Youth choirs make lasting friendships

A beautiful sight, sound

I had the privilege of attending the worship service April 10 at First UMC, Corpus Christi, during which the 300 youths who attended Youth Choir Rally in our district sang.
Having served as a local church pastor until recently, I have always been busy with my own worship services on Sundays and unable to attend another church in my district when Youth Choir Rally was held nearby. Only one other time in my ministry did I insist on being able to take the Sunday off to experience the wonder and joy of hearing this huge gathering of youths make beautiful music together. I was so delighted to have this experience again this year.
When I am tempted to complain about the youths of today, I want to recall the sight and sound of this huge group gathered in every nook and cranny of the chancel area at First UMC.
As I said to those young people April 9, I do not take lightly the sacrifice they made to practice those songs ahead of time in their home churches and then take a weekend out of their busy lives for this conference event. Most youths who participate in an event like this one are also in Sunday school, worship, choir practice and UMYF each week. That totals a lot more hours per week in church activities than most adults spend. Add into that the number of hours required to complete homework and to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities for school on the weekend, and you can see what I mean about the sacrifice these youths made to attend the Youth Choir Rally.
Sitting in the sanctuary listening to them evoked a brief sentimental journey for me. In January 1974, I sang with the Seminary Singers of Perkins School of Theology in that sanctuary. Our director, Dr. Carlton Young, was very creative and placed us in the balcony and the upper sides of the room so that our sound surrounded the congregation from above their heads.
It was on that tour that John Wright from Campbellsville, Ky., and I met for the first time. Though we were in classes and Singers together, we had never met until I took the empty seat on the bus next to him our first night on the road. We kept the same seats for the rest of the trip, reporting to each other each morning what hilarious adventures we had while staying in people’s homes along the way.
It was the first time that John saw the annual conference that he joined 15 years later, long after we were married. Though his roots in Kentucky are very deep, he has never regretted for a moment that it is the Southwest Texas Conference in which each of us is living out our calls to ordained ministry.
He, too, attended Youth Choir Rally last weekend with the participants from Oak Hill UMC, Austin, where he currently serves. Sitting together in that room, looking at the beautiful faces of all those youths, we were reminded of the beautiful faces of our own daughters, Rachel and Elizabeth, who attended Youth Choir Rally for a total of eight years and always came home raving about what a great experience it had been. Like the youths I saw last weekend, they always made new friends, saw old friends and left feeling proud of what the Choir Rally accomplished.
When Youth Choir Rally comes your way, steal away! You won’t regret being there.