An Interview with Old South Minister of Music:

Harry Lyn Huff

After over two years and two separate Search Committees, Old South finally found the right person and elected Harry Lyn Huff to be our new Minister of Music on September 12, 2007. After participating in Christmas Eve services and in the concerts on First Night, he officially took the position on January 2, 2008. We bring this in-depth interview to you, so that you can get to know Harry better and understand what unique gifts he brings to us in his ministry of music to Old South Church.

Q: What has it been like to come from an academic setting as Associate University Organist & Choirmaster at Harvard’s Memorial Church to an urban church setting like Old South Church?

Harry Huff (HH): Like coming home! For twenty years I served an urban parish in New York City, right on Park Avenue, which was in many ways similar to Old South – a congregation of rich diversity, racially mixed, embracing a wide range of economic and theological backgrounds. Like Old South, it had a longtime commitment to great art and music, and a choir of 8 professionals and about 30 volunteers who comprised a loving, nurturing community of music making. What it didn’t have was the great jazz and children’s programs that are such a treasured facet of Old South’s ministry. And I should add that Memorial Church at Harvard is unique among University chapels throughout the country, in that it functions as a true Christian parish church – quite an anachronism in today’s secular academia! So, in short, I’m very comfortable here.

Q: You were born and grew up in Tennessee, then studied at North Carolina School of the Arts before going to Yale and further stations in New York, until reaching Cambridge in 2004. How do your roots in the South influence your choices and tastes in music or your sensibilities with regard to the worship experience?

HH: I was raised Southern Baptist in a small town right at the edge of the magnificent Great Smoky Mountains National Park in East Tennessee. My earliest recollection of making music was when, at 5, my much older cousin Caroline set me down at an old beat-up upright piano and taught me to play the hymn, There is a Fountain Filled with Blood. Something about that tinny, out-of-tune piano playing those four-square C-major chords immediately connected me to my Appalachian roots and ancestors – a sensory experience so palpable that it caused me to almost smell the iron-rich water of a cold mountain stream! That youngster’s epiphany made me yearn to probe the mysteries of music – a phenomenon that obviously had the power to flood one with memory and emotion. As a young Southern Baptist, I not only learned the Scriptures (In the Cold War rural South of the 1950s, we were admonished to memorize as many verses as we could, for some day the Communists would surely come and burn all our Bibles!), but also a wealth of 19^th-century sentimental Victorian hymns – a genre that later fell out of fashion, but has recently enjoyed a resurgence of popularity.

Organ lessons began at age 10, and I was blessed to have a very forward-thinking teacher who, by the time I was 11, had pushed me into serving as organist for the Sunday evening services at her Methodist church. A seminal moment in that experience came when, one evening after service a dear “church lady” came up and exclaimed, “Young man, you should play hymns as though you’re a Christian!” Somehow I knew just what she was getting at, that I should play as though I were filled with the zeal and joy of true love for Jesus. Perhaps that’s why to this day I often leave congregation members breathless with trying to keep up with my hymn playing!

At age 14, I became organist at a Lutheran church, a wonderful community of faith and love that provided an extensive education in the great Lutheran chorales and works of Bach and Buxtehude. Later, while I was in college I served a congregation of the Disciples of Christ, which was my first experience of celebrating the Lord’s Supper at every Sunday worship service. This communion service was the foundation for my later interest in the Episcopal Church and its sacraments. As a graduate student at Yale University I was appointed to my first Episcopal post, and that denomination became the source of my employment and spiritual life for the next 30 years – a period of immersion into liturgy and ritual and a vast canon of four hundred years’ worth of Anglican sacred music.

The almost 4 years that I served as Associate Organist & Choirmaster at Harvard, providing worship 7 days a week (6 of those days with choir), I had the opportunity to greatly increase my knowledge of repertoire.

