What do Bluegrass musicians and Methodists have in common? Well, in Point Richmond, California, they thrill to a good tune, and love sharing their music with the community.
That love will be on full display on Friday evening, April 1, 2011 when Grammy Award winning folk and bluegrass musician Laurie Lewis performs at the First United Methodist Church in Point Richmond (FUMC) as part of the Bay Area’s continuing Point Richmond Acoustic Concert Series (www.folkunlimited.com).
Lewis, a two-time Female Vocalist of the Year, is known worldwide for her talents as a fiddler, singer, and songwriter. She’ll perform with longtime collaborator, Tom Rozum. A Grammy nominee himself, Tom’s mandolin and vocal talents are sure to be on full display, beginning at 8:00 p.m. Tickets: $15 ($12.50 for seniors and students). The series is co-sponsored by the First Methodist Church of Point Richmond, Folk Unlimited, and Point Richmond Music.
But as wonderful as that concert promises to be, that’s not even the real story here. The story is the remarkable congregation at First United Methodist. Church members just taking their first forays into spirituality all the way up to those in their 90s have embraced their pastor’s vision of a musical ministry – a ministry that brings people together from all walks of life, from across the Bay Area, in an atmosphere of fun and toe-tapping fellowship.
The concert series is one example of this; the music-filled Sunday morning services are another.
When one arrives at First UMC on a Sunday morning, one immediately notices there is something special going on. This is no mega church offering a dazzling light show, backed by a choir the size of a small country.
This is a community – a welcoming, affirming community that has opened its hearts, minds, and arms to all.
Flowers and flowering shrubs burst forth from the church’s gardens in happy testament that this church is for those who are seeking a positive, joyful way of being in touch with their natural world, their neighbors, and their maker. Church members treat each other and visitors as they themselves would want to be treated – with kindness and compassion.
Their message of welcome says it all:
The people of Richmond First UMC are called to share God’s love as we minister with and to all persons in Point Richmond and beyond, providing worship, nurture, fellowship, and service. Our welcome knows no boundaries of age, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, economic condition, physical or mental ability. We embrace and seek to preserve the beautiful, amazing diversity of God’s creation. We cooperate in ministry with other local churches and groups of God’s people as we participate in Christ’s mission of peace and unconditional love.
Rev. Dan Damon is the gentle shepherd of this flock. A talented composer and pianist in his own right, he also serves on the church music faculty at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Three of his hymn collections have been released by Hope Publishing: Faith Will Sing (1993), The Sound of Welcome (1998), and in 2007, Fields of Mercy.
Damon, the longest-serving pastor in FUMC’s history, arrived at Point Richmond's doorstep in 1995. “I tell people it’s nice to have a minister with a usable skill," he says with a slight grin.
More than “usable.” Pastor Dan has several CDs to his credit: Sleepy Time Down South (2002), like a child (2005), and the lovely Traveler Unknown: A Live Concert of Carols, Hymns, and Spirituals, which was recorded by the Dan Damon Quintet in 2009.
On any given Sunday, one might meditate on the lyrics of Hope Is a Light (“Peace is a prayer that starts with me”), or join in with Pastor Dan on In Witness to the Splendor (“to open like a flower at daybreak in the wild”).
The sanctuary’s design, hexagonal with a high wooden ceiling, provides the kind of acoustics that would make a San Francisco Symphony musician smile, and also contributes to the open, warm feeling for worshippers.
On the Sunday that this Bay Area Spiritual Examiner attended a service, even the sun seemed impressed, somehow managing to find its way through the rainy gloom outside to stream through the church’s striking stained glass windows.
Those windows, in fact, are more than striking. They’re historic treasures. Crafted in Germany, they surround the sancturary of the sturdy brick building with the impressive steeple, which has graced the corner of Martina Street and West Richmond Avenue since 1906. (The church’s original 1900 “cracker box” structure served as a sheltering haven for thousands of survivors struggling with the aftermath of San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake. That building was torn down in 1914 after construction of the brick church had been completed.)
Over the next few weeks join the Bay Area Spirituality Examiner for an exploration of the history of this Bay Area treasure. Learn more about FUMC’s musical ministry (including how the concert series got its start), and meet a few of the church’s members.
In the meantime, to learn more about the First United Methodist Church of Point Richmond (Sunday School: 10:00 a.m.; Sunday Worship: 11:00 a.m.), and the special services planned for Easter Sunday, visit the church’s web site: www.pointrichmond.com/methodist/.
First United Methodist Church of Point Richmond
201 Martina at West Richmond Avenue
Point Richmond, California 94801
(510) 236-0527
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