Photo: Erin Walker

down a lane to our destination church in Brazil behind a herd of cattle, we have ridden in – and walked behind – horse taxis in Cuba on our way to a country mission church. We have sat on planks balanced on concrete blocks in “churches in progress” in Poland and Zimbabwe and we have blessed a corn- field in Harare that was to become a warm and welcoming church to us six years later. Jubilate!

was one of the few groups able to travel to Cuba in 2004. Jorge Lockward of the General Board of Global Ministries directed the music, creating a profound musical service that was

memorized and sung in Span- ish, to 12 Methodist

A lot of history here: three generations of Jubilants at the 2009 summer festival –

(3 Richardsons, 2 Onishis, 2 Walkers)

congregations in nine days. From churches in Havana to Pinar del Rio to Santa Clara we carried donations of money and medicine plus a heartfelt message of hope. Three tours have been taken to sub- Saharan Africa including South Africa, Kenya and always Zimbabwe. Jubilate! first visited Africa University in 1992 at its temporary campus in Old Mutare and immediately formed a special bond. “Music is at the heart of the African soul,” said Vice-Chancellor Kurewa as he greeted us. “I hope someday we can have a faculty person in music here.” When Jubilate! was invited back to sing for the opening day ceremonies in 1994 we had raised $30,000, the first year’s salary for a Professor of Music and Culture, and we pledged to challenge United Methodist Church choirs around the world to help us raise the funds needed to fully endow a chair in music. It has become our long-term mission; we are still raising money for the Africa University Music Faculty Endowment Fund.

22

Patrick Matsikenyiri was the first music professor and became a dear friend of Jubi- late!, enriching our summer festivals for many years. Tendekai Kuture, the current

head of the music department and Africa University Choir Director, recently led Jubilate! workshops in marimba and African drumming and song while he was earning a graduate degree in music at the University of Idaho.

We first met composer Dan Damon at the national Fellowship convocation in Tacoma, WA, in 1995. He was our keynote speaker in 1997 and traveled with us to Zimbabwe and Africa University in 1998. As a result of our experience together, he arranged his Wings of the Morning as an SAB anthem and dedicated it to Tom Richardson and the Jubilate! Choir. Damon’s Jubilate! Deo, commissioned for our 30th anniversary celebration, reverberates still with an ex- tended text reflecting our common memo- ries: “Leave the bus that can’t get in – We rejoice in God! As we walk, the songs begin. We rejoice in God!”

The 2010 summer festival will be July 27-31 at the Immaculate Heart Retreat Center in Spokane, WA. The central theme will be Worship That Transforms. The Rev. Dr. Ron Davids, faculty member at San Francisco Theological Seminary and Seattle Pacific University, will be the keynote speaker. For information, visit on Facebook:

Jubilate! Festival of Worship Arts, or on the

Web at www.gbgm-umc.org/Jubilate!/

NOTE

1 Jubilate! international tours:

1986 USSR and Eastern Bloc Countries (East and West Berlin, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia)

1988 New Zealand and Australia 1990 Japan 1992 South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe 1994 Zimbabwe 1996 Brazil – World Methodist Conference 1998 Zimbabwe – in residence at Africa University 2004 Cuba 2006 China

Fellowship member DIANE B. WALKER is Professor Emerita of Dance at the University of Idaho, serving as teacher, director and consultant when needed.

Her long history with Jubilate! includes serving as choreographer, workshop leader, tour leader, board member and, currently, as worship coordinator for the summer festi- vals. She is the only one who has traveled on all of the Jubilate! international tours. Contact her at dbwalker@uidaho.edu

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2010 • WORSHIP ARTS

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36