This brief history of my involvement in the church and its music can be summed up in one sentiment: Old South is the dream job of my life. I consider that everything I’ve experienced in my life thus far has prepared me to fulfill the requirements of this position. Within the structure of weekly worship at Old South, I feel that I can present the pomp and majesty of high Anglican worship, mixed with a little down-home East Tennessee mountain Baptist zest, blended with the time-honored great tradition of Lutheran music, and perhaps even a little Middle Eastern/Eastern European spice that I’ve gleaned from my years of being organist in Jewish temples and synagogues. I believe that all of these ingredients can come together to make a delectable feast of music in our glorious worship space on Copley Square!

Q: You have quite a remarkable varied musical background, collaborating with classical singers such as Jessye Norman and Håkan Hagegård, pop singers Judy Collins and Art Garfunkel, and other artists such as Bill T. Jones, and Meredith Monk. How do you see these many varied influences impacting the music program at Old South Church?

HH: I’m sure that it’s already apparent that I have a broad range of tastes and interests in my music making. I like to say that for as long as I’ve had a Sunday morning job (too many decades to dwell on!), I’ve had a Saturday evening job, as well. I was playing popular music on the piano as a pre-teen and had my first professional job playing honky-tonk piano for can-can dancers in a Western theme park saloon at age 14, then Dixieland at an Al Hirt’s Club at age 16. I developed a more “refined” style around this time, and began playing at country clubs and for private parties. In New York I was the regular pianist at a number of clubs and, for two years in the Oak Room of the Plaza Hotel, specialized in the music of New York café society. For a number of years I was the house pianist for all of Joan Rivers’ private parties. I have a great love for all types of music – as long as it has integrity. I never could understand why people say, “I don’t like classical music,” “I don’t like country music,” “I don’t like hard rock.” Personally, I don’t like schlock. Every musical genre has elements of great integrity and elements of schlock – even classical music. I feel that my goal as a minister of music is to elevate the congregation as a whole, not to settle for the lowest common denominator in music. I believe that we are commanded to “worship God in the beauty of holiness” – to give our very best, to break open the costly bottle of perfume (as the woman did, who anointed Jesus’ feet).

Regarding my many collaborations, I have always felt the most at home when making music with other kindred spirits. That’s when my creative juices are most apparent – to feed and be fed by others. I have been richly blessed by the caliber of artists whom I’ve joined to create music. Here at Old South I delight in working with the many beautiful voices of the Choir members; with my colleague George Sargeant, who creates magical orchestral accompaniments which allow me to wave my arms!; with Willie Sordillo, my jazz muse; with Peter Coulombe, who inspires his ringers to make heavenly sounds; with Phil Stern and Amy Budka, who enthuse their young charges to make a joyful noise.

Q: How has the experience been like in these past few months working with the ministerial staff at Old South? Have there been any surprises compared to your own expectations coming into the job?

HH: Old South for me is a liturgical dream-come-true. The ability to reinvent the worship experience every week is something I’ve always longed for. I was Artist in Residence at Union Theological Seminary for 18 years, and there I savored the opportunity to create worship “out of the box” with bright young students. That’s just what we do here on Sundays, but Old South has the staff and resources to execute excellence in creative worship on a sustained basis. One of the favorite parts of my week is meeting with Nancy, Quinn, Bob, Amy and Tricia to dream up the theme of a particular worship service, to throw out ideas on the table, and then to distill them for the final result. The UCC’s concept of “breaking open the Word” in fresh, new, challenging methods nourishes me in a way I’ve never before experienced. This ministerial staff is so wonderfully gifted with the use of poetic and evocative language, which provides a springboard for my vision of music to complement the theme or image that is desired.

As far as surprises – I suppose I would have to say that, since this is my first Congregational church experience, I’m learning a lot about polity. The Episcopal Church functions on a hierarchical basis and by canon law the Rector is supreme (of course under the thumb of the Bishop). I’m learning a whole new world of committee organization. In some ways Old South is the most “functioning” church I’ve ever encountered. It’s so thrilling for me to see a congregation so active in attendance and committee/volunteer work.

Q: What do you see the role of music being within a worship service? What do you see the role of music being within the church congregation in general? And how would you describe your own role in those two settings?

