Nurturing a New Song

Choir member Dan Mason, right, spends time mentoring young choir members in a new program designed to nurture singers at their own level toward a lifetime love of singing in the choir.

Words: Cherie Ann Vick Photo: Kate Wisz

Kevin Kerstetter stands behind the piano to lead the St. Cecelia and St. Gregory choirs through music they are learning for Christmas, which is three weeks away. Behind the semi-circular row of young singers stand first one, then two, then a small group of adult choristers— mentors tapped by Kevin to work with the younger singers. Kevin finishes reviewing a few measures, then lets the young people know their mentors are here. Most stand and look behind them.

Mentors and mentees begin searching for each other and pair up. Soon the pairs (or trios) fill the room with a soft buzz of conversation, the occasional tapping, and even a couple of softly sung pitches. Like a one-room school house, each mentee is reading a lesson and writing answers in his book, guided by the mentor.

to offer our very best musical gifts in worship. The goal of the program is to prepare our busy young singers as well as possible to sing to the Lord a new song, and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”

Under Kevin’s tutelage, the young singers work through two books: Voice for Life and A Young Singer’s Journey. Voice for Life is actually a series of workbooks that comprise the official choir training workbooks of The Royal School of Church Music, an international organization founded in England in 1927 to promote the improvement of music in Christian worship. St. Michael’s is an affiliate of RSCM. Most of its members are Episcopalian, from churches around the country.

I use the Light Blue Level book with my mentee. That book begins by inviting the student to observe different singing postures and comment on how posture affects vocal production. Later topics include the basics of reading music— names of notes, recognizing how long a note lasts, types of rests, time signatures, intervals, scales, key signatures, acci

dentals, dynamic markings, and other basics about reading music and singing in a choir. While there is no instructor guide version, I am relieved to find that most of this information is something I have learned over the years singing in choirs. (It did reinforce the difference between half and whole measure rests that I am forever confusing.) I like that this basic curriculum is a workbook that the students will keep when they have finished all the exercises.

The Voice for Life study includes five levels: White, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Red and Yellow — the yellow level the equivalent to a college-level music theory class. The RCSM also provides a system of rewards offered through assessment by a specially trained examiner, where singers can earn Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals to wear on their vestments. While most of the St. Michael’s mentees are at a beginning level, others are working on next-level books.

“We’ve had success with Voice for Life,” Kevin says, “but the problem has been that each singer is working at a different level. So teaching a large group, with some being very experienced musicians and others encountering music for the first time, was a challenge.” He developed the mentor program so adult choir members can work with the singers in small groups, so each singer can progress at his or her own pace. Eighteen choristers take part in the program — four boys and 14 girls. The boys are in 4th and 5th grades and two of them have never sung in a choir before. The girls, in grades 6 through 12, all have different levels of experience.

In the early fall, Kevin invited all members of the adult choir to become members. Twelve signed up, surprising him. “I was thrilled when so many adults volunteered to be mentors! We have nearly as many mentors as choristers. We have mentors of all ages … both men and women.” The mentors meet on Wednesday nights before the adult choir practice begins.

It’s not a simple undertaking. Any adult who works with children is required to complete an online course on Safe Church. This Diocesan-sponsored training is required for all Sunday school teachers, nursery volunteers, volunteers working with a partner less than three times a month. St. Michael’s Youth Director Abby Van Noppen, now coordinates the training at St. Michael’s and arranged for the mentors to complete the two-hour course on recognizing and reporting sexual misconduct, ranging from harassment to molestation.

But the choral mentoring program at its essence is about creating lifelong singers. The musical background of mentors ranges from choir experience to degrees in music performance. Some have experience mentoring young people in other subjects and others have none. What motivates them is a desire to work with young people and give back. Linda Rogers has sung in church choirs since high school, where her 50-girl choir sang one service every Sunday. “I just think it’s important for young people to have more adults in their lives, and I enjoy young people,“ Linda says. “Music is important and sacred choral music is especially important. That’s the way I worship and enjoy participating. I hope to convey that to these young people.”

