Category Archives: music

May7

Wrap Up

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This has been such a busy week that I haven’t had time to write until now, a full week into May!

My sister Madeleine arrived from Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, April 26–right on Jon’s and my 15th wedding anniversary. We enjoyed a nice TexMex dinner on a garden patio. Lovely plants, water features, and fans kept us cool at Vivo. Good food, too!

The weekend was awesome with a fantastic service and sendoff from Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church. Love that congregation! Love the friends and family members who came just for that final service. Some “Loose Threads” and other members of Tapestry Singers came to join the choir in singing “Seasons of Love.” (The one about “Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes . . . how do you measure a year in the life . . . how about love?”

Lots of hugs and love from people of all ages. I will miss the children and youth most especially. It is such a blessing to watch them grow up and mature year after year. They are now frozen in time in my mind’s eye. Adults don’t change nearly so rapidly, but they, too, have filled my memory bank for years to come as they are now.

Already the congregation anticipates the arrival of an Interim Minister who will assist with multiple transitions, both personal and congregational, beginning August 1. Meanwhile, lay led teams have been doing wonderful work in preparing to cover the 3 months in between. It’s exciting to imagine the changes going on already!

Now my key ring is lighter and my email has dropped to a manageable level. No complaints there!

Mar31
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What a great occasion March 30, 2012! Brian Ferguson was ordained to Unitarian Universalist ministry by the members of the San Marcos Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. The sanctuary was packed with well wishers from Kerrville, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, and Dallas as well as San Marcos. I was pleased to see several members of Live Oak who made the trip south through rush hour traffic. Clergy robed up and wore their beautiful stoles full of symbolism and color. Delicious appetizers greeted us before the service and even more delights greeted us in the buffet line after the service. Thanks, San Marcos volunteers and caterers!

We send our best healing wishes to Will Bryant, who was to play the piano, and to Ann Allen, who was to present the new stole to Brian. Will was in a car accident and Ann had a fall so neither of them could attend.

The Rev. Aaron While, Associate Minister at First UU Church in Dallas, delivered a fine sermon. He is the proud (and exhausted) father of his first baby Henry, born March 7. Aaron admitted that he might be the first preacher to fall asleep at the pulpit. But he did not. It was wise, witty, and wonderful–filled with the wonder and beauty of ministry.

Other colleagues read or sang or prayed. The Rev. Meg Barnhouse delivered a “charge” to the congregation. Among other things she advised them not to needle their minister with piddly little things. He is called to lead and to pursue the vision, not to worry about whether his tie is the right color. The congregation can support the minister by “keeping him in mind” as their spiritual leader, though merely a man.

I delivered the charge to Brian himself. Someone mentioned later that its emphasis on self-care and balance could apply to nearly everyone, so here is the text as written, if not exactly as spoken:

Charge to the Minister: Rev. Brian Ferguson

Rev. Kathleen Ellis

30 March 2012

Brian, this ordination, this laying on of hands, and your new stole have set you apart. You and your congregation will shape each other over time. They have asked you to speak your truth; to teach wonder and mystery as well as facts; to witness and act on your moral convictions; to officiate for many life transitions; and to serve with love and kindness. That’s all they want! Walking on water is not a requirement.

We already know you’re flexible. Not content with a standard internship you ended up with 3 completely different intern supervisors—Davidson Loehr, Chuck Freeman, and me—in 2 very different congregations—1st UU and Live Oak in Austin. What an experience of observation while remaining out of the crosshairs of conflict! Yes, flexibility is an asset.

You in turn have offered to share curiosity, encouragement, and courage in this wonderful world of parish ministry. Your new stole represents this life to which you are called. When you wear it you are yoked in service of something greater than yourself.

Both you and the congregation spoke of love. That’s hardly a term to be taken lightly because it carries with it one of the most fundamental desires from the moment of birth until the dying of the light.

My charge to you this evening is for you to take care of your spirit, mind, and body.  Infuse these three with love and the knowledge that time waits for no one. The dates in your calendar are closer than they appear!

So take care of yourself for the long haul. You already have a split residency between here and Austin. Make the most of your time in each place, but don’t wear yourself to a frazzle at either end of that stretch of road. You are the one to set boundaries on your work. No one but you will know how much has been asked of you. Ministry never ends so you have to draw the line somewhere every single day. It will wait! And you will work much more efficiently and quickly on the things that matter if you are well rested and in a good frame of mind.