HH: I believe that music exists in worship to elevate – to state what cannot be stated by mere words, to illuminate the Scriptural themes of the day, hopefully in a complimentary or perhaps even contrasting manner. I’ve always considered the prelude to be an “overture” to the worship experience, even as a movie soundtrack prepares the cinemagoer with a sonic landscape that directly or subliminally suggests what she/he is about to encounter. Successful worship for me could be plotted on a graph, with emotional “highs” and “lows”, much the same as a theatrical experience – a healthy balance of jubilant praise and prayerful reflection, active sharing and passive listening. My role in worship is to be a leader who encourages passionate communal participation, yet provides moments for individual contemplation.

Q: Do you have a vision or goals for what you’d like the Old South music program to become? With our current complement of the Old South Choir, the Old South Ringers, the Chime Choir, do you see Old South’s music program expanding further into other groups or areas as well?

HH: I must first state that I am in such awe of the very high standard of music that has been a hallmark of Old South Church for centuries. (William Billings, who is the undisputed “Father of American Music”, was once Director of Music here!) I have inherited a legacy of national renown. My first two months as Minister of Music have been quite full with just maintaining the existing music programs and planning and preparing for the season of Lent, Lenten Music Sunday, Holy Week and Easter. My future plans include further growth and development of the Choir, and I would very much like to have more collaboration with Willie Sordillo and the jazz ministry. A special dream is to eventually capitalize on the instrumental talents in the congregation in a more corporate manner; that is, to develop a chamber orchestra. In time I hope to collaborate with other churches and institutions in the neighborhood to make Copley Square a beacon for sacred arts and music in this great city.

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Saving Jesus at Old South

by Abby Henderson

One Tuesday evening in late February, I was at Old South getting ready for my
Twentysomethings Bible study. I found myself sharing the elevator with a young woman whose non-profit organization was meeting in the Guild room. She raised her eyebrow at the “Saving Jesus” flyer posted next to the floor buttons. That goofy picture of “Buddy Jesus” smiled out at us. Then she looked at me and rolled her eyes as if to say, “Whoa, what do you think this is about? Crazy church stuff.” Clearly, she didn’t take me for a member of the Old South staff!

But I understand why she reacted that way. After all, Old South’s Lenten discussion series was intended to be provocative. For 5 Sundays in Lent, we asked the congregation to stick around after worship to watch short excerpts from the documentary film “Saving Jesus,” a project of the progressive Christian publishing group, Living the Questions. After the showing, all were invited to participate in small-group discussions facilitated by clergy and members. The gist was this message: that extremist voices on the Religious Right and the Secular Left had dominated and distorted our understanding of Jesus. We have to sift through all the sound bites, opinions, and truth claims in order to consider who Jesus was and what he preached.

The film featured interviews with a number of religious scholars and theologians, including Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, Matthew Fox, Walter Brueggemann, Helen Prejean and Amy-Jill Levine. Each week was devoted to a particular theme, such as social justice or atonement. The academics offered their historical and theological perspectives, which sometimes challenged popular wisdom. For example, in Matthew 5:41, Jesus tells his disciples, “if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.” Was Jesus encouraging his followers to accept authority and subservience? Not at all, suggests commentator Bernard Scott. He explains that Jesus was probably referring to a Roman imperial law where soldiers could command locals to carry their gear, but only for one mile. If a Galilean citizen chose to carry the gear an extra mile, they were able exercise agency in an otherwise powerless situation. In this way, they could peacefully challenge the entrenched and abusive power dynamics of Empire. This interpretation begged a lot of questions. What did Jesus really think about authority? What did Jesus believe we owe to our governments? What do our governments owe to us? What forms of resistance are acceptable? How does the Roman Empire relate to the modern American Empire, and what is our responsibility living in today’s unjust systems?

It was my great pleasure to be a facilitator in the “Saving Jesus” discussions. Right away, I was impressed by the level of honesty and authenticity in my group. Participants respectfully shared their journeys of faith and managed to navigate their way through some difficult and sometimes controversial issues. We covered everything from Jesus’ “Jewishness” to the complexity of the parables, from church stewardship to the meaning of the Cross. Not everyone liked the films, for a variety of reasons. But some of our best conversations emerged from someone’s negative reaction. Somehow, in the midst of all this seriousness, we also managed to laugh a lot. Thank God!

