Hearing the Call: David Spanagel, Minister of Music

“I am an atheist— yet my decision a dozen years ago to join the choir at First Unitarian has opened a gigantic window of personal (dare I say, spiritual?) growth for me, and, though I shudder to hear myself say it, I think that I have become a ‘minister’ of music as a result”.  David Spanagel

My family began attending worship services at First Unitarian when our son reached kindergarten age.  Having been unchurched myself, the weekly Sunday ritual started out very much as a chore that I had little desire for.  The one dimension of weekly worship services that did really brighten my whole outlook was the music I heard and shared at First Unitarian.   I gloried in the power of the organ chords as they penetrated the entire space of the sanctuary, and I marveled at the ambition of the choir’s classical music repertoire.  

Occasionally, I even felt a transcendent chill of beauty and truth in the sounds that emanated from the soloists’ voices, or from the collaborations I witnessed among extraordinarily talented instrumental musicians who seemed to “live” in this place.  [Transcendence is an unusual feeling for me in part because I am an atheist, and therefore not particularly attuned to any such spiritual sensations.]

After about four years of just sitting and singing along with the congregation in the pews, I showed up at a choir rehearsal one night and was astounded to learn that there was no audition required or expected!  Whoever feels like singing with the choir is welcomed, regardless of their ability to sight-read, reproduce intervals flawlessly, or sustain a long phrase without taking a breath.  How was it possible that this collection of singers I had admired each week were not all professional-caliber musicians?  Here was a genuine miracle!  [“Miracle” is not a word I ordinarily include in my vocabulary.]

In sum, my rash decision a dozen years ago to join the choir at First Unitarian has opened a gigantic window of personal (dare I say, spiritual?) growth for me, and, though I shudder to hear myself say it, I think that I have become a “minister” of music as a result.  The Music Program compels me to want to be at First Unitarian week after week, regardless of weather or other surmountable obstacles.