Pray. Center yourself to the point that you know how your spirit is today. Then you can pray for guidance, pray for the people, pray for the earth and everything riding on it. Seek out spiritual direction from someone who will encourage you to grow your spirit. Or find a text or poem that leads you on a path of growth and challenge. Do whatever it takes to feed and nurture your spirit.

As for your mind, read and discuss as widely as possible. Join a book club that chooses books and subjects you never knew existed. Read to learn and read for fun. Get involved in activities outside the church. All of these encounters help keep your mind open and agile.

As for your body, celebrate your health and pay attention to keeping it. Good nutrition and exercise of heart, lungs, and muscles will go a long way toward satisfaction with life and in ministry.

Take time for your family, beginning with Natalie and Isla, who teach you so much about the world through their eyes. Living as an independent family unit is not always easy, especially when you combine different cultures and personalities. It takes time and patience when you are together and it helps that Natalie understands quite a lot about church life behind the scenes. Isla brings youth as well as wisdom and a special bond with her dad as girls so often develop.

Remember your family of origin. Although they may be far away in miles, you carry them in your heart: your mum Margaret Ferguson, so far away and so frail in Scotland and her older sister Aunt Marion; your brother Alistair who lives in Moscow; your cousin Anne Reid with whom you are still so close she might well have been a sister; your father Ian, who died four years ago but remains a part of you. They are your roots and branches and will remain so forever even though you are scattered around the world.

Love your family; love your neighbor; love God; love life itself. Do you know yet what you love at the center of your being? Let love of something be your foundation, your faith, your north star.

Love the congregation, who range from those who feel self-assured to those who find it difficult even to love themselves.  Each of them needs you. But before you can love anyone or anything else you have to love yourself first.

Ministry will call upon you to serve as a leader, a pastor, a priest, a prophet, a role model and a rabbi. Have you already learned to juggle? There will be lonely times when you have to stand alone for something you believe is right and honorable. There will be crowded times when you can scarcely hear yourself think.

Whenever you feel alone and isolated and whenever you feel crowded and overwhelmed that’s where your colleagues come in handy. A number of us have driven many miles for this great occasion because we want to show our support today and in future years. None of us can stand in your shoes, but you can be sure that we will support you when you call upon us, just as we will turn to you when we need advice or a listening ear. Take care of yourself: spirit, mind, and body. Infuse yourself with love and nurture yourself over time. That will be the basis of your great ministry.

One more thing, Brian. Take everything I’ve said with a grain of salt . . . so long as you remember this: have fun! Celebrate! Leap for joy! Believe in miracles! Be yourself!

. . . and let your inner Scot shine!

Amen

What a great occasion!

Feb19

Spiraling through Time and Space

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It’s weird. I am “hurtling” north on Interstate 35 yet it seems as though I’m going back in time.

Memory triggers for me included Bruceville-Eddy, home of Greene Family Camp where I studied world religions with students from 4 different seminaries; Lorena, where a friend used to live and we studied together; Waco, where I lived and worked for 3 1/2 years and have gone back as a Board workshop facilitator and as a consultant; Elm Mott, where a pair of sisters grew up and each became UU; Lake Whitney, where I know someone who used to be UU in membership but is still UU in practice.

I approached Dallas where I attended Perkins School of Theology and taught classes at First Unitarian-Dallas, then veered off toward Ft. Worth and Arlington, where I was a student minister. These were all places where I taught and served and learned ever so much. Memories of those I married, those I buried, those I blessed, and those I left behind.

Back in time. All these thoughts were mixed with the knowledge of leave-taking from my current ministry and with the personal growth and setbacks and losses and gains I’ve experienced over these years. Oh, the places I’ve been!

So I was moving forward and backward in time and space, watching 20-25 years pass before my eyes–not in a flash as is told regarding near-death experiences, but in slow motion. Visions included spirals up and down through multiple experiences and lessons I’ve had to learn more than once.

Weird, but wonderful to drive alone in a car listening over and over to Terri Hendrix, who sings, “Moon on the water, help me to rise.” In so-called “ordinary time” (if we’re lucky) there sometimes comes an unusual confluence of ideas and insights, opportunities and options. Oh, the places I’ll go!

All this has contributed to who I am today, for good or ill. I have gifts as well as blind spots. There have been times of trauma, challenge, conflict, and betrayal. There have been dreams come true, successes, triumphs, and joy. I am reminded of Bruce Findlow’s lyrics in hymn #128, Singing the Living Tradition:

“For all that is our life we sing our thanks and praise; for all life is a gift which we are called to use to build the common good and make our own days glad.”