Sometimes, at the end of a discussion, I would jokingly announce that we had resolved that week’s issue once and for all… right! For obvious reasons, these were the types of conversations that raised far more questions than they answered. There were quite a few “ah-ha” moments, in which members of the group gained new clarity on something, often thanks to someone else’s observation. But there were an equal number of times when we sat there, equally confused at the beginning and the end of the hour.

In this way, the “Saving Jesus” series became a true Lenten practice for many of us. Lent is the time in which we take stock, looking deep into ourselves. We try to figure out where we are in relation to this mysterious, sometimes frustrating God we worship. Given this emphasis on introspection, Lent can feel like an isolating time. But through these discussions, we were able to walk together. As a student minister, I gained insight into the way that community-building and faith-building are often the same project.

Many people helped to make this happen, beginning of course with Nancy Taylor and Quinn Caldwell, who organized and set the tone for the entire experience. Thanks also Dave Vogan and Kate Silfen, who facilitated groups along with Bob Brown and me. Bob deserves special recognition for his A/V skills, which were crucial to the whole enterprise. Thanks also to Elias Perez and all the Deacons, choir members, and others who helped set up equipment each week.

And of course, many thanks are due to the participants! I hope you came away from this series with a sense of well-deserved accomplishment. We saved Jesus! Well, perhaps not, but we certainly wrestled with him. And, like Jacob wrestling with the angel, we have lived to tell about it.

Everyone, keep your eyes open for similar discussion opportunities in the future.

Abigail Henderson is the field education intern at Old South, and will graduate this June from Harvard Divinity School. In fall 2008, she will move to Minneapolis to spend a year in an intensive hospital chaplain training program. At Old South, she has been involved in Sunday worship, Jazz worship, and Sunday morning Bible study. She has also led Advent- and Lent-themed study series for Twentysomethings. She can be contacted at <abby@oldsouth.org>.

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In Memory of Author Madeleine L’Engle (1918-2007)

by Kate Silfen

On Easter Sunday, the Reverend Quinn Caldwell offered the congregation an extravagant welcome that he extended to the young, the old, married, single, gay, straight, those that live far away, and those that live in Boston. As his welcome continued, I was particularly struck by his welcome to “believers, questioning believers, and questioners.” On good days, I am a “questioning believer”, and on less than optimal days, I am a “questioner.” It is because of this that I can never hear this welcome too many times! It is always good to hear that being part of a faith community does not require certainty.

I credit the late children’s author Madeleine L’Engle (1918-2007, most well-known for Wrinkle in Time) with first teaching me that faith does not have to be synonymous with certainty about God. L’Engle’s protagonists are usually adolescents who are not afraid to ask difficult questions about God. In my favorite L’Engle series about the Austin family (The Moon by Night, and a Ring of Endless Light, to name a few), her young people are often faced with tragedy and often ask questions about the nature of prayer, immortality, and the “why” of human suffering. The adults welcome these questions and are not afraid to admit their own moments of uncertainty.

For this reason, L’Engle's books were a tonic to me when I was growing up. I was not raised with a religious background and was not part of a faith community. However, many of my friends were being raised as Catholics. When they heard that I did not attend church and that I didn’t know what to say about God, these well-meaning friends liked to assure me that I was on my way to um…well…I tried not to take this to heart, and I was even able to shrug it off. Inwardly, however, I was uneasy and I envied my friends their certainty -- their grounding. The question of God’s existence was always at the back of my mind.