Christine Haarvig Taylor recently retired from professional performance as a violinist and had some time she wanted to use productively. “I am pretty conversant with things a young musician would find helpful to know,” she says. Christine doesn’t really consider herself a singer, though she has sung in choirs since 1995. “I read music well and have really good pitch. I think intonation for string players is even fussier than it is for choral singers.”

Currently the mentoring program is scheduled for two Wednesdays each month in the school year. Kevin plans to continue the program indefinitely, so young singers who are motivated can even prepare for exams that allow them to receive international singing awards. “The girls who have gone to the RSCM Carolina Course [offered each summer] at Duke most recently have seen other singers who have award badges,” he says. He expects some singers to complete an entire level or more in a choir season. Others will move more slowly, and he is ok with that.

The mentees are learning more in the program than just how to read choral music. “They learn breathing awareness, posture, and develop self-esteem,” Christine says. “They can stand up and sing in front of someone, which means they can go to middle school and do an oral book report in front of the class without panicking.”

Parents are supportive, too. “Our choir parents are so appreciative of the musical training their children receive,” Kevin says. “I’m grateful that our choir families make a considerable investment of time and energy to support their children’s choir training, because I know families are very busy. It’s a gift that can bring their children joy for a lifetime.”

Cherie Vick designs and writes educational programs for adult learners and articles for local publications. She sings in the choir.

A Worthy

Cause

FORD WORTHY CAME TO ST. MICHAEL’S IN 1957, JUST AFTER THE NAVE WAS BUILT. BUT HE’S SPENT A LIFETIME LOVING AND CARING FOR THIS PARISH THAT BEGAN WHEN HE MET THE MAN WHO HELPED CREATE IT.

Words: Will Lingo Photo: Susan B. Rountree

Ford Worthy hasn’t been at St. Michael’s since day one. He wasn’t here when it was nothing but the Little Red Church. But you won’t find anyone better suited to trace the parish’s history from her humble beginnings to the present day.

Worthy is almost 96, but you wouldn’t guess it from hanging out with him. He’s sharp, independent, engaging. He still drives himself to church, and you’ll find him in his usual pew area — front left — almost every Sunday, usually with his wife Isabel. He dealt with viral pneumonia last year, and his wife has overcome illnesses as well, but as the calendar turned to 2020, there they both were in their familiar spot.

The Worthys are not charter members of St. Michael’s. They aren’t even Raleigh natives. But they’re definitely connected to the heartbeat of Raleigh’s modern history, reflective of the way St. Michael’s has become an integral part of the community over the last 70 years.

service in the new nave. Worthy remembers looking at a punch list — a builder’s to-do list for completing the final details of a project — with Willie York, the man who brought him to Raleigh and one of the founding members of the parish.

If you want to learn about the history of Raleigh and the history of St. Michael’s, Willie York is a key character. His father started York Construction at the turn of the 20th century, and the company built Raleigh landmarks like Memorial Auditorium. Willie took over the company and diversified into real estate development and management, and the name changed to York Properties. His son, Smedes, eventually took over the company and still serves as chairman after handing the reins to his son George in 2009. Smedes and his wife Rosemary are longtime members at St. Michael’s.

It was Willie York and his family who donated the land for St. Michael’s. York’s go-to architect, Leif Valand designed the St. Michael’s nave — along with more than 100 other structures and projects in and around

Raleigh, including Cameron Village. Cameron Village is regarded as the first shopping center in the Southeast, but it was a comprehensive development that included offices, apartments and houses in addition to stores.

Worthy worked down the hall from York and Valand when he was with York Properties. It gave him a unique view to the growth of St. Michael’s, and the city around it. In addition to helping York oversee the final details of the construction of St. Michael’s, Worthy still remembers seeing brick laid out in a particular pattern in a company storage room.

York wanted the bricklayers to use a Flemish bond, which alternates stretchers (the long side of a brick) and headers (the short side) to create an out-of-the-ordinary pattern in which you can see crosses. Flemish bond was common in colonial-era churches, but less so in modern churches because it’s more expensive and time-consuming to execute.

The brick wall at the back of the nave (behind the altar) uses Flemish bond, though much of it is now obscured by wood added in a subsequent renovation. But if you look carefully you can still see it, and particularly if you go to the playground in back of the church and view the exterior.

