MCC San Francisco Worship and Praise Tour 2008

Many Thanks

2008-07-31T04:55:00.001-07:00

My dear WP friends,
I am writing to thank you for sharing the incredible journey we made together. I have missed singing with you all so much, the tour just filled me up, nourished me and brought me closer to God, my voice, and of course you-all. I just love how well we played together, sang together, traveled together - all with our focused mission of healing others. I felt we were truly blessed the whole trip. Our GALA set was awesome - perfect in every way, and yet my favorite part was the tour - getting to sing a full concert of wonderful music with my friends in Spirit 3 nights in a row! You might have noticed me bawling after the Tampa set. It's because I realized that that would be the last time I would be singing Total Praise with you for a long time. (besides the fact that we just finished singing 3 full, Spirit-filled concerts in a row - the heart gets a little open and overwhelmed I think - esp when it's used to singing a few songs during service with a week in between to recover!) Thank you for being my brothers and sisters, my MCCSF family, for being the loving, supportive, caring, inspiring, committed, and Spirit-ed. You will always be a part of me, and for that I give great thanks. I hope to be able to come visit again in Sept or early Nov and I'm hoping that means I will be able to sing with you again!
With gratitude and love,Your Cary

MCCSFWP Tour

2008-07-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from our fabulous tour. All 3 churches were wonderfully kind and generous, feeding us like queens and hosting and organizing our home stays.

We were truly blessed!

Christ Covenant MCC, Decatur, GA - a.k.a. Tessie and Lisa's Church!

Ready to rock and roll!

For our afternoon off in Atlanta, Cheri/Cheryl, Andra, Wendy, Jill and I went to The MLK Jr. Center

Wow, does Tessie and Lisa's church know about Southern Hospitality! Great eats and lots of it!

It was GREAT singing with Lisa and Tessie again!

Trinity MCC, Gainesville, GA - a.k.a. Joe and Erik's church!

Poor baby!

Jen's very happy at our homestay!

We're very happy to have some down time at Joe and Erik's. Incredible spread they put out for us with Erik taking our orders and Joe grilling like crazy!

Aaaahhhhh!

MCC of Tampa - a.k.a. Phylis and (oh my, I can't remember her partner's name!)'s church

Our hosts: the Barbara's of Hollywood (Georgia that is!)

On the road again

The Numero Uno Van!

We made it to Miami!

Manly men setting up for sound check.

Waiting backstage for soundcheck

Soundcheck

And of course to top it all off, our GALA concert was fabulous!

Thank you for sharing it all with me!

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GALA rehearsal

2008-07-28T01:01:00.000-07:00

this situation had strong reminisences of "Fame" for me (the tv show, and not the movie!). steph provided some tips on effective unified body movements

2008-07-28T00:58:00.000-07:00

next stop, second 'staging' level....hurry up and wait!

now we are in the temporarily rehearsal room. getting our voices in shapes, exercising our bodies, warm up. i loved the black velvet curtains, dramatic lighting, and bright, clean wood floors.

miami town

2008-07-28T00:54:00.000-07:00

we've just arrived in miami. ilyas is outside the convention center, from a distance. the group is in the 'first level' of entrance into the building for our first/only practice. we were very organized and nobody seemed to get lost - even tho miami isn't the most orderly place

2008-07-28T00:51:00.000-07:00

tampa's large church was almost sold out. this was a 'plugged in' church, and they easily got into our 'groove thang'. somebody compared larry's wonderous singing as 'barry white making love to god!' it was all smiles, even thru ilyas' 'benedictus' (note: the black binders)

2008-07-28T00:47:00.000-07:00

tampa church was originally a mormon gymnasium, later sold to another church, then mcc bought it. very cool large open space, on one side was the alter and choir/band stand and on the opposite side was a stage, complete with curtains and a full cafeteria-style kitchen. their sound system rocked!

2008-07-28T00:43:00.000-07:00

a super wet welcome to tampa. we we're under a tight time limit, so we had to unload fast!

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the church choir is 'on the road' and 'on line', literally!

pool party at eric and joe's

2008-07-28T00:38:00.000-07:00

what wonderful hosts - the folks in gainesville were so friendly

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'now - this time with feeling!!' exclaims stephanie in

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michael singing 'god of wonders' - gave me shivers everytime!

now we're in gainesville, fl

2008-07-28T00:32:00.000-07:00

i wish i had more pictures of the 'pre-dwell' quansit-style church. it came as i kit and 14 lesbians with powertools made it - a sight to see!

