My core beliefs in song

I had a marvelous, though hectic, weekend. I'm not going to tell you about all of it (some of it was rather mundane). The interesting part (for this blog, at least) started late Saturday afternoon when I went to First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor for their Extravagant Welcome celebration. The program was hosted by Rainbow Crossing, which is the group that prompted the church to be a Reconciling Congregation five years ago.

The late afternoon speaker was Randy Roberts Potts. He is the gay grandson of televangelist Oral Roberts. He told about growing up in the Roberts compound in Tulsa. A major part of his story was about his uncle Ron Roberts (Oral's son), who committed suicide when Randy was young. Randy eventually discovers Ron was also gay. Randy finds he is following in Ron's footsteps -- marrying a woman just out of college and having three kids before coming to terms with being gay. Ron couldn't handle it. Randy almost couldn't either. The happy ending is Randy will be marrying his boyfriend next month, though he hasn't talked to his parents in several years.

Part of Randy's message was that he understands why his parents did what they did. He probably would have done the same in their situation. He forgives them for it.

Rainbow Crossing put on a supper and then it was on to a concert by MUSE Cincinnati's Women's Choir. About 45 members (of an ensemble of 65) came to Ann Arbor. The group is known for their diversity and showed it in their outfits. All of the outfits were black and accented in the same shade of blue, but each wore a different outfit and had a different type of accent, such as jewelry, scarf, blouse under the jacket, headpiece, pin, flower, or sweater. The racial makeup was mixed; one woman was blind; another disabled and sang from a stool. Their info says they are a mix of orientations.

Their sound was marvelous. Their songs were about love -- in all its configurations -- and justice. One song was about the cries of women after various disasters -- Chernobyl, Bhopal, civil wars in Sri Lanka and Cyprus -- and how the singers carry their tears. Prayer of the Children was written by a man who worked at a children's hospital in Bosnia and came back from lunch one day to find the hospital bombed. Bread and Roses was about the poor needing bread to live and also roses to keep beauty in their lives. They sang a South African song about never giving up. What Have You Done to Lift Somebody Up? was about how to reach out to those around you. We were asked to join the chorus. They sang We Are the Ones we've been waiting for to make change happen. And their bit of fun: Caffeine Overload Polka. The program was a wonderful two hours. To summarize their program: they sang my language. They turned my core beliefs into song. These are the kinds of songs I would want to write (though I would need a lyricist).

I was back to that church in Ann Arbor for the early service the next morning. Randy Roberts Potts was the preacher and it was great to hear gay issues discussed from the pulpit. Some of it was an expansion of what he said the night before. One sentence stayed with me (though I don't know if it is accurate): Healing happens when a person of power makes contact with a person in need. We, the church, are to be a place of healing. MUSE repeated a couple songs from the night before.

I also appreciated the Children's Moment. The associate pastor invited the kids forward and told them to bring an adult with them. She then asked the kids who they brought. Most responded with, "My Mom," or, "My Dad," though a couple kids had other replies. Then the pastor said families come all different ways. Some have a mom and a dad. Some have only a mom. Some have only a dad. Some have two moms or two dads. Some have grandparents who act like mom and dad. Again, it was great that my whole self was acknowledged during the service.