Blue Shirt

Libby no doubt knew what she was doing every time she dressed the boys for picture day. But it was only this most recent time with Calvin in October that it dawned on me. One shirt, three boys. The shirt being ready at just the right time for the size of the boy. With the variations in lighting, and the goofy grins, you really don't notice that it's the same shirt!

Eli

Briggs

Calvin

Organs I have played, part 1

Last Christmas my mom gave me a device to scan old slides into digital images. I have been plugging away with the few boxes of slides I have over the past few months. I have re-found some neat pictures of organs I have played. I thought I would start a series of posts on them.

In 1987 or 1988 I went with a small group of ministerial colleagues to Jamaica. This was back in the days when I was training for and seeking ordination in the United Methdist Church. This trip was put together for the participants to see the work being done by Methodists in Jamaica, and to see how we pastors might involve our congregations with that work, as mission endeavors. The idea was that we would get familiar with the work being done, identify needs and motivate our congregations to get involved. We spent a week or so on the north shore of Jamaica, between Montego Bay where we flew into and Ocho Rios the next larger town on the coast. I remember very few details, except that we were looking at construction work going on and the education program, specifically summer vacation Bible school, of the Methodist community in the area we were in. St Ann's Bay is a north shore town with a small circuit of Methodist congregations, the next to last image is the largest church in the circuit in St Ann's Bay, and it was this organ that I encountered. I didn't wind up with a picture of myself at the console, though I did play it. The last picture is one from a group from Kansas that has a pretty strong (it seems), on-going relationship with the Methodists in this area.

 

You can learn a bit about the Methodist Church in Jamaica here. And learn about Church of the Resurrection's work in Jamaica here. The organ was built by R. Spurden Rutt of London. According to sources he delivered about 20 instruments to Jamaica. The present instrument is not in the British Institute of Organ Studies' National Pipe Organ Register, but I did find this listing of Rutt's corporate history.

School Project

Seniors in North Carolina have to complete a writing project. In my day it was a straightforward 20-page paper. These days it's a project that includes a short paper, a tangible "product" and a "service" component. Eli chose to explore ethnic (African) drumming, since he does some of that in the context of drumming/percussion at church. His paper was on that topic, and for his service-learning he helped teach basic drumming to kids at church. For his "product" he built a sangban drum with the assistance of his mentor, Andy Gwynn, a member of our church and accomplished drum-maker himself. Here are some pictures from the project.

 That's sawdust flying around!

 Though you can't see it, Eli is drumming on a djembe he built at summer camp, also under Andy's tutelage.