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decatur mcc

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lisa and tessie singing their personal fav 'the potter's house'. the red shirts looked great here!

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the australian 'sea dragon' was the most exquisite (and equine) thing i had ever seen. jellyfishes danced effortlessly in their tanks, while new age harp music sedated us weary travelers.

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we all had a free afternoon in decatur, so we ventured to downtown atlanta. we went to the civic 'aquarium' which had beautiful new 'queer-friendly' facilities.

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there was a freak cyclone in downtown atlanta last december - many of the buildings were damaged and numerous windows have yet to be replaced. kids playing in the fountains in the center of town.

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the gardens at the restaurant. there was a handmade sign that said 'live nude girls' covered over with 'live music'

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our atlanta friends brought us out to the 'burbs' to eat at a 'upscale hippie' restaurant in greenwood. yummy crabcakes and a sweet reminders of san francisco and the hippy legacy created here

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here we are, ilyas, robert and mike in the rain outside r's hotel. there was thunder and lightening like i've never seen/heard b4. the rain started right at the commencement of the parade (1pm) and stopped with the parade (3pm) - but everyone was a 'super trooper'

On the Road to GALA 2008

2008-07-27T23:37:00.000-07:00

this scene is was at the atlanta gay pride parade . a religious group who were either yelling at us or then praying quietly together. interestingly they were on the other side of the street from the 'parade judges table' - everyone's a critic!

Stay tuned...more photos coming soon

2008-07-23T12:52:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Tour is over, but we've still got a lot of photos coming our way. I got some in the mail from Tampa yesterday, and I got some digital photos from Tampa and Gainesville via email recently as well. I will post them soon, so check back periodically, since the blog isn't done yet!

Peace,

Aidan

More fan mail from our GALA performance

2008-07-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

Just want to tell you how incredible MCC's performance
was at GALA. This was the first time I had ever heard the group, but
it was a concert I won't soon forget, and I will certainly get a
recording of it. I  especially loved the Benedictus, which was
particularly amazing. Clearly, we need to do more music by Ilyas Iliya.

Great job!

Joe Castrovinci
San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus

"Benedictus", Ilyas, and Thoughts on Xenophobia

2008-07-21T09:52:00.001-07:00

Here's the choir singing Ilyas Iliya's "Benedictus" at GALA, and a picture of Ilyas and Vicki onstage later that day with the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus.

Every place that we performed "Benedictus", the audience reacted with tears, standing ovations, and enthusiastic praise afterwards.

Ilyas is a talented, up-and-coming composer and had two pieces making their GALA premiere this Festival, "Benedictus" and also "Safeer el-Layl", which he wrote for the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Stephanie mentioned this to our audiences at the different MCCs -- "Safeer" is particularly groundbreaking because it is the world's first piece of choral music about gay love sung in colloquial Arabic, and performed by a gay-identified chorus.

I found the audience's reactions to Stephanie's comments about "Safeer" pretty interesting, and in some cases, disappointing. In Decatur, I heard some people say "Wow..." and there was applause. In Gainesville, there was nervous laughter. (Some MCCSF people were commenting afterwards that the Gainesville folks didn't understand why gay men would sing in a "terrorist language".) We got another awkward reaction when Stephanie mentioned "Safeer" in Tampa. (The GALA audience responded positively to both Ilyas' introduction of the piece and SFGMC's delivery of it.)

I thought that the audience reactions were worth commenting on -- it really shows me where other parts of the country (queer or not) are at, politically and culturally. Xenophobia and intolerance/fear of Middle Easterners (well, probably, anyone who's different from them) still remain unexamined in many places, and prejudice still gets in the way of recognizing our common experience as human beings, queer people, and people of faith.

San Francisco isn't perfect -- a few weeks ago I saw "A Jihad for Love" at Frameline, which is a groundbreaking film about the lives of queer Muslims. From the reactions of the audience, many of whom were queer Muslims, I could tell that talking openly about the issue of LGBT people in the Islamic world is still a pretty new and controversial thing to do. Even in SF there are not many opportunities for queer Muslims to be their full selves in community -- as both queer people, and people of faith. I can't even imagine what life must be like for queer Muslims in the South. I feel newly grateful to be part of MCC San Francisco, a queer church that incorporates some Islamic music (and music of other faith traditions) into its Taize service, and where Sufi readings sometimes find their way into Sunday worship. I appreciate this inclusion, and its underlying significance.