This uneasiness lifted when I read The Moon by Night for the first time and began to absorb L’Engle’s special wisdom. Fourteen-year old Vicky is confused and depleted after watching a stage production of the Diary of Anne Frank. She confides in her uncle and wonders how a good God could allow Anne to suffer. Her uncle responds with these words:

“One of the biggest facts you have to face, Vicky, is that if there is a God, he’s infinite, and we’re finite, and we can’t ever understand him….So in my heathen way, Vicky, when I wasn’t much older than you, I decided that a God, a kind and loving God, could never be proved. In fact, there are, as you have been seeing lately, a lot of arguments against him. But there isn’t any point to life without him. Without him we’re just a skin disease on the face of the earth, and I feel too strongly about the human spirit to be able to settle for that. So what I did for a long time was to lead my life as though I believed in God. And eventually I found out that the as though had turned into a reality…”

I can’t think of a more loving and sincere response to a questioner! For me, these words offered me a response to my friends. More importantly, they allowed me to be patient with myself; to let God find me when I was ready. I took her words to mean that all God asks of us is that we live the best life we can. I re-visit and find comfort from Madeleine’s words whenever I question the strength of my own faith. This piece from the Moon by Night seemed particularly relevant when I first heard about Mother Teresa’s own agony over her doubts. I hope that Mother Teresa, wherever she may be now, knows that she always lived her life as though she believed in God, and that she can now find some peace.

For me, L’Engle’s writings offer an ideal example of how fiction can transform and sustain someone’s life. I consider her to be the person who offered me my first lessons about God. Like Quinn’s extravagant welcome, she has offered the assurance that “questioners” and “questioning believers” can have a home in a faith community.

And speaking of faith communities…Please allow me to veer off topic for a moment to talk about L’Engle’s faith communities. L’Engle thought of herself as an Episcopalian and, towards the end of her life, she served as a scholar-in-residence at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in lower Manhattan. However, when she lived in rural Connecticut with her family, L’Engle was actively involved at her local Congregational church. As L’Engle as said, she came to value the “priesthood of all believers,” and found her Congregational church to be “truly ecumenical.” So she was, at least for a while, a kindred spirit of ours! I have no doubt that she would love the inclusive, extravagant welcome that Old South offers to “Believers, Questioning Believers, and Questioners.”

Finally, I will end with a prayer written by Madeleine L’Engle herself:

Perhaps

after death

the strange timelessness, matterlessness,

absolute differentness

of eternity

will be shot through

like a starry night

with islands of familiar and beautiful

joys.

May it be so for you, Madeleine. Rest in peace and know that you have changed lives.

<>

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Tower Tales:

A Brief History of Old South’s Towers

by Susan T. Campbell, Old South Historian

We are frequently asked at Old South, “How tall is your Tower?” It is the tallest church tower in the Back Bay and, standing watchfully above Copley Square, it commands people’s attention. People are even aware that the original Tower, leaning precariously and noticeably like the Tower of Pisa, had to be deconstructed and rebuilt. It is part of Boston lore.

Old South’s Tower at Copley Square was originally built in 1875 as an integral part of the new Old South Church building. It was constructed to a height of approximately 236 feet and it must have been a spectacular sight, as it would have been the highest tower as far as the eye could see. (H.H. Richardson’s Trinity Church, 211 feet tall, was not built until 1877. The Baptist Church, 176 feet tall, was built in1871, four years earlier and was taller than the 170-foot tower of the Artlington Street Unitarian Cburch, built between 1859 and 1861.)

In 1872, the Great Fire of Boston had come so close to the Old South Meeting House on Washington Street that worship there was made temporarily impossible, and the congregation worshipped for a time in the Freeman Place Chapel on Beacon Street. The devastating fire occurred around the time that some of the congregation’s leaders had decided that it was necessary to move from their “downtown” address to the fashionable “suburb” location of the Back Bay in order to combat the low attendance, city noise, congestion, and pollution prevalent at the Old South Meeting House site.

In fact they had already purchased several plots of land at the intersection of Dartmouth and Boylston Streets, and it was not long before they had built a “Chapel” for themselves there. Dedicated on April 22, 1873, it lay to the west side of where the Tower would be built along Boylston Street two years later.

In 1875, construction of the church building including its Tower was completed on the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth Streets and dedicated on December 15, 1875. The congregation of the Third Church of Boston then began worship in their third building (after the Cedar Meeting House, and the Old South Meeting House).

