Ministry Through Music

My call to music ministry is something that I hold very dear to me because it is a part of me that I can share with others. I really began to discern the call my senior year of high school when I received the opportunity to perform a Marcello Sonata on my cello for my Beautillion scholarship competition. This took place at the Century II Concert Hall in Wichita, Kansas. With a crowd of over 5,000 people this was by far the largest crowd I had ever performed in front of, so of course I was nervous.

OK, more like scared out of my mind.

What worried me the most was the fact that crowd would be made up mainly of high school student cheering on their peers and representing the various high schools, but after I performed I received a standing ovation. I later found out from several adult audience members that my music soothed the rambunctious crowd and the room was quiet and captive for the one moment during the whole night. At that moment I realized the power that music had and by teeming the power of music with the power of God I would be unstoppable. This reminded me of Joshua's Battle of Jericho. It's just amazing to think that through God and the use of trumpets and the loud shouts of the people that the walls of Jericho would crumbled and fall.

That following January my grandmother, Margie Lee Turner, passed away and as a tribute to her, I wanted to play at her memorial service. At this time I had to faced my ministry head on. My grandmother was a beautiful person inside and out and her love for the Lord was something that I have come to admire and envy. She was a dedicated member of the Corinth Missionary Baptist church of Temple, Texas. This was a very charismatic congregation, and I wanted to honor my grandmother through music. So my dilemma was, "How do I bring the classical instrument of the cello into a setting of charisma and loud passionate praise?"

This brought me to the point where I started to research the art of gospel music and the soul behind it. I didn't think that it was fair to make them digest a classical interpretation of God, so I decided to mold my ministry to fit this congregation so that they could fully receive God's message without barriers. I chose to play "Precious Lord" by Thomas Dorsey, but like a vocalist, I had to add a little something to it. One thing that my father has always said to me when it comes to playing the cello is, "Make the strings sing!" Well, at the time I always thought it was his corny motivational speech to get me going, but this time I finally got it. I had to make the strings sing.

After I performed I received a standing ovation and loud applause, but this wasn't the reaction that I was expecting at a funeral. However, they received something that day, and after I have had time to reflect I realized that it was just their way of showing me that God has anointed me with this gift and that they had received God's gift on that day.

Molding my ministry has become a big part and my growth as a cellist. My sophomore year in college I worked with the Ecumenical Campus Ministry Worship Outreach team. This was a group of college students that went out to area Presbyterian churches and provided contemporary worship services featuring drama and instrumental music. This really challenged me because these congregations were predominantly white in these tiny little Kansas towns that I usually hadn't even heard of before their worship service. We went out about every two weeks ministering to different congregations, so I would perform songs that would be more traditional for some churches; for churches that had a more youthful crowd, I would do something more contemporary.

I really didn't realize the impact of my ministry in this setting until I encountered the ignorance of racial stereotypes. After many of the services, I would have church members come up to me and say things like, "You did a great job for an Indian." or "You people sure are talented." Besides the fact that I am not Indian, I could still see God at work. At Corinth Missionary Baptist Church, they were brought God in a new way through the cello. At these various churches of Kansas, they were brought God by a new messenger, an African-American, but they received what God had prepared for them through me.

Titus James, Jr., is in his third year as a HELM Leadership Fellow and is a member of North Heights Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Wichita, Kansas.