I should be careful how I say this... but the tour reaffirmed something I already knew or suspected: that being an LGBT person does not necessarily mean that someone will have a certain set of beliefs or politics. Identifying as lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, gay, etc., does not always give people further insight into the other ways that people are marginalized in our society, nor does a marginalized person necessarily sympathize with other marginalized groups. Being LGBT in Gainesville or Tampa is not the same as being LGBT in San Francisco -- different ways of expressing ourselves, different politics, different alliegances, etc.

The introduction that Stephanie prepared for the person announcing our group at GALA included a long description of the diversity of our members. The words that I can remember that she used to describe us included Pagans, Jews, Atheists, Christians, students, teachers, sex workers, and musicians. The GALA audience didn't seem to have much trouble with these labels... but now that I think of it, all of these details of our identities and lives were not presented quite as overtly to the MCCs that we visited. Might our experience have been different if they had been? I don't want to imply that our ways of doing something are better than anyone else's -- they're just different. And I think that even in MCC, our church is unusually open.

Back to "Benedictus" -- the lyrics translate to "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of our God", a beautiful message originating in the Hebrew scriptures. After three gospel pieces, one upbeat one and two slower tunes, "Benedictus" was an abrupt change of pace in our GALA set, with its classical feel and a cappella sound. The other pieces featured soloists and the band, so this piece was the choir's chance to show what we could do all on our own, with no backup. The energy I felt from the choir during that piece was really intense. I know I mentioned this earlier, but when we finished the final "Hosana!", there was a long, stunned silence from the audience...longer than I've ever heard from an audience in my thirteen years as a choral singer. Ilyas said that it was a full six seconds before they finally broke the silence and gave us a wonderful standing ovation.

There wasn't enough time for GALA to clear up the copyright stuff on all of our pieces, so the only one that they recorded was "Benedictus". I can't wait to hear the recording!

a few more GALA photos...

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Here's a shot of everyone on stage, one of Stephanie directing, and another choir shot (swaying to the left, during Larry's solo on "Use Me").

On the far right in the first one, you'll see our ASL interpreter (blue coat and khaki pants). No, we weren't planning to have one, as it wasn't in our budget...but this amazing guy was already at GALA to do ASL interpreting for the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus' set, and he heard our rehearsal and generously volunteered his services to us for free. I don't know how many Deaf people there were at the GALA Festival, but many groups had ASL interpreters, and I noticed at least one guy in the front row watching the interpreter during our performance. (Not that I was looking around or anything... of course, I had my attention focused on our director at all times! ;-) So, I'm glad that the interpreter came through at the last minute, because I really think it's important that our message be accessible to everyone. (I wonder, how may MCCs have ASL interpretation in their services? And how many Deaf people might come to our church if we offered ASL interpretation?)

It was great singing in a hall with such great acoustics and sound equipment. Larry's voice really filled up the hall, and the audience loved him. He told us that we sounded great in the monitors, too. I couldn't hear that, of course... but I look forward to hearing the recording.

Soloists at GALA

2008-07-20T23:16:00.001-07:00

Rick's Not Afraid...

Larry with the band on "Use Me"...

and Jill, Trusting God Again.

Our GALA performance - a few photos

2008-07-20T22:57:00.001-07:00

Here are a few photos from our GALA performance. (I'll post more later.)

The first one is from Stephanie's introduction to our set. Carolyn Eidson had an intereaction on the Metromover that morning that provided perfect material for our intro. Another GALA delegate asked Carolyn what group she was singing with. When Carolyn told the woman that she was with MCC San Francisco, the woman said something like, "Well, what is your group going to do -- tell us that we're going to hell?!"

Stephanie talked about this in her intro, and told the audience that we believe that God loves queer people, and that God created us just as we are. (As the stickers that MCC New York hands out ever year at Pride say, "God Made Me Queer".) The audience was happy to hear this message... I think they were relieved that we weren't going to preach at them.

