Pentecost: Flash Mob!

(written on 6/2, with a posting date of 5/27)

When one of our cantors suggested that it might be nice to start our Pentecost prelude from the congregation, we weren't entirely sure how well it would work, let alone how it might be received even if it went well.  But we knew we'd need additional voices to pull it off.  Our choir is just too small to be considered any kind of mob.  So we all eagerly went about recruiting additional voices whom we could be confident could at least hold a tune.  At Wednesday's rehearsal, I was still skeptical.  We probably had about ten extra folks there, but I knew we'd need more to make it really work, and we were missing some of our regulars.  Still, even the rehearsal went well enough for us to tell that this could really be special.

Come, Holy Spirit! Come!

I was so excited to learn that Teri's sister and brother-in-law would be here in time for it.  They were originally planning to arrive during the week for their goddaughter's husband's graduation from the police academy, but the cousins they were to visit along the way were called out of town due to a brother's illness. On Sunday morning, we probably had about ten additional new singers, plus all of our regulars there.  We ran through the melody and the staging with them, and finished our rehearsing far earlier than usual.  Everyone took their places among the congregation except the director and I - the guitar kept me tethered in place.

As the soloist started singing and making his way forward from the back of the church, I saw our pastor about halfway up the aisle look over in my direction.  I'd soloed on the same piece at the previous mass, but was just playing at this point.  When the soloist walked past him, he turned around and looked over his shoulder, completely taken by surprise.  We were just getting started.  As we began the refrain, the rest of us began singing.  One group stood for the first phrase, another for the second, and finally the rest of the group for the latter half of the refrain.  The congregation was indeed surprised, and most of them stood, as well.

While the soloist sang the second verse, the "mobsters" worked their way forward to the choir area, mostly arriving in time to begin the harmonies on the second refrain.  We were all in place for the harmonized crescendo of the bridge, and finished the final refrain and coda strongly.  It went extremely well, and was quite uplifting and, more importantly, very well received!

The rest of the day was not quite what we'd planned.  We'd begged off of one party invitation because of our guests, and the one to which they'd have been welcome was cancelled.  So we enjoyed a casual day of hanging out, concluding with a trip to Graeter's to use the ice cream gift cards that the extras had gotten for their participation in the flash mob.  If only the poison ivy on my arms wasn't getting worse . . .