So the other day, my husband saw the following joke in his work break room.  Each week there’s a punny one shared on the whiteboard and he just had to share this one with me:

Person A – How much to hire a church singing group?

Person B – You mean a choir?

Person A – Fine, fine, fine – how much to acquire a church singing group?

So, how much does it cost to acquire the music we have here at UUBerks? We could talk about the dollars and cents of it all.  But as we live into our month of “Building Belonging” – I want to highlight how priceless the music we make and share together is. 

Our sonic landscape this community comes together to share is as rich as it is because of you.  You who share the fruits of your practicing, your knowledge, your heart, your ears, and your very being make up the chords that are the life blood of what we hear and what we create together. 

And as we’re sharing our own unique portion in our beautiful sanctuary or in our practice spaces we build belonging, one note, one phrase, one piece at a time.  

Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat mused that “art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time.”  

Music takes time.  That’s all it takes.  Music takes the time you can share. 

So, How much to have a church music program?  All of the time in the world.  What will you give your time to this year? 

Some ways to build belonging in the musical life of UU Berks this season:

• We love skill and expertise but we also love a hearty, courageous willingness to try.  Do you know one chord on the guitar?  Do you have a clarinet that you last played in middle school?  Are you in elementary school and are loving when the school day has choir in it?  There’s a place for you with the time you have to give. Let the Music Advisory Council know what you have time for this fall – email g.music.advisory.council@uuberks.org 

• Sing hymns & Listen intently together Sunday mornings
• Join the Chalice Choir – fall meets 1st & 3rd Sunodays 9:30-10:15 am
• Play on a song as a solo or in a small group – email music.director@uuberks.org to develop
• Accompany a group – have you accompanied a group before – let us know! 
• Play with the band – meetings are arranged month to month. Members rotate in and out depending on set list and availability. – email music.director@uuberks.org 

What idea do you have for a project or group that you would like to be a part of – email music.director@uuberks.org to vision together how it might be heard.