In the second photo, do you see the tiny colorful specks in the front? That's us... and that should give you an idea of the scale of the concert hall. It was huge. The bright lights kept us from seeing out into the audience beyond the first row, but based on the applause I heard, I'd say that there were plenty of people out there.

The final photo in this set is a close-up, where you can see our special guests and former MCCSFers Cary Colman and Lisa Heezen, who joined us for this concert.

More later!

Fabulous Choir Performance

2008-07-15T08:12:00.001-07:00

I am writing to say how proud, humbled and moved I am thanks to the ministry of the MCCSF Choir at GALA yesterday (Sunday). WOW! It was all perfect. Starting with the intro from Stephanie which relaxed the audience right away because she directly told them "No, we're not here to tell you you're going to hell. We're here to tell you that God thinks you are fabulous. And that you are perfect just the way that you are!!!

The audience loved that. And breathed a sigh of relief. Then Rick captured their ears with his first high, clear, strong tone...followed by Larry's deep bone-vibrating message, and then Jill's fabuous invitation to give God another try. I know that many more than than me were weeping by this point. We were having us some church!!!

And just in case the audience thought the Worship and Praise choir was just a backup group for incredible soloists...there was Benedictus!!! In the silence through every tone, you could feel the audience's admiration and appreciation climbing for MCCSF's technical singing prowess combined with the deeply spiritual experience of hearing this group sing!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your incredible mission of reclaiming God for all of us. I know that there were many people here yesterday who will be changed forever as a result of what you did!!!

Blessings to you and thanks for your blessings to me,

Deborah Sheperis

Our GALA performance

2008-07-13T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it! Our 30 minutes on the GALA stage seemed to go by so fast. The audience responded very positively. When Benedictus ended, there was a long, long silence...longer than I've ever heard from an audience... followed by thunderous applause and a standing ovation. We got another standing ovation after concluding our set with Amen. I have been receiving compliments all afternoon from audience members. Right now I'm rushing back to the hotel for a quick costume change - SF Gay Men.s Chorus concert tonight - but I will post more later.

Ziff Hall entrance

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Ziff Hall

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Final Warm-up

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This is the last photo taken before we go on, as photography is prohibited in the hall.

The Band, Ready to Rock

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Smiling Eyes

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Man with Machine

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Nervous? Nah...

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Hi, I'm Ashley

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Put a Mute in it

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Larry with Fan

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GALA concert soon...

2008-07-13T06:58:00.001-07:00

Today is the MCCSFWP GALA concert. I think that at yesterday.s tech rehearsal, people started to realize what a big deal this is. We walked onstage and looked out onto the biggest concert hall that some of us had ever sung/played in. Ziff Ballet Opera House seats 3,000. The sound system is excellent. When we started /Use Me/, and Larry Novida rehearsed his solo, his voice just filled the room. When we got off the stage, Larry told us that he could hear us in the monitors, and he started to tear up as he told us how good we sounded. We perform in about 3 hours. We are the third group in the first concert block, positioned between New Orleans Gay Men:s Chorus and San Diego Men:s Chorus. I am looking forward to seeing how people react to us... Hope we have good news to report in a few hours!

Takin' it to the Streets

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GALA Sound Check

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Backstage @ Ziff Opera House

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Preparing to go onstage for our tech rehearsal. Festival opening ceremonies are tonight, and we're the only church choir...I wonder how the other singers, many of whom have been church-burned, will react to our little church choir.

Alligator Alley

2008-07-11T12:48:00.001-07:00

We are driving across Florida toward Miami, currently on a long stretch of road called Alligator Alley, with fences separating the road from the swampy alligator territory on either side of the road. We had a momentary panic when we headed back onto the road after a rest stop, only to realize that we had left the back of the U-Haul open. I was imagining cargo flying out the back of the truck, and gators snacking on our suitcases, maybe devouring a drum or some music folders... but Jen Rulon remembered that the truck was open, and we pulled over before any damage was done. Now we are playing spot-the-alligator. Our next stop is Miami!

Wisdom of Taco Bell - Naples, FL

2008-07-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

"Help! I can't tell where I am. It's dark and I can hear laughing."