The architects, Charles Cummings and Willard T. Sears, had in mind the architecture of northern Italy and were heavily influenced by John Ruskin -- the English critic and artist who championed the Gothic Revival movement in architecture -- when they designed the church building, and in particular its Tower. It is often referred to as a “Sienna Tower,” as it resembles the campanile on the famous tower of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, Italy. In the South End, there is another “Sienna Tower” on the firehouse building, now Pine Street Inn, on Bristol Street.

Behind the Tower on the west side of the church building, on the outside wall above the Narthex there was a Rose stained glass window. Beyond the Chapel to the west along Boylston Street, the Parsonage was built for the Reverend George Gordon and his family.

Dr. Gordon retired in 1927, and The Reverend Russell Henry Stafford succeeded him that year. He chose not to live in the Parsonage and thought instead it would be better suited, if renovated, to house offices for church offices and other community activities. It became apparent, however, that the redesigned Parsonage wouldn’t even be big enough for the kind of church community events which he envisioned that the church should provide for its congregation and the wider community. And so, in 1930-33, the congregation embarked on a plan to raze the Chapel building, and in its place to build a Parish House.

Designed by architects Allen and Collins, the building would stand in between the church and Tower, and the Parsonage, i.e. the Gordons’ old residence, newly named The Gordon House. The newly built Parish House, completed in 1933, is the building in which Gordon Chapel, Mary Norton Hall, the Senior Minister’s office, the Preschool, and the Guild Rooms are found today.

There were several major ramifications of the decision to replace the Chapel with a larger Parish House. First of all, the Rose Window on the west side of the church disappeared when the wall ( the one on the left as one walks into Mary Norton Hall) was built and the original Skinner organ was installed. Standing in the church with one’s back to the pulpit, the Rose window would have been above the balcony, behind where the organ pipes are. It is not known what happened to that window, whether it was covered up, destroyed or sold. One theory suggests that the window just above the main entrance doors at the base of the Tower -- the one with the eyes on the wings or feathers surrounding a young face -- may be a section of that original Rose window.

The second enormous consequence of deciding to build the Parish House was that rebuilding the leaning Tower became unavoidable. It had been noticeably leaning for some time, perhaps because of the infill composition of the land upon which Back Bay buildings were built. But as the Parish House was being built, hopes faded for solving the Tower’s problem easily and at the same time. It became obvious that nothing but taking it down (see pictures of deconstruction and reconstruction) nearly to the ground and rebuilding it would work. Enough funds had been raised to build the Parish House and renovate the Gordon House, but it seemed to be out of the question financially to rebuild the Tower for the time being.

Old South Church without its Tower? Fortunately, it would be rebuilt in 1933, to a height of only 220 feet this time, because of the quiet generosity of one individual, Mr. John Morss.

The intricate, ornamental appearance of the highest most arch was lost by shortening the Tower but stability was gained. If one looks at the ceiling, just inside the side entrance door of the front vestibule, one can see a round, lidded hatch. This opening is one of two which are at the ends of openings going all the way to the top of the Tower. One can attach a plumb line at the top and drop it down to the floor of the vestibule and measure to see if the Tower is still standing straight up. This routine is followed every few years as a precaution. (Rev. Nancy Taylor spoke at length about the need for this feature and more about the history of the tower in her Dec. 9, 2007 sermon, Plumb?, which can be found at the Old South website <www.oldsouth.org>.) Today the Tower still stands straight!

The OSC Tower and its Bell have often been the inspiration for Boston’s journalists, authors, poets and painters. They are a newsworthy feature in Boston, The Tower most recently appearing in the May 3, 1998 Boston Sunday Globe Magazine feature titled, “Tops of the Hub.” The Globe architecture critic, Robert Campbell, in fact called the church not long ago to verify how high the Tower is, and extrapolating from some information, figured that the new construction is some fifteen feet shorter than the original (from 236’ to 220’+/-).

In 1967 it was the subject of an article in the Boston Herald Traveler. The picture editor was not very observant and included two identical pictures depicting the old structure. OSC members were alert to the mistake and Margaret Scott, then secretary to Dr. Meek, made sure the record was set straight.

In 1982 Ken Campbell and Marjorie Brown wrote a feature article about the Tower for “the Copley Square Pilgrim,” as the church newsletter was then called, just prior to the Religion and Arts Committee’s presentation of a lecture with slides given by Jane Holtz Kay, architectural historian and author of “Lost Boston.”

