Yesterday was an exciting day for Bryan. We traveled to bucolic Lancaster County to finally meet Rev. Tim Craven, Bryan’s mentor and friend, whom he had only met through Zoom sessions. These remote meetings were made possible through an introduction made by Bryan’s counselor, Dr. John. Rev. Tim is a longtime friend of Dr. John’s. The idea for this get together hatched as a result of those bimonthly sessions which have been going on amongst the three men for a little over a year.

All of us had received both shots and were well over the two-week waiting period. We felt safe without masks. The lovely setting for Mellingers Lutheran Church up on a hill surrounded by lush farmland, blooming fruit trees, and colorful drifts of spring flowers made the day seem perfect.

After quickly running through both hymns, Bryan decided which keyboard, flute and organ sounds he wanted on each verse, reviewed the order of service which he had designed, and recorded the video you can access at the link below.

Bryan came over to me at the organ before filming and said, “Mom, I’m really, really nervous that my words won’t come out and be right.” After reassurances from me and Rev. Tim, we started the recording, doing it in one take.

As Tim wisely said, “Is worship ever perfect?” Of course not. Neither is this video.

However, the takeaway from this experience is that Rev. Tim is honoring Bryan’s desire to minister to people through music. He is taking Bryan seriously in his career quest. God bless him!

As you watch, you will see Bryan, the jokester, feigning boredom at me taking my time registering the prelude on the organ. Once things start rolling, though he becomes Mr. Serious. Notice how he struggles with the opening scripture lesson – “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” He also says “Good morning” to everyone and thanks Rev. Tim for welcoming him to his church. Singing, though, is another matter. His disfluency isn’t as noticeable when he sings as with most people who stutter. He is quite proud after “Were you There” and laughs when I give him a “thumbs up” out of view.

This is Bryan’s attempt at crafting a worship service honoring Holy Week. The fact that he can decide on appropriate scripture, prayers and hymns within an organized framework is pretty amazing, I think. As we said goodbye to our friend Rev. Tim, the pastor told Bryan that this was only the beginning of their collaboration. May it be so!