Worthy brought experience beyond his years when he moved to Raleigh. Born in Washington, N.C. – Little Washington to North Carolina natives – he graduated from high school in 1942 and headed to Chapel Hill for college at the University of North Carolina. He entered the Navy’s V-12 program, which used universities to produce officers for service in World War II.

Worthy spent about a year at Carolina before getting sent to midshipman school at Columbia University in New York. He was commissioned in October 1944, just past the age of 20, and soon began serving as an assistant gunnery officer for a fuel tanker in the Pacific.

they anticipated a lot of us dying when we invaded Japan,” Worthy says matter of factly. “We were the sorriest gun crew in the Pacific. I always tell people Harry Truman saved my life.” Continued from page 15

Willie York, left, who oversaw much of the building of the nave, stands with the Rt. Rev. Edwin A. Penick and the Rev. James Dunbar Beckwith, rector, at the laying of the cornerstone of the church in 1956. Photo: St. Michael’s Archives.

Worthy managed a lot of York’s key relationships, from mortgage partners to contractors. He said one thing was always true: “People were nervous about any job Mr. York had a direct interest in.”

Truman, of course, made the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945, bringing a swift end to the war in the Pacific. So Worthy spent his 21st birthday at anchor in Tokyo Harbor. He returned to the U.S. in 1946, and graduated from Carolina in 1947 with a degree in physics and accounting.

Worthy returned to Little Washington and went into business with his brother-in-law as general contractors, doing everything from building bridges to clearing land. Seeking broader horizons, Worthy moved to Charlotte to work for Equitable Insurance. Rather than insurance, though, Worthy sold mortgages, or more to the point, money to real estate developers. His territory covered the Carolinas and western Virginia, so he worked with many of the key figures in postwar development in the region.

One of them was York. They didn’t do any big deals with each other, as Equitable was more interested in central business districts, while York was looking to the suburbs and developments like Cameron Village — which, yes, used to be considered suburban, as did Canterbury Road.

But in 1957 York offered to double Worthy’s pay if he would move to Raleigh and come work for him. Worthy asked about his job title, or at least a job description, and he said York looked at him quizzically.

“He just said, ‘Whatever I’m working on, you’ll be working on,’ “ Worthy says. “He loved making the deal, and once he made the deal I took it from there.” And that was certainly the case with St. Michael’s. Not only was York a charter member, he was a key figure for St. Michael’s as a member of the Raleigh establishment who left the old guard Episcopal churches downtown to establish this new thing in the suburbs.

York not only brought Valand to the project to design the church — Valand had his own architecture business, but he was York’s go-to guy — but he got York Construction to build the church at cost, with no markup. The fact that he had a mason lay out Flemish bond in a store room to make sure he was going to do it right illustrated his interest in the project.

“If you had to pick a prime mover for St. Michael’s, he was it,” Worthy said. “I didn’t know when I went to work for him how deep he was into it.”

Interestingly, though, York did not remain deeply involved beyond the first 10 years or so of St. Michael’s history. He and Mary Smedes Poyner York divorced in 1960, and while he remained on the rolls at St. Michael’s, York moved out to the “country” — what is now Pleasant Valley Road — and usually attended church out there.

The extensive legacy he left behind, aside from family and the literal foundations of the church, has to include the Worthys. Ford became deeply involved at St. Michael’s, and he and Isabel raised four children in the parish. (He also struck out on his own after working for York for years.)

“St. Michael’s, it kind of grew on me. I feel like it’s part of me, my church, and I couldn’t tell you whether that happened after 10 years, 20 years, 30 years . . .” — FORD WORTHY

“St. Michael’s, it kind of grew on me,” he says. “I feel like it’s part of me, my church, and I couldn’t tell you whether that happened after 10 years, 20 years, 30 years . . . “

His voice trails off as he reflects on more than 60 years of membership at St. Michael’s. What he remembers most from the early days is how young the parish was. “We went for years without having a funeral,” he says.

He has served on the Vestry several times, and he says that for years he thought of St. Michael’s as a sand dune. People would come in to the church, while others would move on, so while the church wasn’t stagnant, it also wasn’t growing.

