crosswalk the official publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina
October 2002
Praying twice . . .
Great Gathering promises sumptuous musical feast
At its regular monthly meeting in August, the mission committee of Trinity Church, Abbeville, unanimously and enthusiastically passed a motion to subscribe to the Partners for Mission project of Builders for Mission. Trinity Church is one of the oldest churches in the diocese, as well as one of the most beautiful churches. They join the Partners program’s number one subscriber, the Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr., who made the first pledge. Partners for Mission is a diocesan fund-raising project which invites individuals, organizations, and congregations within the diocese to pledge $1,000 a year for five years to
Partners for Mission. The funds are used to “seed” new missions, which includes staffing and providing music and educational programs, as well as building and furnishing a mission church. In return for the five-year commitment pledge participants receive one part of a small, limited edition model church—the foundation the first year, the church building the second year, the roof the third, and so on. At the end of the five years those making the pledge have completed their own miniature church as they have also watched a real mission come to diocesan life. In making the pledge to become a
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Partner for Mission, the Trinity mission committee was aware of the benefits and financial assistance it had received over the years from the diocese. Committee members also commented on how wonderful it would be if every parish and mission in the diocese participated in the Partners for Mission project, noting that it would be a wonderful common bond that sets aside differences in size, resources, attendance, and diocesan prominence. For more information on the Partners for Mission project, see “Builders for Mission announces . . . Partners for Mission” on page 12.
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Trinity, Abbeville, is number two Partner for Mission
Christ Church’s Jim Broussard has assembled an exciting program of “blended music” that will speak to all generations. A special diocesan choir, 150 voices strong, drawn from Upper South Carolina’s 65 congregations, will offer the Jim Broussard main anthem for the worship service, John Bertalot’s “Thy word is a lantern,” along with other selections, including favorites from the Taizé community in France. The introit, a Zimbabwe call to worship entitled “Uyai mose” (“Come all you people and praise the most high”), will introduce the djembe, an authentic African drum. Pre-service music will be performed by the Anderson String Quartet. Broussard, a former Metropolitan Opera Career Grant recipient who has sung under conductors Placido Domingo and James Levine, strives in his music “to make a bold statement of excellence and hope that challenges listeners to settle for nothing less than the person of Jesus Christ.” His new CD entitled Ascriptions of Praise will be released this fall.
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Robyn Zimmerman (with her back to the camera) directs the St. Peter’s Players in rehearsal for Godspell.
McKendree, who began his professional career in 1968, has worked for many years in a network under the aegis of the Episcopal Church, serving as the anchor of many well-known youth conferences, including Winterlight, held annually at North Carolina’s Kanuga Conference Center. His most recent CD recordings are Via Transforma, Touchstones, and Listening to the Heart. Performing with McKendree at The Great Gathering will be his “band”— Roger Glenn, a drummer from Austin, Texas, celebrated for his “charisma” and “ fire,” and Charles Milling, a native of New Orleans who has been McKendree’s “sideman” for four years, sharing vocals, as well as playing bass, acoustic and electric guitar. Godspell, in a special production mounted by the people of St. Peter’s, Greenville, directed by parishioner Robyn Zimmerman, is a jubilant musical celebration of the Gospel as told by St. Matthew that had its genesis in the youth culture of the 1960s. Surprising, provocative, and uniquely eloquent, it draws on techniques of clowning, pantomime, and vaudeville to tell the story of Christ’s ministry and passion in a moving, contemporary way. If you’re coming to Godspell, come early. Seating is limited, first-come, first-served. For the day of the Great Gathering
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It’s been said that those who sing, pray twice. And that’s exactly what’s in store for all Episcopalians at the Great Gathering of the diocese on October 26, at the Palmetto Expo Center, Greenville. There will be glorious worship, inspiring art, rousing speakers, exciting, practical workshops, and—that final essential ingredient—an incredible variety of music, attuned to every ear, offered by a number of Spirit-filled musicians from the diocese and beyond.
Fran McKendree, a diocesan favorite, will help launch the Great Gathering on Friday evening, October 25, at 7:30 p.m., following the 80th Annual Diocesan Convention, with a concert at the Christ Church Fran McKendree Episcopal School football stadium. A special performance of the wellknown pop-rock musical Godspell, also at 7:30 on October 25, will be the gift to the diocese of the people of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Greenville. And the program for the actual Great Gathering on October 26 will feature a special selection of music under the direction of Jim Broussard, associate director of music at Christ Church, Greenville. Fran McKendree, who has engaged audiences of all ages throughout the diocese with music that speaks to every seeker on the journey, will remain in residence for the entire Diocesan Youth Event (DYE), which runs from October 25 through October 27, concurrently with the Great Gathering.
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By Peggy Van Antwerp Hill