Grace Church congregants had, or used to have, a favorite pew to sit on Sundays. For many years I would sit in the back section on the right side about five rows in from the narthex. Surrounded by the same regulars, it felt very comfortable to sit in the same spot without any hesitation. When I first joined Grace, some of the most stalwart pillars of the Grace family sat in the rows behind. I felt protected by this cocoon of faith. I probably would never have moved from my spot except for the power of the Holy Spirit to shake up old habits.
I cannot remember the year of Grace’s first Gospel service, but I know that I was still sitting in my usual place in the back, not knowing what to expect since I had never heard Gospel music before. I don’t remember the names of the Gospel hymns that were sung, but only the joy and enthusiasm that flowed from the choir voices. I was amazed by the rhythms, the swaying, the clapping. How could the choir members remember so many songs and so many words?! I was awestruck! But then something truly amazing happened. Way up in the front pew I saw someone’s head swaying with the choir, keeping in time with their singing. Who could that be? I wondered. Then suddenly, the head stood up and the person started dancing. I could see the back of a rather short woman, and when she turned around, her face was lit up by the most beatific smile that reached from one ear to the other. It was none other but dear, adorable Gertrude Hunte!
Seeing her dancing made my heart smile – her happiness was so infectious, spontaneous, and natural! Even if I would never get up to dance, I could recognize that she was moved by the Spirit. It didn’t matter to her if she was the only one dancing or how she looked to others. She was completely “in-joying” her moment with God.
A few years later, one of the Gospel choir members asked me to join. I was immediately worried that I could never memorize the words and music to at least ten Gospel songs. How could I sing, clap, and sway at the same time? “Just try it. It’s a lot of fun!” I was skeptical – memorizing so many words didn’t seem to fit my definition of “fun.” On the other hand, singing the Gospel songs in English couldn’t be as stressful as singing the Bach cantatas in German! Despite my hesitation, I did join after her encouragement and found that the focus of the Gospel choir was not the “me” performance, but the “we” effort to praise God, not my singing but our singing to glorify God. Gradually, I worried less and put aside the “frozen chosen” thinking to allow the Spirit to move and change me and where I would be sitting on Sundays.
When the Covid epidemic was raging, the Gospel choir was on hiatus. But the vision of bringing back a Gospel service of music was always simmering on the back burner. Amazingly, we are now only a few weeks away when the choirs of Union Congregational and Grace Presbyterian will join together to sing praises to God!
One of the very few Gospel Service programs I had kept from early years was one from April 23, 2017. I don’t know why but I had also kept the music of one song, “Fix Me,” arranged by Raymond Wise. The words were a deep and earnest plea for healing by God, “Lord, fix me… till my hands look new and my feet do too, I want you to fix me, Jesus, fix me.” The prayer is for deep healing using some of the same words from Psalm 51: “Create in me a clean heart. Renew my Spirit, restore my joy. For I’ve been bruised, torn, and battered, broken, and shattered.”
These words remind me that we as individuals and collectively as a church have been battered over the years. Yet, time after time when we come to God with a contrite and broken heart, God is compassionate, forgiving, and merciful. Even as flawed and weak beings, we can be used by God, “till the world can see your light in me…”
May this year’s Gospel Service be an uplifting experience to all who attend and may it renew the quiet joy in our hearts to dancing! Hallelujah!
© 2024 by Emy Kamihara