After five wonderful, rewarding, delightful, productive, meaningful years as your Music Director, I shall retire on Father’s Day 2020. Serving you all has been a capstone of my 20 years of part-time (and briefly full-time) church music ministry in several Protestant denominations. Know too that no church music ministry has ever been “just a job.”
Two Sundays ago I attended an interfaith event at the Sikh gurdwara north of Elk Grove off Bradshaw — not too far from us. This very welcoming community of Indian-Americans originally from the Punjab region bordering Pakistan and India, where ‘Sikhism’ was born, invited us to join them in celebrating their founder Guru Nanak’s 550th
I was reflecting on our meaningful September In-Gathering of Waters or ‘Water Communion,’ and also recalling my mid-September trip escorting our April auction winners on a guided tour of the historic Wakamatsu pioneer Japanese tea and silk colony near where I live in the riverside gold rush town of Coloma. Pouring my bottle of south
Our Unitarian Universalist Musicians’ national conference took place in Denver in July. While these gatherings of about 200 professional musicians are always inspiring, exhilarating, and informative, this year’s event included a chance to join our voices in songs on the “front lines,” not just in our host church, the Universalist Church of Denver. Shortly after
All who are interested in joining our choir and all singers returning to choir are invited to our 4th annual choir retreat. Held at a different lovely venue every year, this Saturday afternoon gathering launches our fall singing season. Previous hosts have included Carmichael Presbyterian Church, Temple Beth Shalom synagogue, and Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church.
You’ve probably noticed this regular feature of UUSS communications: “Where are Reverend Roger and Reverend Lucy this month?” If you ask me about where I’ll be, my usual answer is “making music with the choir and with you,” but every July our church sends me to the national conference of the (newly re-named) Association of
Many of us remember campfires fondly — dreamily watching the flickering, dancing flames, toasting marshmallows and making “s’mores,” singing silly (and sometimes serious) songs, telling jokes, and shivering a bit, perhaps caused by the cold night — or more likely the scary stories of bears and ghosts! It’s no surprise that people everywhere have gathered
The last Sunday of April, we celebrated Earth Day with Polynesian tribal style drums playing along with the choir, and we sang, clapped, and swayed to Jamaican drum beats and other rhythms of the earth. You may also have recognized our Earth Day friend, drummer (and singer) Tom Voigt, who has played his African djembe
Making music together has probably been going on since our ancient human ancestors first gathered together and lived in communities. Music has that special power to bring people together, to touch hearts and minds, to uplift spirits, and to communicate deep truths. And thanks to the generous giving of our UUSS family and friends, music
