It is no secret that non-profits believe in and rely on angels, "angel" being the affectionate name given to a major benefactor. Marvelous things can be accomplished in partnership with an angel. Did you know that the First Unitarian Church has been the Joy of Music Program's most significant angel since the school's inception in 1986? JOMP would not be what it is today, if it hadn't been for this church's extraordinary generosity to us as tenants. You made it possible for a Music & Movement program, which started out with one teacher and twelve preschoolers, to blossom into a non-profit community music school with 500 students ages 3-80, a staff of 4 and a faculty of 34.

 

For over 15 years, your gift of sharing large amounts of space with the school for very low rent allowed us to build an organization with a strong foundation. You enabled us to focus on our mission "to foster community through accessible music education and performance" and to apply our annual fundraising to programs that help us fulfill that mission. For example, our Financial Aid and Outreach Program makes it possible for low-income parents, who never imagined it was within their reach, to bring music into their children's lives. These funds also help children and adults keep music in their lives, if their family is faced with unexpected financial challenges resulting from job loss or from the illness, disability or death of a parent or spouse. Last year we awarded over $60,000 in financial aid to 89 students (18% of our student body).

 

The missions of First Unitarian and JOMP have much in common, and there has always been a deep respect for the work the other is doing. Over the years many families have been attracted to the church as a result of their connection to the school, and many of our students became aware of the school through their membership in the church. Like First Unitarian, the Joy of Music Program serves a community of all ages, and we also hope we are making a difference in each of the lives we touch.

 

We have experienced a great deal together, including the fire: the sorrows, the losses, the exhaustion - the grace, the outpouring of community support, and the spirit of renewal that followed. We held each other in our thoughts and in our hearts as we faced the parallel challenges of recovery, renovations, and capital campaigns. Even though you were going through major adjustments of your own, you continued to provide space for programs that the Wesley United Methodist Church was not able to accommodate when we moved across the street.

 

And now, as we celebrate the start of our first full year in our own building, you are embracing the school once again with the gift of this Sunday's offering. Rich and I are deeply touched by this and by your understanding of the importance of JOMP's commitment to serving the whole community. While life gets more complicated, uncertain and stressful, music's ability to energize, console, uplift, heal, bring people together and nourish the soul remains constant. It provides us with a means of expressing our deepest emotions, our most personal feelings - in truth, our very souls - as nothing else can. Music can enhance the power of the spoken word and even take over where words leave off.

 

Is it any wonder that I am left asking myself, "How can we ever possibly thank the church enough?" For assistance I am turning to the three sources of inspiration behind everything we do at JOMP: our faculty, our students, who continually remind us how important music is in their lives and show us that music has the power to change lives, and music itself. Rich and I will be joined by the first faculty member I hired, Madeline Browning, and 10 students in providing the music for this Sunday's service. We are delighted to have been granted this opportunity to express the Joy of Music Program's heartfelt gratitude to the First Unitarian Church through music, beyond my ability to do so in words.