And it’s true that while the history of St. Michael’s does track the growth and expansion of Raleigh after World War II, the parish did not grow at the same steady clip as similarly situated churches like White Memorial Presbyterian on Oberlin Road (founded in 1946), or Hayes Barton Methodist on Fairview (founded in 1957).

Worthy looks back fondly on the tenure of St. Michael’s original rector, James Beckwith, an almost universally held view. But he remembers a lot of turbulent years as the church went through adolescence, and the search for clergy who loved St. Michael’s as much as the parishioners always have.

“We have had some people who were not 100 percent committed to the church,” he says. “People who were just as nice as anyone you’d ever want to talk to, but weren’t dedicated to the work of the church. I remember threatening to take one of them out to the woodshed. I said, ‘I know we can’t fire you, but we can stop paying you.’

“Things like that were a disaster for our church. We lost lots of young people during those years, longtime members or people who would have been . . . We went through a period of about 10 years where it seemed like every time a senior warden’s term ended, he left the church.”

Part of that was leadership, and of course St. Michael’s got pulled into the turbulence of the larger Episcopal Church at the turn of the century, when the church consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003.

“We were not a harmonious group,” Worthy says. So it should not be a surprise that Worthy looks back fondly on the parish’s early days, with Beckwith at the helm. Beckwith had a different story for each of the 12 timber arches that soar above the nave, he says, and he held the congregation rapt when he told one of them.

But if you haven’t figured it out already, Worthy is not overly sentimental about days gone by. When asked if Beckwith still rates as the best rector St. Michael’s has ever had, he quickly shakes his head no.

“The best is the one we’ve got now,” he says, referring to Greg Jones, who became rector in 2004. “Our church right now is running better than it ever has.”

Worthy, like many longtime parishioners, knew St. Michael’s was a sleeping giant, and the last 15 years have been an awakening. In fact, he cites three people as “favorite turnaround artists” of his lifetime: Lee Iacocca, who famously revived Chrysler Corp. in the 1980s; Red Balantine, who founded Cameron Village institution Balentine’s Cafeteria and returned to save it after new owners nearly failed; and Jones.

“Our church was in disrepair spiritually, and needed a leader something awful,” Worthy says. “We added people and expanded the church at a time when the economy was sliding down. He has already done more for St. Michael’s than most lifetime priests do.”

Having witnessed St. Michael’s ups and downs for more than six decades, Worthy still likes to look forward as much as he likes to look back.

“I’d like to see us get two mission churches in the next 20 years,” he says. “That should be his next goal. We can’t have the entire county come here, so I think it’s time for us to branch out.”

As long as people of vision like Worthy remain dedicated to the mission here, the next 70 years could be even more exciting than the first.

Will Lingo is a writer, editor. He writes frequently for Archangel.

BEING YOUNG AND SEEKING CHURCH

Words: Anna S. Page Photos: Susan Rountree

As the young woman sits down in one of the back pews, she feels the gaze of the long-time church goers. She knows she does not fit the typical “mold” of this environment. She wears jeans and a sweater under her old, worn jacket. Her shoes scream young professional on a budget and wearing formal jewelry makes her feel like she’s playing dress-up in her grandmother’s closet. To the congregation, she is a living mystery. As discomfort and self-doubt set in, the young woman reminds herself that she woke up, drove to church and entered this holy place for a reason. She just needed some time to remember.

To be young in church means that there is a genuine desire to be in church. It doesn’t take a formal study to point out that the church generally and the Episcopal Church specifically lack young adults aged 18-39. One need only to look around the pews, inventory church leadership or survey children’s church to see that the age distribution is skewed to the right and to the left (may we not forget our youngest saints), causing more of a “U” shaped age distribution than a normal curve.

Though no formal study needed, the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study quantifies the above reality. Conducted in 2014, this study surveyed over 35,000 Americans from all 50 states. The study looked both across and within faith traditions and denominations to study demographics, beliefs, practices, social views, and political views.

