2017 Tour - Day 6 “Everyone Who Thirsteth Come to the Water…Front”

Good morning Vietnam! I mean day six! With the tour well past the halfway mark everyone is making sure to treasure each waking moment! Our hosts dropped us off at the beautiful Waterfront Park in Bath, ME where we would be led in worship under a bright blue sky. The readings this morning from Genesis were a reminder to treat every day as a new beginning, and as the pastor spoke about opening our eyes to God’s creation, we gazed out at the water and saw that it truly was “good”.

At the end of the service everyone was invited to take a pebble, which symbolized a burden we all carry, and throw it into the water - giving it up to God. It’s important for us to remember that we all carry many burdens, and that while a single pebble isn’t too much to handle, a backpack full of pebbles is quite a load to carry.

Feeling liberated, we boarded the bus for one of our country’s greatest cities: Boston, MA. We stopped for a very quick lunch about an hour in, and got right back on our way. With our master driver Paul maneuvering the lucrative streets of Boston, ooohs and ahhhs rang out from the back seats of the bus. We pulled into Trinity Church about a quarter of 5 and got into our formal concert attire. The church was as magnificent as ever, and the acoustics were second to none. We were assured that we couldn’t possibly make a mistake in the service and given a truly great piece of advice, “You can get away with anything in the service, as long as you do it slowly”. Speaking of the service, it was quite a different experience from what we are used to on Sundays at DUMC. All the same, the congregation let us know that we were still in top form after performing “Hear My Prayer” and “One Faith, One Hope, One Lord”.

We were glad to witness Steve really opening up the organ for the postlude. The room was full of sound and life as he worked away on the instrument with which he is so familiar. After changing and heading back into the city we broke into small groups in our search for dinner. Again, we lucked out and missed the rain entirely! On the previous New England tour in 2009 it had rained A LOT. Like every day. Seriously.

It’s nice for us to all be staying in one place tonight and tomorrow. Roger Williams University Bayport Inn and Conference Center (that’s quite a mouthful and will henceforth be referred to as the good old RWUBICC) will house us the final two nights of the tour. Looking forward to what joy Cape Cod will bring tomorrow.

“We’re inn touch, so you be in touch” (you thought you were getting through this without a pun? Yeah right!)

-G!

Click Here for Photos of Day 6

2017 Tour - Day 5 - L.L. Bean There Done That

The morning came quickly on day five of our journey. We had a traditional New England breakfast of Dunkin Doughnuts, muffins, and fruit at South Church in Andover. Following breakfast we gathered in the sanctuary for informal worship led by Nick, and sang a few hymns Steve chose for us. Our gracious hosts didn’t get enough of the group last night and hung around after breakfast to hear a few more selections. During this time the rain came and went as it so often does in New England.

If you’ve been keeping up with the blog then you know the drill by now: board the bus, have a greeting, and go back to sleep! However, today they couldn’t help but spontaneously break out singing Owl City’s “Fireflies”. As a tour veteran I can’t help but add that there is a strict code to uphold whilst riding the bus which reads “No singing on the bus!”. The reasoning of course is to preserve our voices for the concerts, but I digress. The singing was short lived and it seems also caused by a sugar rush because very shortly after, the bus fell silent.

Ever fallen asleep and woken up in Maine? Join the club! We woke up in Freeport where we had a few hours to explore the campus of L.L. Bean stores there. The campus (which is open 24hrs) includes the following stores:

“The Flagship”, Hunting and Fishing, Bike, Boat & Ski, Home, and of course the Outlet. We unfortunately didn’t lay eyes on the famed Bootmobile (worth looking up), but did get plenty of pictures and delicious food while in town (keep in mind, we’re in lobster country). I’ll spare you the MANY “bean” puns I could have filled this post with, and instead let it suffice to say it had bean a great day in Freeport, but it was time to take a Bath.

Bath, ME was only a stone’s throw from Freeport, so we arrived at Grace Episcopal Church early for rehearsal in the sanctuary. Did I mention it was AIR CONDITIONED!? It’s a really big deal sorry for the all caps. From there we headed over to Bath UMC for a quick dinner where we made contact with a former CWS member Smo Hicks! It was great to have some fellowship time there as we prepared for the concert. Our shadow tour had met up with us so we were happy to see some familiar faces in the audience.

With the humidity rising and the sun falling we escaped the Maine state bird (the mosquito) and landed safely in our host homes for the evening. It’s been a long day and we all need our sleep. “That’s all folks”

-G!

Click Here for Photos from Day 5

2017 Tour - Day 4 - “Y’ale Come Back Soon Now! Ya Hear?"

Friday, June 23, 2017

I think you already know where your favorite choir went today… A pleasant morning departure from Mary Taylor UMC transitioned into a warm afternoon on the Bulldogs campus. The group disembarked the bus and hiked down to the Yale bookstore where they wrapped themselves in Yale Blue (which is NOT navy, it’s Yale Blue). Some even dawned newly purchased sweatshirts (in 80 degree weather). The joke of the day was that for those of us who wish to attend an ivy league school this tour may be the closest we would ever get!

With a group this talented though, I believe the potential is unlimited. The more I get to know those I’m not so familiar with, the clearer that gets. We are so fortunate to have such a truly incredible group of young people traveling New England and spreading the word of our Lord. The concerts continue to get better and better so make sure you tell everyone you know to come to the homecoming concert on the Wednesday, June 28th!

After dropping our souvenirs off on the bus we were led on a tour of the Battell Chapel. The Chapel was built in 1874 and is now non-denominational (see pictures below). We were all provided with bracelets with symbols specific to many of the denominations that practice worship there (Star of David, Cross, Dharmachakra, Crescent Moon and Star, and Om to name a few). We then took over the campus in search of lunch and later I spotted a few of ours napping in the shade of the Oak and Elm trees in the green across from the chapel.

As the last few stragglers got onto the bus, we prepared for what we thought would be a 2.5 hr trip, but thanks to infamous New England traffic, turned out to be more like 4 hours. We made it to West Parish in Andover, MA by the skin of our teeth and walked into (what I believe to be) one of the greatest meals that has ever been prepared for us. Deep fried turkey, stuffing, mac & cheese, green beans, and ham made up a meal that we thoroughly gave thanks for.

The concert was a hot one for sure, but working for the Lord is so cool we hardly noticed once we got going. It was a treat to see some long time friends of DUMC in the congregation and once we had packed up, the town of Andover warmly welcomed us into their homes.

“That’s all (he) wrote” … Goodnight everyone.

-G!

Click Here for Photos of Day 4