This coming Sunday, we will be welcoming nearly 40 members of the Illuminati choir who will be sharing special music with us during the service.  The choir is the sacred ensemble associated with the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus.  Approximately once a month, Illuminati shares music at various religious institutions and events around the greater Columbus area in the hopes of building bridges between the LGBTQ and religious communities. 

Illuminati has a special place in my heart because I was a member of the choir for the season immediately before I was hired at Columbus Mennonite.  Not only this, but it was also one of the first ongoing activities that I participated in together with the person who has now become my fiance.  I know from personal experience that the group provides an important ministry not only for religious institutions around Columbus but also for the members who make up the group itself. 

The motto of the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus is “Voices Raised, Lives Changed.”   This change or transformation happens for the man or woman sitting in the congregation hearing beautiful music coming from a group of people they might have only been able to see through a narrow lens.  It  happens for the young man living in the closet who sees for the first time people like himself joyfully living out their identity.  It happens in the community that is built within the choir itself and the bonds that create a family for those who need it.  It happens in ways beyond what we can even comprehend. 

I hope you all will be able to join us for such a meaningful Sunday.  As we raise our voices together, may all our lives be changed.