Not surprisingly, the survey concluded that more than 66 percent of the Episcopal Church is over 50 years old, with the other 35 percent of membership falling between 18-49 (the survey did not include children under the age of 18 in its findings). This 35 percent number, however, is mislead

BEING YOUNG AND SEEKING CHURCH

ing. Considering that the average mainline tradition caps “young adult” at 39, the 35 percent includes an entire decade not considered “young adults.” Thus, the percentage of 18- to 39-year-olds in the Episcopal Church is an even smaller sliver of the pie. Adding to this dismal picture is that average Sunday attendance continues to dwindle across ages since Pew conducted this study in 2014.

Given that, statistically, young adults do not come to church, to be young in church means that there is a genuine desire to sit in a pew on a Sunday morning, attend Bible Studies, stay for adult learning forums and engage in a religious community. No one is forcing young adults to attend, nor is there an added social pressure from peers. Rather, our own volition compels us to forego the status quo and draw closer to God.

YOUNG ADULTS or enigmatic demographic in the church — really wants? from page 19

Let’s return to the young woman who entered the nave and tried to blend in by sitting on one of the back pews. Though she knew the statistics and that she, more than likely, would be a unicorn, something compelled her to attend. That “something” is the church’s unique ability to offer authenticity, depth, connection and impact — all rooted in a divine being which gives meaning and purpose to all of life.

Research from the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts’ 20s and 30s Task Force and the church consulting firm Ministry Architects highlight the above in findings. Both sources conclude that young adults want to be seen, taken seriosly as valuable contributors to the church’s life, and afforded opportunity to push the church out of the myth of the “glory days.” Young adults don’t want to be banished solely to the Land of Misfit Toys. Instead, they want to engage in intergenerational relationships, lead (committees, worship, ministries) and undergo substantive study and formation. They are concerned about life both within the church and

Words to live by: Curate Anna Page’s office is filled with mementos that inspire her in her ministry to young adults. Prayer flags from Bali, left, provide the inspirational words. Above, a Young Adult gathering over Christmas brought singles, marrieds and even a few kids.

outside of its four walls. They are hungry and, when given the opportunity, will not just consume a feast but prepare one for the masses.

The 18 to 39 crowd is not a mystery. Rather, the young adults of today could be the church. The research shows us that we don’t even need to buy a projector or smoke machine to attract them — our liturgical worship and tradition is enough! The problem is not that the church is unattractive to young adults but, rather, that young adults are stigmatized and tokenized. Young adults know how to do church, but the church — in a way only the church can — over-complicates the situation and doesn’t know what to do with young adults once they walk through our doors. In a world of “Boomer vs. Millennial,” what if the church were the one place in which we leave our preconceived notions at the door, accept all persons, and treat everyone with dignity, value, and worth?

The beautiful thing about the cycle of life is that, one day, the church’s current young adults will be the Old Guard. When that time comes, it will be our responsibility to empower, rather than tokenize, those once little saints who comprised the left skew of our age distribution. If we model this behavior now, through saying hello to a young adult just as you would anyone else, considering how meeting times and locations may or may not be conducive to a young professional’s schedule, or normalizing young leadership, then this process will occur naturally. Yet, as long as we view young adults as “other” and tell them to wait their turn, young adults will forever occupy a minority position within our church and unnecessarily remain a mystery —thereby perhaps preventing them from developing a healthy, personal relationship with Christ.

May we solve this “mystery” and realize that to be young in church means, simply, to want church.

Anna’s guiding philosophy has always been to find a seat at the table for everyone. This print by artist Sayoler Laine, below, serves as a daily reminder of how important this is.

The problem is not that the church is unattractive to young adults but, rather, that young adults are stigmatized and tokenized. Young adults know how to do church, but the church — in a way only the church can — overcomplicates the situation and doesn’t know what to do with young adults once they walk through our doors.