In 1971, in a Globe Sunday Magazine cover photo, the OSC Tower rises proudly in the background as the neighboring John Hancock tower, under construction, requires the intrepidation of a Mohawk Native American to maneuver high above the world.

Most recently, on September 21, 2006, the Boston Globe in the article, Church's new sound is meant to be appealing, wrote about Old South’s new 220 lb. Tower Bell Wheel, built by then Moderator Jeff Makholm and dedicated to the memory of Rev. Peter Southwell-Sander, husband of Senior Minister Nancy Taylor. This new 220 lb. Bell Wheel was made to replace a long-ago rotted bell wheel and allow the Old South bell to be swung to peal with increased volume and richness in tone.

The Old South bell, originally purchased in 1895, now rings regularly not only on Sunday mornings at 10:45 am, but also for special occasions such as tolling 33 times on Good Friday or ringing in celebration as the winners of the Boston Marathon cross the finish line only 100 feet away from Old South’s front door as we have become the “Church of the Finish Line.” Also, Old South now regularly flies colorful tower banners for special occasions: in the signature Boston Marathon colors (blue and yellow), or red for Red Sox World Series victories, or this year, 2008, in red, white and blue for the Olympic Trials at the Boston Marathon.

Poetically and artistically Old South and its Tower have inspired many an artist, in paintings, postcards, and photographs and has been prominently featured in each and every logo that has represented our church over the years. As a beacon for our congregation and a landmark in the city, the Tower’s importance goes way back to the original tower on the Cedar Meeting House, then to the Old South Meeting House, and now to the present day “shortened” Tower -- still standing straight and tall 220’ feet above Boylston St.

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Blue Mountain Project Update

by Mark Kohak

In the months since the Blue Mountain Project’s (BMP) Jamaican lunch at Old South, much has happened in the Blue Mountains and I want to let you know something about that. There is good news about hurricane recovery, progress on the dorm for visiting medical teams, other health care, education and sustainability planning. I care about all of these but most personally (as a nurse, and its committee chair) about health care, so that is where I will start.

In December, NU-AID (Northwestern University's organization for health care for developing countries) once again sent a medical team to go to the Blue Mountains. These doctors and medical students spend months preparing for this effort, working to (among other things) procure the tens of thousands of dollars worth of medications which they would dispense as they treated the patients. This team gave up their Christmas break to serve, and their work is deeply appreciated by us and by the hundreds of people they helped, many of whom dress up in their Sunday best to show their respect and gratitude to the doctors who come.

From late February to mid-March, University of Michigan sent three medical teams -- each staying for a week. Again, such an incredible help! In addition to seeing patients, these teams do public health teaching, as well as helping us to establish “best practice” procedures in our project. It should also be mentioned that University of Michigan is showing a wonderfully broad, interdepartmental, engagement with BMP, planning now to send dentists (We just had a dental chair and dental durables donated to us!) and pharmacists in addition to doctors and engineers.

Ripon College is also making gifts -- both for current needs, as well as towards the sustainability of the project's effort. In addition to bring a student group annually, the college has donated two full, four-year scholarships for residents of Hagley Gap who promise, after graduating, to return to the Gap and work with BMP.

Ongoing projects of the BMP include many others. We are collaborating with the villagers to repair the vehicular ford across the Yalus River (it was taken out by Hurricane Dean) and without which residents cannot get out of Hagley Gap for supplies, emergency care etc. With generous help of many, we are about to construct dorm space with showers for our volunteers. We look forward to the growth of support services for abused women and are planning our annual Summer School (we call it “Fun Camp”) for the children of the area to enjoy and learn from this summer.

This description is truly only a very passing snapshot, but I'm always happy to talk with you more about any aspect of the Blue Mountain Project. I feel fortunate, and humbled, to be a part of this project and I thank my Christian brothers and sisters for all your interest and care around this effort.

Photos were taken during a recent visit from NU-AID to the BMP clinic.

