More Light
Volume 3 Book 10 Part 5 of
Living in the Bonus Round

Feeling it.
(Captured from a video shot by James Tobey).

[ Book 3-9 ] -- [ Pt 1 ] [ Pt 2 ] [ Pt 3 ] [ Pt 4 ] [ Pt 5 ]
[ Pt 6 ] [ Pt 7 ]  [ Pt 8 ] [ Pt 9 ] [ Pt 10 ] -- [ Book 4-1 ]

June 17, 2004.
Sunday Morning with Rev. Nancy.

One of my favorite "friends from afar" is Rev. Nancy Brink, pastor of North Side Christian Church in Omaha, Nebraska. As soon as she heard we were coming back into town, she invited me to participate in a "pulpit dialogue" where she'd talk and I'd sing. Hey, maybe she wants to be Jim's understudy!

I told her I had a bunch of new songs that are part of a cantata I'm writing called New World Singing. And that I'd love to try them out in front of people.

Oh, funny story. The other night as I was leaving the theatre, a girl ran up to me, hugged me and said, "I hear you're writing a hymnal for the Unitarians!" I laughed out loud.

"Well, yeah, kind of..." I blurted. "I'm writing a cantata and the songs from the cantata are meant to be sung by a congregation. So, yeah..."

She looked back up at me and said, "Cooooool!"

The truth is I think anyone could sing these songs. So, yeah, Unitarian or, frankly, Baptist. (After all, my collaborator is Rev. Peter Carman who is a Baptist. You newbies to the Bonus Round have to understand this is a very twisty-fun story). And speaking of Unitarians, next week is the General Assembly of the Unitarians and Jimmy and I are performing The Big Voice there in Long Beach. Two performances.)

Anyway, Sunday morning. Rev. Nancy announced that she'd sit where a chanteuse might sit, next to me. She even wore a really nice dress. She said, "I'd wear my vestments but Jim would just get jealous and steal them." (True.)

(All photos are screen caps from video shot by James Tobey).

Rev. Nancy & Steve in pastoral dialogue.
Who's the diva in THIS shot??

So she would read a Bible verse that she thought corresponded to a particular song and I would respond with a song and a story. I supplied her with the rough demos I recorded at EMG Studio (newly adorned with some four piece rock band and string parts I half clumsily added at home on my computer).

(I uploaded demos of the songs used in this service to cafeshops for any reader so inclined. It's not a formal record release, but for those who enjoy the process of creation, your feedback is eagerly sought. Truthfully, I don't love everything on this yet, so in giving them out I'm opening myself to ... well, whatever. You get the point. So, buyer beware. Sound quality may vary.)

SUNDAY WITH STEVE SCHALCHLIN

Welcome and announcements, Nancy

Prelude
Why (from the "Beyond The Light" CD),  Steve
 (followed by our dialogue about questions—it is the questions of our lives that have brought us here.)
 

Rev. Nancy had just returned from a long trip back to her childhood home. In Texas (where I spent my high school and college years). She and I have a lot in common. I think, though, it's that she's really smart but she thinks from the heart. But  both of us are storytellers and we both had a lot to tell. This Sunday morning wouldn't even scratch the surface.

Hymn (from hymnal)   Gather Us In

Invocation  Nancy
God of the questions of our lives, we gather to hear the ancient stories and lay them alongside the stories of ourlives. Let your wisdom, your insight, your truth break forth in us this day. Amen.

Reading 1:   Exodus 3:1-4,  Nancy
The Faces in the Music,  Steve

Nancy chose the story of Moses and the burning bush to illustrate "The Faces In The Music." She said that people often spend a great deal of time looking for a "burning bush" -- a message from God. Then she said that when we actually open our eyes and look, there are burning bushes everwhere. We just haven't noticed them. The song is about truly "seeing" others.

Reading 2:   John 11:38-44,  Nancy
Lazarus Come Out,  Steve

This song continues to be the most powerful live song of the new collection:

"Lazarus Come Out"

Reading 3:   Psalm 63:1-7   Nancy
My Rising Up, Steve

Nancy said "My Rising Up" is a Psalm.
It's also a celebration.

Children’s Time, Nancy & Steve
Connected,   Steve

"Have you ever been sick?"

PrayerTime—Sharing Joys and Concerns, Nancy & Congregation
My Thanksgiving Prayer, Steve

My Thanksgiving Prayer is my favorite RECORDING of the new songs. I'm really anxious, now, for more churches and other civic choirs to start singing these songs, but this one in particular.

Communion
   This is the Birth
   New World Waking

Benediction, Nancy
When You Care, Steve & congregation

[ Book 3-9 ] -- [ Pt 1 ] [ Pt 2 ] [ Pt 3 ] [ Pt 4 ] [ Pt 5 ]
[ Pt 6 ] [ Pt 7 ]  [ Pt 8 ] [ Pt 9 ] [ Pt 10 ] -- [ Book 4-1 ]

© 1996-2004 by Steve Schalchlin. You have permission to print from this diary and distribute for use in support groups, schools, or to just give to a friend. You do not have permission to sell it.