Mission Impossible

TV watchers may remember the old show Mission Impossible and even now it may be found on the Island of Lost Re-Reruns. Each week, a team of experts would receive a death defying assignment and off they would go on a mission - impossible. It had a great musical theme.

We have such a team here at General Convention and they undertake their impossible mission daily. The mission they have chosen to accept is infusing spirit into an otherwise lifeless General Convention except, of course, when it is talking about sex. It's a heavy lift because they are trying to meet the mission with music for the spirit.

Jeannine Otis, the music director of St. Mark's in the Bowery, in Manhattan, has accepted the daunting task and come across country to join with Julia Huttar Bailey and Dent Davidson.

This is the team that seem to be the front people for the Ubuntu Choir, an all volunteer group and the House of Bishops and Spouses Choir.

An ethnomusicologist might describe Ms. Otis' main task as call and response - a style unfamiliar to the vast majority of those in this congregation. Ms. Otis, among other pieces, does the gathering and sending forth music. Yesterday we gathered with "I don't want no trouble at the river" and departed with "Have you got good religion?" Thank God for Ms. Otis because after hearing the meditation by the Archbishop of Canterbury, my answer would have been a resounding "no." You can read it on line and decide for yourself. There will be more about the ABC in a future posting.

At the opening Eucharist, Canon Lester Thandakile Mackenzie, a priest of the host diocese and a transplanted South African s-o-b (son of a bishop) broke into traditional African praise singing to enthuse and inject spirit into the opening service. Everybody around me looked confused when he started his shouts of praise as we were singing the South African hymn Halleluya! Pelo tso rona at the offertory.

The Ubuntu Choir offered up the Sanctus and Benedictus from a Mass for Soulful People complete with stride piano. They made a joyful noise even though I thought it was an odd selection since Bishop Bruno was celebrating in Spanish. Something written by Skinner Chavez Melo would have been my preferred choice - but hey - these folks are on mission impossible.

Into the mix of all the call and response of traditional spirituals, the mass setting for soulful people, South African, Zimbabwean, Brazilian and Angolan music, The House of Bishops and Spouses choir offered some Welsh soul music obviously to honor the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Welsh folk song had a beautiful text roughly paraphrased "If you see someone in need: a starving child, an aged person, a weary traveler; do you turn away? If so, follow the example of Jesus Christ, and give a helping hand, as he has done for us." Beautiful - yes, an eclectic mix - yes, spirit sustaining - not yet and that's the mission - to see if it is possible to infuse through song, spirit into this gathering of spiritless people.

It's not clapping off beat that I'm talking about. it is a change in heart We'll see and only time will tell.

I can't wait to find out what songs we will sing today.