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We Celebrate in Joy

by Evan H. Shu

Members of Old South Church played a significant role in helping our sister UCC church, the Congregational Church of Needham, to celebrate their 150th Anniversary – specifically, by creating a new hymn especially for the occasion!

The Congregational Church of Needham was originally founded on May 6, 1857, then as the Evangelical Congregational Church of Needham. 150 years later in 2007, their 150th Celebration Committee, co-chaired by Doris Cook and Lynn Rhoads with Senior Pastor Susan Cartmell, decided that as one of the elements of the celebration, they wanted to commission something unique and special, namely a new hymn based on its own Covenant and Statement of Inclusive Welcome.

Their call to the wider church was worded as follows:

"To mark the conclusion of our church's on hundred fiftieth year, the Anniversary Organizing Committee is sponsoring a competition for a hymn that honors and celebrates our church's Christian community. We plan to introduce the hymn in December. Members of the church, as well as interested individuals outside of our congregation are invited to participate in the competition. The winning individual or team will receive $1,000."

It took then Old South's Interim Music Director Brian Jones to play matchmaker in the Old South effort by putting just the right lyricist and music composer together, namely Senior Minister Emeritus James W. Crawford and Old South Choir member Erik Gustafson.

After submitting a first draft text to Brian Jones to use to find the right composer, Jim Crawford related that "Brian selected absolutely the right person in Erik Gustafson, a young man providentially close at hand, from amid the Old South Choir, and asked him to put his many gifts to the task. Many in our congregation know already Erik as a first class composer, writing music sung regularly in Old South, and no doubt regularly elsewhere, as well."

"The Needham Church's Covenant and Statement of Inclusive Welcome served as the base for the text," Jim Crawford recalled. "The words are up-to-date, progressive, creative classics of faith and hope as well as open doors to the wide diversity of those who seek community in Christ. And although the text did not 'necessarily have to mimic the language of those declarations,' the committee requested it embody their spirit. The Committee also asked that the hymn be no less than three nor more than four verses, and that it be 'clear' and 'singable' -- surely, legitimate guidelines!"

Erik Gustafson then put Jim Crawford's new text to a brand new, radiant tune entitled COVENANT (see hymn reprint, page X). Next Brian Jones, the guardian angel in this project, submitted the collaboration to the Needham Congregational Church. And the resulting new hymn, "Thanks to the Gracious Christ" was selected as the winning hymn by Needham Congregational Church UCC in the Fall of 2007.

The new hymn's debut was set for December 16, 2007 in a special commemorative service at Needham Congregational Church, but an act of God -- a surprise snowstorm -- delayed its first singing until February 3, 2008.

"It was a wonderful service with this sister congregation to Old South," said Erik Gustafson, "marked with special events, a guest bell choir, and embodying the words of the hymn: 'we celebrate in joy our faith community.' I was grateful for the opportunity to share in the service, in person and musically."

The Old South Church congregation also got to share in this celebration and -- with the special permission of our sister UCC church, the Needham Congregational Church -- we joyfully sang "Thanks to the Gracious Christ" for the second time in its inaugural history on March 30, 2008 with its rightfully proud composers Senior Minister Emeritus James Crawford at the pulpit and Erik Gustafson in the choir on this very special Sunday service.

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The Needham Congregational Church <http://needhamucc.org/dru/>

Our Covenant

We strive to be a joyful, welcoming Christian community.

We seek to be faithful in a world torn by suffering, injustice, oppression, and war.

We are inspired by God, Christ's ministry, and the examples of other faithful people.

We join together in worship and song, fellowship, study, and mission, to embrace the risks and challenges of continuing Christ's ministry.

We struggle to live out our faith in the world by furthering justice and peace, witnessing to the truth, and proclaiming God's love and mercy for all people.

[In 2000 the Church added this statement:]

As a covenant community we are committed to the belief that all people are created equal before God.

In affirmation of the inclusive love of Christ Jesus, we welcome persons of any race, gender, age, sexual orientation, ability and economic circumstance to full participation in our community life and ministry.

We strive to reflect these beliefs in the language and content of our worship and in our lives together.