Richard W. Steffen: “Kickoffs”

Kickoffs

by Richard W. Steffen, Minister of Music

Swimming at the Tokyo Olympic Games was so exciting. We watched Katie Ledecky and Caleb Dressel on their elevated starting platforms and we knew the importance of the kickoff for their competitions. They prepared themselves when they heard the starter’s command: “Take your mark.” After assuming their starting positions, arched over their knees, grasping the front edge of the platforms and waiting for all the swimmers to become still, they heard the electronic tone to start the race as they dove into the pool. Those amazing kickoffs! Mathew Luebbers, the Head Coach for the US Marine Corp Okinawa Dolphins Swim Team in Japan writes about turns during swimming races: the open turn, the tumble turn, the flip turn, backwards flip turn, and the bucket turn. As I watch swimmers change direction, I always have the same thought: those amazing “kickoffs” from those walls! Yes, the value of the kickoff!

Summer for our faith community provided inspiration, rejuvenation, and the learning of new ideas (my experiences at the Green Lake Music Conferences have been invaluable); our fall kickoffs gathered us and those new insights together.

God has blessed our faith community in very meaningful ways through worship during our nearly 134-year history. We rejoiced as our Children’s Choirs processed on many Palm Sundays carrying palms. We cheered as the God’s Kids Choir sang “Jump for Joy” on past Easter Sundays. And now that we are meeting together in-person, we see them active in our high school and middle school church youth groups or in college. We were inspired by our Austin organ and the Brass Ensemble on Easter Sundays for many years. These memories only mention the wonderful services we had during past Holy Week and Easter Morning worship!

Preparation for our Advent and Christmas worship experiences were lovingly led by our Worship Commission. It did take both Jim Creech and Paul Zander to get this retired high school music teacher to meet them at Home Depot at 6:15 am on Black Fridays! Those men wanted the best poinsettias – and at a great price – for our upcoming Advent and Christmas Eve services. On most of those Friday mornings, I’d arrive with my 7-Eleven coffee and hope to find Paul still in line at the entrance there so that I could join him. Then we’d find Jim in an aisle inside with an all-ready filled shopping cart of poinsettias. And FBC did have the best as our children and their helpers laid the poinsettias in our chancel on those Hanging of the Green services as we sang: “Gentle Mary laid her Child lowly in a manger; hail! the King of Glory!”

We have praised our God through song in our digital services using our YouTube platform on 60+ worship services beginning March 22, 2020. We experienced the time of gratitude in November 2020 through our “Agape Dinner and Service” using Zoom. Many of you made videos for our virtual Christmas Cantata: “Heaven’s Child,” truly a new experience for many of us! Our time of introspection during Advent included “Blue Christmas: A Service of Reflection for the Longest Night of the Year” on Zoom. We celebrated the joy of Christmas on Christmas Eve on the Church Patio and again later using our YouTube platform. And we proclaimed the power of God over the grave on 2 Easter mornings during those long months: one digitally and the other in-person. Yes, God has blessed our worship.

We have been blessed Sunday after Sunday by Doris Billings and Linda Gentile at our mighty Austin organ and our Boston grand piano, giving our faith community 50 years of combined musical joy. And it will be a joy to join with Sally Rehfeldt, our new Church Organist, at practices and on Sunday mornings.

We are worshipping again in our sanctuary and now our faith community in worship is worldwide in real time because of livestream! Our worship can happen at 10 am Pacific Time on Sundays or anytime to worship, listen, sing, and pray using our FBC YouTube channel. And we will soon have another kick off at FBC: together in-person! Currently, the plan in our FBC Ministry of Music is to gather as a Worship Choir on Wednesday, September 8 at 7:00 pm in Field Hall. We rejoice as we kick off again, thankful for God’s presence these last long 18 months. And we join with the Psalmist and say: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalm 46:1, 7 NIV)