Cross-cultural music tour receives warm welcome.

Eight concerts, a Sunday morning special music appearance, and the gift of music for residents and day guests at the Roanoke (Va.) Rescue Mission filled the schedule for a cross-cultural Brethren music group May 14-21. The group visited churches in Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Scott Duffey, Gilbert Romero, and James Washington Sr.--all Brethren pastors--and Carol Yeazell, Congregational Life Team staff for the General Board, took part in the tour.

The tour began in Roanoke at Oak Grove Church of the Brethren where Asha Solanky, chair of the Annual Conference Intercultural Study Committee, gave a presentation on the current status of the work being done by the committee. Everyone was encouraged to take and complete a questionnaire that the committee hopes will assist in carrying out its assignment.

Sunday morning the group provided special music at Summerdean Church of the Brethren in Roanoke. That afternoon a concert was held at Bethlehem Church of the Brethren in Boones Mill, Va., and later that day the group was at Topeco Church of the Brethren in Floyd, Va.

On May 17 the group toured the Roanoke Rescue Mission and then performed during an extended lunch hour with various seatings of guests. "This was seen as a stewardship of time gift, as it was an offering for others not directly connected to the Church of the Brethren," said Yeazell. That evening a concert was held at Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren in Weyers Cave, Va. The following day the group traveled to Hendersonville, N.C., to sing at a new church plant, HIS Way/Jesucristo El Camino.

Other churches that welcomed the tour were Friendship Church in North Wilkesboro, N.C., Spindale (N.C.) Church of the Brethren, and Trinity Church of the Brethren in Blountville, Tenn., where the final concert of the tour was held.

"The two comments that the group heard after each worship time were, 'We wish more people had come,' and, 'When are you coming back?'" Yeazell said. The concerts were arranged and sponsored by Congregational Life Team staff to help congregations gain a broader understanding of what it means to be a cross-cultural church. Musicians offered their talent as a free gift, with only their expenses covered by the board, Yeazell said. For more about cross-cultural ministry in the Church of the Brethren, see photographs and coverage of the recent Cross-Cultural Consultation and Celebration at www.brethren.org/pjournal/2005/CrossCultural.html.

Source: 06/08/2005 Newsline
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