Friday, September 02, 2005
Orientation, Day One
OK, when I left off, I was describing the chapel that was the site of our first day of Orientation. The program began with some corporate singing, with no hymnals, no printed words, and the leader, the Dean of Worship and Music, lined out the songs. Now, if you had never been to a Christian church, ever, you might have been lost, but they were familiar songs, with a gospel, clap on 2 and 4, kind of beat. "Lord I Want to be a Christian in my Heart," "Bless the Lord, O My Soul," etc. It was a great way to start the day.
The Welcome and Introductions followed and then we worshipped. It was a lovely, reflective service, with several responsive readings, a sung response to the psalm, and many hymns. Most were from the new Methodist Hymnal Supplement, called The Faith We Sing. The first was called "The Summons" (sequenced by Bob Sorem), then we sang "Jesu Tawa Pano" (which we would sing often throughout the day), then "Lead Me, Guide Me", apparently an Elvis gospel number, judging by the only midi I was able to find (I was not aware). A sermon by Dr. Teresa Fry Brown was amazing, she is an incredible preacher! Then we closed with "A Charge to Keep I Have," which seemed like an appropriate tune to start our seminary careers.
The rest of the day mainly consisted of introductions to various seminary faculty and staff, student groups, and a plenary session by several faculty members about "The City of Atlanta and the King Legacy as Context for Theological Education" followed by a field trip to the King Center with a short dialogue between several more faculty members on "The Vocation of the Public Theologian" afterwards. Then I went to practice with the choir for the Convocation on Tuesday and met Jim outside after that to attend the BBQ for new students and their families. I met so many people during the day I can't even comprehend it, really. Had to be at least 50 that I introduced myself to but of course I can only remember the names of about 10. After the BBQ we went home and worried a little more about the gas situation, but mostly I just fell in a heap in front of the tv due to sheer exhaustion.
The Welcome and Introductions followed and then we worshipped. It was a lovely, reflective service, with several responsive readings, a sung response to the psalm, and many hymns. Most were from the new Methodist Hymnal Supplement, called The Faith We Sing. The first was called "The Summons" (sequenced by Bob Sorem), then we sang "Jesu Tawa Pano" (which we would sing often throughout the day), then "Lead Me, Guide Me", apparently an Elvis gospel number, judging by the only midi I was able to find (I was not aware). A sermon by Dr. Teresa Fry Brown was amazing, she is an incredible preacher! Then we closed with "A Charge to Keep I Have," which seemed like an appropriate tune to start our seminary careers.
The rest of the day mainly consisted of introductions to various seminary faculty and staff, student groups, and a plenary session by several faculty members about "The City of Atlanta and the King Legacy as Context for Theological Education" followed by a field trip to the King Center with a short dialogue between several more faculty members on "The Vocation of the Public Theologian" afterwards. Then I went to practice with the choir for the Convocation on Tuesday and met Jim outside after that to attend the BBQ for new students and their families. I met so many people during the day I can't even comprehend it, really. Had to be at least 50 that I introduced myself to but of course I can only remember the names of about 10. After the BBQ we went home and worried a little more about the gas situation, but mostly I just fell in a heap in front of the tv due to sheer exhaustion.