A Lifetime of Good “Jeans”

Words & Photos: Melissa Raley

“Eat healthy from the garden.” J anuary 27, 2020. My mother, Jean’s, 100th birthday. Her mailbox should have been full of birthday cards, phone ringing off the hook with birthday wishes, doorbell announcing visitors or flower delivery, numerous luncheon dates with friends and family. Pittsboro United Methodist Church family honoring her on this special day. Family and friends should have enjoyed all the chocolate treats created for the “Chocolate Birthday BakeOff” announced at her 99th birthday party. Mother died June 5, 2019, unexpectedly, following a stroke. You may question the passing of a 99-year-old as unexpected, but it was. Mom lived alone on the family farm since 2003. She drove her 2007 Honda downtown almost daily to take care of business at the grocery store, bank or post office, to church for services, meetings or knitting and to visit the “old” people, avoiding “rush hour,” and if the handicap parking space was taken, she came back later. So, no party. My sisters and families attended church in Pittsboro and sat in her pew, listened to the music, prayers and preacher’s message, hugged and talked with her friends. Instead of a party, we took time to remember and celebrate 100 years. One hundred years of a life well lived. No, no party. But the celebration of her will continue! former pastors. She was answering a question my sister had asked her in June about what mother had shared as her secret to a long life. Here is her secret: Eat healthy from the garden, exercise, try not to worry, live a life of faith, be a part of a church community of support and be around young people with new ideas. Don’t get caught up in the way things always were! “Eat healthy from the garden.” When I was growing up we had a garden, a big garden. A garden that needed planting, weeding, harvesting. The harvest needed to be prepared for eating, sharing and preserving. Her early wake-up call was the last thing we four girls wanted to hear on a summer morning, but our plates were full of fresh garden harvest. “Exercise.” Mother was hard working, never seeming to stop, often with perspiration rolling down her face and off her nose. Even in her 90s she would comment that anyone she reluctantly hired to help her would “run out of steam and need to sit down”! I don’t remember her doing anything that would be truly considered exercise until she was a senior citizen. Then she participated regularly in exercise classes offered at the Senior Center. Mom often experienced back pain running down her legs from the sciatic nerves. Doctors gave her special exercises that she did religiously multiple times a day. I’m reading her 2011 journal now, and she documents daily the number of times she did her exercises — some of them were done at 4 a.m.! “Try not to worry.” I don’t remember Mother as a worrier. She grew up in Ohio and Illinois with a great role model — a father born in 1886, who was very optimistic despite all the troubles he faced in his 107 years. Rather than an optimist, I would classify mom as a analyzer — ready to dissect or rationalize issues and others. I guess this is how she “Try not to worry.” “Live a life of faith.” “Be around young

In early December, my sister Ann received a text message from Sarah Alexander, the wife of one of mom’s

people with new ideas.”

avoided worrying. My father was her rock. He took care of so many things and yes, he worried for her. “Exercise.”

Melissa Raley with her mother, Jean, and sisters: counter-clockwise from bottom right: Kay, Sarah, Melissa, Jean and baby Ann.

“Live a life of faith, be a part of a church community of support.” The four Reeves girls grew up as active members of Pittsboro UMC, following the example set by our parents — MYF leaders, Sunday School teachers, members of the Administrative Board, choir members, organizer of the church bazaar … I could go on. or 73 years it was just what she did, no questions asked.

“Be around young people with new ideas.” My parents were always active with the youth in the church and the community. Cousins, of which I have many, ooked up to my parents and found willing listeners who might offer needed comfort and advice.

“Don’t get caught up in the way things always were.”

friends passed away, these cousins and friends became our “chosen sisters and brothers.” In the later years, a group of much younger ladies in the church often included Mother in their outings. Off she’d go, fishnet stockings and all. Let’s just hope they didn’t plan for her to be the designated driver. “Don’t get caught up in the way things always were.” Leave Illinois to go to grad school in Connecticut, volunteer for the Red Cross, find a husband in New Guinea, move to a dairy farm in North Carolina, find that your father-in-law has registered you as a Democrat, get a computer, live alone for over 15 years, lose friends and make new friends, discover the joy and time for reading. Just a few ways she embraced change over 99 years! These words can still be found taped to her bathroom mirror: “Be part of a church community.” Continued from page 23 Jeans Lessons from 100-year-old Jean Reeves stay taped to her bathroom mirror, even after her death last summer.

Happiness keeps you sweet. Trials keep you strong. Sorrows keep you human. Failures keep you humble Success keeps you glowing. But only God keeps you going…

Both these messages are words to live by, and she did it so well. I pray that I can do the same. I’m Blessed to inherit such good “Jeans.”

Melissa Raley is a retired music teacher with Wake County Schools and a member of the Vestry.