MCC Tampa concert

2008-07-11T10:18:00.001-07:00

According to the weather reports I saw before we left, the weather will never dip below 90 degrees anywhere that we.ll be for the entire trip. Yesterday was no exception, but we had an hour of (warm) pouring rain right as we arrived in Tampa. Rain came down in sheets just as we were unloading luggage, guitars, and the Hammond into the church. MCC Tampa has a huge church - I hear Rev. Jim Mitulski said they won the MCC building lottery. My host said they have ~250 regular attendees. I don.t know how many people came to the concert, but it was our biggest yet! Probably about 200. They gave several standing ovations, cheered enthusiastically for our GALA set, and gave us a generous love offering. Everyone was so friendly--they gave us a great dinner, then a reception afterwards. It.s a great congregation, and they clearly adore their pastor, Rev. Phyllis Hunt. This morning, they made us a pancake breakfast, and Rev. Phyllis sent us off with a blessing and
a reminder that we.ll be representing all MCCs at GALA.

Unusual Suspects

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Kristine familiarizes herself and her van-mates with the stories
behind the mugshots.

Agua

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2 Women with Dog

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We say goodbye for now to MCC Tampa's Vilia, Rev. Phyllis and Pepe
(wonderful to be with you!) and head off to Miami.

Chilling with Duane

2008-07-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention that our host also has a pool with a machine that creates a current that you can swim against (Andra was the best at beating the current) and that his house and pool back up to a canal, where many people have motor boats docked out back. What a trip! You wouldn't find anything like this (or like our host) in SF. Notice the bighorn sheep behind Wendy in this photo.

We are so not in San Francisco anymore...

2008-07-10T21:52:00.001-07:00

Wendy, Yalith and I just had to upload this photo because we wanted to introduce you to Duane. Duane, pictured in the center of this photograph, is an ex-bear in the home of our host, a game hunter. Our host is not out, so I won't mention his name, but he's a member of the Tampa MCC where we performed tonight, and is quite a character. I will write more about the concert in the morning, but we had a huge audience and met more lovely, generous MCC folks who fed and housed us. Our host is letting us use his washing machine, which is really fantastic after some sweaty, hot days on the road. Tomorrow we leave for Miami!

James is getting good at this...

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Kathleen, Mark, Vicki

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Ashley and Kathleen after the show

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Band side

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MCC Tampa concert

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Hello Tampa, Hello Rain

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Stephanie drives one of the vans.

Gainesville, part 1

2008-07-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

We are on the road to Tampa, having just left Gainesville after a very nice pool party chez Joe and Eric with our hosts. Trinity MCC in Gainesville was unlike any other church I've ever seen. It.s several buildings set on six acres in the middle of a beautiful Florida forest (rainforest, maybe?) with moss hanging from the trees, lots of wildlife, hiking trails, and some pretty amazing giant yellow bananna spiders that Robert Miller befriended and photographed extensively. It felt like a very sacred, peaceful place. The sanctuary was also remarkable: the church building was made from a giant arch of corrugated steel, adding to the otherworldly appearance of the place, but it was very cozy inside. Rev. Joe McMurray told the us that he would be leaving Gainesville within a month, and since the congregation was going through a difficult transition, we might have a small audience. A lot of us were surprised and saddened to hear this news - not disheartened or discouraged, but sorry they were having a rough time.

Gainesville part 2

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Even though the news took many of us by surprise, I think that it actually turned out to be a perfect time to visit, and we were the perfect group to visit them. Having recently survived the loss of several beloved pastors, we were in a perfect position to reassure them that things would turn out okay in the end - not that transition is easy or fun, but that their congregation would pull through it, just as ours has. One woman told me that church attendance has dropped off significantly, and I told her that we had been through similar situations. It.s always reassuring to know that others have been there. About 30 people attended the concert, but it was much more emotionally charged and Spirit-filled than the Decatur concert, with approx. 70. We changed the program a little, including some uplifting MCCSF standards like Roll Away the Rock. We sang and played well together, and the audience responded very enthusiastically. Some people said they would drive to Tampa to hear us again, or send friends. Success!

:) x2

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Topless #1

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Ben!

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floating.swans

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Pool Party!

2008-07-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

Today, Joe and Eric graciously hosted us for a BBQ and pool party
before we head out to Tampa.