Aug13

Requiems

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I am getting excited about singing two Requiems on Saturday the 20th! Mozart’s Requiem is a delightful challenge–lots of 16th notes and dynamics from very soft to full voice.

Mozart actually did not finish his Requiem. We were even told the last note he wrote before his died, a high A for the sopranos! His colleague Franz Xaver Süssmayr completed the score, which had been commissioned by Count Franz von Walsegg to commemorate the anniversary of his wife’s death. It premiered on Feb. 14, 1792.

A project is under way to take the portions of the Requiem that Mozart completed and to have contemporary composers write their own orchestration for each movement. So we will also perform the world premiere of “Lacrymosa” as arranged by Austin composer Peter Stopschinski. The words will be in English, but the choral notes will be as Mozart wrote them.

Gabriel Fauré wrote his Requiem between 1887 and 1890 in memory of his own parents. It is also a favorite of mine: I would like to have the famous soprano solo “Pie Jesu” sung at my memorial service.

The occasion for all this is the 2011 Summer Symposium of the Texas Choral Consort, plus orchestra, directed by Brent Baldwin. He is also Music Director for First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin. For the Symposium, the chorus of 104 voices (SATB) has met for three rehearsals per week since July 23. It’s a month-long intensive with a glorious concert at the end!

It has been very helpful to me that many of the singers were already familiar with the work–made it much easier to learn. So, with one week to go, rehearsals will begin to add portions of the orchestra, starting with strings. This has been a great and challenging experience.

Bonus treat: “Out of the Silence” for orchestra and piano by William Grant Still.

As indicated in the flyer below, the concert will be Saturday, August 20, at 8PM, at Northwest Hills United Methodist Church, 7050 Village Center Drive, 78731 (just south of Far West Blvd). Tickets are $20, $15 for Seniors and Students, and free for the under-10 crowd. Or if you ask nicely, I’ll give you one!

Summer_2011_Flyer

Aug5

a meditative moment

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A new (to me) meditation CD helped me relax so nicely. Psychologist Paul Overman has a series of 10 Minutes to Relax CDs. Guided meditation for about 10 minutes and another 10 minutes of relaxing music (Jim Oliver on synthesizer). It’s a great reminder that meditation does not need to take much time. It just needs the space–your personal space–that will bring you back to your center. Doesn’t that feel so good when you let it happen?

So for just one minute, breathe with me.

Let your rib cage expand, . . .

let your breath come smoothly and easily. . . .

Let tension flow all the way through and out of your body. . . .

Let wellbeing flow into you, . . .

from toes and fingers . . .

all the way through to your head. . . .

Then take this moment with you into your day. . . .

Be well.

Jul5

“When I hear music” –Libby Roderick

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How is the musical side of your brain working? Austin is so full of music it’s pretty easy to find music of any style. Recently I enjoyed hearing The Harmony Brothers (Max, Al, and Mark) at Artz Rib House. Good food, good music, one tip jar, and a set during the break by Austin Kessler. Nice!

I know those musicians in part through The Bakery Jam, founded in 2005 at Texas French Bread on S. Congress. (We were so sad when that TFB location closed!) We’ve been “spreading the music” for six years now in member homes week after week. Since there were plenty of guitars, I decided to dust off my flute. Depending on who shows up, we also have many vocalists, percussion, bass, violin, mandolin, harmonica, keyboard, melodica, and even an occasional trumpet (muted) or banjo (run for your lives!). Our motto is just right for a group of amateurs: “We’re all good at something else.”Among the harmonies have been romances that blossomed into permanency  and the benefits of professional musicians among us.

I grew up in a family of musicians–mostly piano, organ, and voice. My sister taught me to sing 3-part rounds when I was 3 years old. She and our middle sister needed a third voice for “White Coral Bells” (“White coral bells upon a slender stalk / Lilies of the Valley deck my garden walk. / Oh, don’t you wish that you could hear them ring? / That will happen only when the fairies sing.”) and “Johnny” (“Here we come singing / and here we come calling / for Johnny, Johnny. / Well! Well!)

How time flew while we washed, dried, and put away dishes after supper! Both my grandfather and my eldest sister were church organists for years. Mama could have been a concert pianist but she gave that up when she married and started a family. I started in “training choir” in 2nd grade at our Episcopal Church, moved through all of its choirs for 10 years, into college choirs, and now Tapestry Singers, the Austin women’s chorus since 2003. (No auditions necessary! All women who love to sing are welcome, and our director is terrific.)

