral music of every music period into the worship service of the church. He has amassed a library of choral music that includes, for the adult choir of 38 voices, over 300 individual titles, plus at least 40 separate cantatas, motets, masses, collections, plus files of special music -- descants, special service music for church festivals, Evensong, and instrumental music. The junior choir of as many as 42 children has a library of 65 single titles plus four books of collected numbers. The choral music library fills two cupboards, two closets, two file cabinets and more than 30 large file boxes.
Each adult choir member has a numbered folder that contains a single correspondingly numbered copy of the music being rehearsed. Each junior choir member has a file folder, which he or she has individualized with name and colorful stickers. Single copies of current music are placed in these folders.
The choir librarian's job is to make sure that each chorister has a copy of the music needed for rehearsal, and that each piece of music is removed from the folders after it has been sung in a service. Then the copies are reclaimed, sorted, mended (especially the junior choir's books), recorded and filed. After special service such as Lessons and Carols, the Junior Choir's Greatest Hits, etc. -- that's a lot of music! The librarian is housekeeper, file clerk, and sleuth.
This is a very brief description of my behind-the-scenes duties in the music program of the Chapel of the Cross. It does not begin to describe the sense of joy and reverence that comes to me as I try to follow Van's patient direction for the care of this sacred library. Thanks be to God!
Dave Tinker
The first moment I entered the Chapel of the Cross will be forever etched in my mind. I had often noticed its aesthetic beauty of the architecture, the serenity that beckoned from the immense trees, and its country chapel. Perhaps the search will end here; perhaps this will be the day of my personal salvation. Perhaps this is home. I knew from the start that this was no ordinary congregation. I had been raised in the Presbyterian tradition. Our services began and ended with the clergy and the choir ensconced in their places, perched above the general seating like crimson angels, beckoning us all to a higher morality. Yet this church service began with a processional down the aisle, the choir startles me as it passes; first the altos and sopranos pass by slowly. Then I'm immersed in the rich, deep male voices. And what a choir I've found, being led by a real pipe organ, its tubes reaching high into the apse like a conduit to God. I'd hit the Mother lode!
I have always thought that one shouldn't join a church because of "worldly" passions. We should never make such important redemptive decisions on the softness of the pews, the extent and quality of the buffet after service (I have found this to be primarily a Baptist affectation and one which I admit freely, I miss dearly), or perhaps the entertainment value of the sermon or more importantly, its brevity. However, if there has ever been one 'necessity' for my faithful return on Sunday morning, it would be the music and the choir. And no Hammond organ either. I require a beautiful resounding pipe organ that lulls you into blissful prayer and then raises the hairs on your neck and rattles the windows when the stops are pulled. Lord forgive me, it's my cross to bear and I bear it proudly.
I do not begrudge nor would I demean those "other" denominations with less accomplished musical accompaniment. Instead, I relish the richness of voice that stirs the soul and fills out our Sunday services like Auntie Mae Renegar's green tomato pickles on a hamburger. Our music carefully intertwines with the liturgy. What could be more beautiful and inspiring than the singing of the Eucharist? Ephesians 5 talks of "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." I feel that, as the eyes may be the windows to the soul, song binds us all together in worship and delivers the message to God, loud and clear. I am ashamed to admit it, but my favorite part of our Sunday service is at the very end. That would be when I am allowed to sit in the choir pews and experience that magnificent organ and it's kaleidoscopic rainbow of sounds, up close and personal. Several weeks ago when Dr. Quinn had completed an amazing piece of strength and complexity, those of us in attendance broke out in applause spontaneously. I feel that way after each of his Voluntary performances. I feel that way after the choir sings the "Venite."
I do not take for granted the time and effort that goes into the music of our church. As with all those who become accomplished in their respective areas, our choir and Dr. Quinn make it all so smooth and seamless. Many of our choir members sing in other choral groups in the Triangle area. Their talent and dedication to their craft is awesome and wonderful. It's God's gift to them but more importantly, its God's gift to those of us, lucky enough to have found this dynamic Episcopal parish in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
© 2001: Chapel of the Cross
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