Hello Friends,
Before you dive into this month’s article from Bishop Gretchen, a quick note from your diocesan communicator: this partial article was written before her recent surgery. In fact, the portion below was being written as she received the call from The University of Washington letting her know to grab her things and go get those new lungs!
As she focuses on rest and recovery, Bishop Gretchen is not currently working or receiving visitors. She also is not attending to her phone right now. If you’d like to encourage her, cards are warmly welcomed and can be sent to the diocesan office. We’ll make sure she receives them! (We kindly ask that no other gifts be sent at this time.)
We’re so grateful for your continued prayers and support. You can follow along with updates on her recovery via the CaringBridge link below. Her sister, Dorothy, mentioned that she would be making weekly updates on Fridays.
Without further ado, I invite you into Bishop Gretchen’s reflection on the power of music. How it shapes our worship, stirs our souls, and connects us to memory, meaning, and one another.
Tiffany Bade
Communications Director
“One year long ago when I was serving a congregation back east and it was Holy Week, I received a phone call. The person on the other end started the call by asking if the church was going to sing “Welcome happy morning” as the opening hymn on Easter. I was surprised at the question but was able to say “yes, actually we are.” “Good,” they responded, “I will come then.” And then they hung up.
I sat there a bit stunned by this encounter, growing first irritated and then amused. Someone was basing their whole attendance at church on Easter on the opening hymn choice! It totally seemed wrong. And yet it was a powerful reminder of the importance of music, and especially the role of music in provoking emotional responses. It is one of the reasons why old favorite songs are so important at sacred high points such as Christmas and Easter, funerals, and weddings. Music plays an important role because it gets beyond our mind and into our soul.
It is well known that singing something helps us remember it. People with dementia often can join in the singing of an old familiar hymns. This is because the part of the brain that processes music is separate from that part impacted by dementia. How many of us still sing the alphabet song to remember the order of the letters? The power of music is one reason why people sing as a form of celebration, as lament, as resistance, as expressions of love. It is why our hymns are part of our worship. And it is why this year we offered the diocesan prayer in a form to be sung…”
This was where she was cut off due to her long awaited phone call. As we find ourselves in the heart of Holy Week, with Easter just days away, may these words invite you to listen closely for the songs that anchor our faith and point us toward hope.
Follow this link to our Diocesan Prayer.
Faithfully,
+Gretchen
(With help from your Diocesan Communicator!)