A Few Words From Pastor Bryan
An interesting new friend and his music...
Most of you know I've been involved with music ministry as a singer/songwriter for quite a few years. That's what I did full-time for over 30 years before becoming pastor of McFarland UCC in December of 2018.
In 2016 I and some other progressive Christian artists and theologians (Brian McLaren, Ken Medema, Otis Moss III, Christopher Grundy, The band "The Many," Andra Moran, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan and others) launched a company called The Convergence Music Project (CMP). It's an online source of music for worship with lyrics and messages that line up with the book I published in 2012 called, The 6 Marks of Progressive Christian Worship Music. If you're curious about CMP here's a link to the website. There's a video on the home page in which I explain what it's all about.
Given that being your pastor takes up most of my time, I'm not able to put too much energy into CMP, but it and Haiti Allies get a good deal of my spare time when I'm not doing church stuff. The company is growing nicely, primarily because it's really the only such company in existence that is defined by the theology of the lyrics. More and more people are joining the progressive Christian movement, and so CMP is beginning to draw more attention without much effort on my part at all.
About two weeks ago, out of the blue, I received an email from a guy named Noel Paul Stookey. He very humbly introduced himself saying, "If you're old enough, you may remember the folk band, "Peter, Paul, and Mary. Well I'm 'Paul' from that group." Of course I knew who he was! His reason for reaching out was that several people had suggested he contact me and CMP to see if we'd be interested in featuring some of his music on our site. He identifies as a progressive Christian these days. So he and I have been communicating, and he's sent me some of his newer music. It's really wonderful, and that dude is aging well! Here's a link to a live recording of him doing a song called "For The Love Of It All" that dovetails perfectly with our church's commitment to eco-justice and creation care and about the Love that's at the heart of the Gospel as we understand it. I think you'll love the song, and his performance is beautiful.
What I haven't shared with Noel yet is that I actually met him a few times when I was a kid. Mary Travers, the "Mary" of Peter, Paul, and Mary, lived in an apartment above my father on East 58th St. in Manhattan. My dad was a fashion designer, and he often made dresses for Mary to use in her performances and media appearances. When I'd go to New York to visit my dad at about age 7 or so, I'd always go upstairs and play with Mary's daughter Erica who was my age. Peter Yarrow and Noel were often in and out of the apartment. Small world, huh? I remember Erica used to go around singing, "Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet, but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat." I thought it was a stupid thing to sing. What did I know... Small world, huh?
Life is full of surprises. May yours be wonderful this week. Who knows, maybe we'll get Noel to come and do a concert at our church?
What a blast it is to be alive, and to be your pastor. Thanks once again for the privilege it is to be among you.
Pastor Bryan
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