Perspectives on Trinity concert

2008-07-10T11:51:00.001-07:00

Last night's concert at Trinity went well. The band was solid in the
groove, the choir crisp and clear, in the dry, carpeted acoustic
space. (Each space we perform in is different and we adjust as we go.)
And, the soloists wailed!

The audience was incredibly warm and enthusiastic. Lindsy McLean
even drove all the way from Nashville to hear us in both Decatur and
Gainesville!

But there was more than notes, rhythms and talent at work. We found
ourselves not only ministering to the congregants and guests who
traveled to hear us, but also to Rev. Joe McMurray and his partner
Eric, who are wrapping up their time with Trinity and awaiting God's
next calling. It was a joy to catch up with them.

Stephanie with Band

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Rick

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Michael

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Trinity MCC concert

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Rehearsing at Trinity

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Stephanie and choir rehearse for tonight's concert.

Arrived at Trinity MCC Gainesville

2008-07-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

What a cool place to have church!

On the Road: Benedictus, boiled peanuts...and the National Guard.

2008-07-09T10:57:00.001-07:00

We're on the road between Decatur & Gainesville, stopped at a mall for lunch. Last night's concert at Christ Covenant was great: Benedictus got a standing ovation and tears, and we got to sing Total Praise with CCMCC Choir. There were many old MCCSF friends in the audience. Our Decatur hosts have been amazing, providing fantastic food and housing, and even sending us off at 7 this morning with gallons of coffee and bags of breakfast. Today is the longest driving day. I think most of us are somewhere between a little tired and totally fried, but still glad to be having this adventure. We sampled local cuisine at gas stations: Georgia peaches and boiled peanuts (the latter was surprisingly good). Outside the mall, a man in uniform approached me to recruit me for the National Guard. In SF, I would make a snappy comeback about dont-ask-don.t-tell...but here, I felt a polite no thanks more appropriate. Different world. Back on the road...Tonight: concert in Gainesville, then hopefully a good night's sleep. :-)

Eye on the Prize

2008-07-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

Kristine poses with her banana. What can we say? Art.

Loaded and Ready

2008-07-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

After a spirit-filled concert--and a wonderful reunion with Tessie,
Lisa and Kent--at Christ Covenant MCC in Decatur, GA, we load up for a
healthy drive to Gainsville, FL.

Many thanks to each of our generous hosts who let us into your homes!

Stephanie & Choir rehearse

2008-07-08T08:58:00.001-07:00

Setting up at Christ Covenant MCC Decatur

2008-07-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Leaving the Bubble: thoughts from the airport.

2008-07-07T19:27:00.001-07:00

I'm in the Chicago airport, waiting for my connecting flight, and reflecting on something Stephanie said last night at the service when the congregation gave a blessing to everyone travelling to GALA. She mentioned something that has been on my mind. How do I say this? Well, San Francisco is kind of a bubble, and homophobia is alive and well where we are going. The legal protections (employment, housing, etc), basic rights (like visiting your spouse in the hospital), and social climate (lots of supportive straight people) that we enjoy and sometimes take for granted in SF are only a distant dream for LGBT people in some parts of the Southeast. I know the MCCs will welcome us warmly, but how will the people we meet on the road react to several vans of San Francisco queers? We say we are bringing a message of hope and liberation, but I know that the people we meet will also minister to us, and give us some equally important messages to take home. This trip will change lives: ours and others.

Getting ready for takeoff...

2008-07-07T12:22:00.001-07:00

Music is central to my experience of MCCSF, as I think it is for many people. I remember when I first started coming to MCCSF. One morning, (this is back when we were at the LGBT Center) I came in a little late. As I climbed the stairs, I could hear the congregation singing the opening hymn together, beautifully, in four-part harmony. I was struck by how good they sounded, and by the fact that the congregation, not just the choir, was singing enthusiastically and in harmony. (The spiritual communities of my childhood, Reform and Conservadox Jewish congregations that shall remain nameless, are notoriously terrible singers, bless their hearts.) I was thrilled to find a spiritual community that valued music and its transformative power. I've been singing in the evening choir for about 13 months now, and people have been excited for this tour as long as I can remember. As I write, we are all on our way to the airport, in flight, or on the ground in Atlanta. On our way at last! I'm at character limit. More soon.

A.D.D.

2008-07-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

Stephanie, Elisa, Wendy and Ashley patiently Awaiting Departure
Decision from United at SFO.