Last month my article was about creativity and my family. This month, it’s about creativity and Rev. Donna Renfro. When I found out Rev. Donna had been a director of religious education for more than a decade I was very happy. I knew she’d be the best possible minister for overseeing the religious education program at our church. She came with a built in connection to RE. Previous ministers have tried to involve the children more in worship. Some had better ideas than others. Some were more committed to change than others. With Rev. Donna, the RE program is finally making progress. They tell RE directors that creativity isn’t enough, that you also have to be organized. That may be true, but other people can help with organization. If you are a DRE or a minister and lack creativity, that’s a problem that is much harder to fix. Rev. Sam Schaal once told me that I was right to think that worship services were similar to theater. No, they aren’t performances, but they share some elements with theater. You want the moment to have meaning. You will stumble, because you’re human, but you don’t want to stumble so much that people can’t remain invested in the emotion and the inspiration that makes for a moving service. I enjoyed every service I co-led with Rev. Donna. We did Purim, Samhain, bread communion, the Christmas pageant and more. I am so sad my flu caused me to miss the opportunity to do the January 5th service with her. I know our time together will end soon. The service where Rev. Donna showed the One Billion Strong and Rising video was a favorite for me. The children and adults at the back of the sanctuary were dancing along. Most of the women in service that day expressed a desire to be part of a flash mob dancing to that song. Rev. Donna plans a February 16th service around the topic of domestic abuse, including this dance to be performed by any women who wish to participate. We dancers may also form a February 14th flash mob in downtown Bryan. Downtown will probably be packed with Valentines Day couples. I am going to try to get some of my dance and theater friends involved. As I write, it is January 20th. There will be a dance rehearsal January 25th at Hillel. I am going to reach out to people personally to help make this happen. I am not missing out on this opportunity to be led in a creative and meaningful activity by Rev. Donna. If you feel the same way, please join us! As our song in the grey hymnal says: “Let it be a dance we do...”
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