I believe that what I do as Minister of Music at Grace Frst isunique, and is a big part of the reason why we have been able to buck the trends of so many mainline congregations. Here’s why.

I recently wrote this to a gifted young musician: “First, I want to thank you for playing the Bach with us, playing in the orchestra, playing the postlude, for everything you do for the music here at Grace First.

In my nearly 30 years in music ministry, I have been very fortunate to work alongside some very good pastors.

On November 22, 1963 - 50 years ago today - my mother and father, Betty Joan and Jack DeWitt finally realized their biggest dream: having a child. It was an adoption, as they had found out several years earlier that they could not get pregnant. When they arrived home they heard the horrific news of the day. John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. I was that child.

I've learned that you don't find your bliss by waiting for your career to come to you. You find it by doing as many things as you possibly can. And you become a good church musician by learning and doing as many things as you possibly can.

My mother loved music. My memories of her and music fall into two categories - the ones I have of her playing music (or encouraging it in me) when I was younger, and then the ones of my adult years, as I studied music and became a professional musician, composer, director, teacher. The two seemed to be separate memories entirely, of four different people: the person I was as a child and the man I am now; the mother I knew growing up and the mother that I have most recently in my memory - old, frail, dying even. But I now realize that the four distinct people in those memories are two people, perhaps even just one.