New venture this summer: The Summer Symposium of the Texas Choral Consort, directed by Brent Baldwin. After an intense month of rehearsals 3x/week, we’ll sing in concert Aug. 20. Rehearsals begin July 23, so there’s still time for men and women to sign up to sing! From their website:

“In August, TCC will present two of the greatest titans of the classical canon: the Requiems of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gabriel Fauré. The program will also feature the world-premiere of a Requiem-based work by Austin luminary Peter Stopschinski, and “Out of the Silence” for orchestra and piano by William Grant Still.”

Saturday August 20, 2011 at 8:00 p.m.
Northwest Hills United Methodist Church
7050 Village Center Drive, Austin TX

Purchase tickets

 

Such fun to get out of my logical brain and into my musical brain! Where do you go to feed your artist within?

May15

Youth Worship

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Based on themes by the beloved writer Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel), our High School Youth led a wonderful worship service today! Do you remember The Lorax, The Butter Battle Book, The Sneetches, Oh the Places You’ll Go? These “children’s stories” have timeless themes that are meaningful to adults. The best stories are ones adults like to read to their children. Eventually the kids grow old enough to read them back to us! Several Seuss were beautifully expressed and/or acted out by wonderful youth. Talented musicians played and sang the Prelude, Offertory, and Postlude, and led the hymns. Three shared reflections on their favorite Seuss stories and others participated in other ways. Great job! A treat every year!

During the Bridging Ceremony, graduating Seniors received a small Worship Box with a cloth, a small chalice, sacred objects, words to read for chalice lighting, and love from Live Oak as they move from High School into new ventures. We hope this will help them feel connected to their home church for years to come. We enjoyed hearing from their parents as they shared the joy of raising such amazing young people.

Here are some of them, and their advisors:

May8

Sting and Sing!

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Last night’s Tapestry Singers concert was awesome, if I say so myself! The music had a wide variety of styles and moods, including lyrical gentle breezes, cold harsh winds, whirligig beetles that swim in random circles, the ethereal Northern lights, a Brazilian tribal song, and a Japanese children’s song about fireflies. A favorite was Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run,” followed by an encore performance of “Wise Mother.” This was written by Nell Manycats as a prayer for her AA meetings–an alternative to the Lord’s Prayer. She had written the words when she met Tapestry Singers. She was so inspired that she went home to compose the music–her first musical composition. She was a Tapestry Artistic Director for several years.

Toward the end of the second half, something bit me on my right forearm. Great discomfort! I kept singing, a bit distracted by the pain. Every time I adjusted my sleeve it hurt more so I even wondered if something sharp had become caught in the fabric. Between songs, a quick look–yep, it was a bite. Next song, something in my hair. Was it the music folder from the person behind me? I finally brushed it away and off flew a huge wasp! Oh! so that was the culprit!

The wasp had been in Mary’s hair, too, and crawled up Carol’s dress until someone swatted it away. By then it was pretty irritated and landed on my arm. Hmm…..the concert theme was Nature’s Glee. Was it also Nature’s Revenge? The friendly wasp finally landed on Sharon’s pant leg. She walked outside at the end of the concert and sent it away into a more natural habitat. Not many in the audience had any idea about our mini-drama.

Topical ointments and sprays had minimal effect, so I took Benedryl–one pill at bedtime and one at 4:30 after a late night phone call awakened us. It still hurts a good bit and looks bruised about the size of a half dollar, but it’s much better. Good thing I’m not allergic!

I was so pleased to see friends and family members in the audience. My sister Madeleine often comes to visit for concert weekends and we have had a busy time together.

On the day she arrived, my son Fred left for 3 months of research in Stockholm! I helped him with his luggage and the three of us had lunch together at the airport before he left. Fred told us several stories from when he was a kid. When he was 6 and brother Rob was 10, they flew to West Virginia to visit relatives but mistakenly got off the plane at the wrong airport! No one had told us the plane had an intermediate stop!

The plane took off without them and airline officials scrambled to get them on a charter plane with a bunch of businessmen. They were landing when Fred got up to tell the pilot his ear was hurting. When he took in the view of the cockpit and the panorama of beautiful West Virginia he said “Wow!” and the pilot nearly jumped out of his skin. Said they’d talk about it later and sent him back to his seat. Upon landing, everyone filed off, the pilot shook his hand and asked about his earache (it was fine by then), and off they went. Ah! the days when minors could fly without a huge amount of supervision.

After swapping more stories, Fred boarded the plane. He did make it across the friendly skies on British Airways without incident. His challenge for a while will be to go to bed at a decent hour, since it barely gets dark this time of year.

Love these travel adventures!