Despite damage to church, Concerts with Cause to be held Oct. 27

Scheduled only a few days before All Saints’ Day, the season opener for Concerts with a Cause was intended to honor those who have died.

However, in light of Hurricane Helene, Durufle’s “Requiem” at 3 p.m. Sunday at St. John United Methodist Church has taken on added meaning.

 “A requiem is written for the faithful departed, which is what All Saints’ Day is about. It’s an effort to remember the people we’ve lost particularly in the last year,” said Jamie Garvey, St. John’s organist and director of music. “Now, the symbolism of that is heightened by the fact some people lost people in this hurricane, and a lot of people have lost property that they’re grieving. This is an ancient text with ancient Gregorian tunes that have been sung for millennia to give voice to the human condition in the times of grief and loss.”

St. John feels loss as a congregation.

Outside the church are the remnants of the building’s century-old tin roof, which Helene peeled off and pressed into a couple of balls before throwing other chunks into a tree. With the roof on the sidewalk, the rains poured into the open sanctuary filling the 1898 Steinway with five gallons of water, damaging much of the sanctuary’s hardwood floors and causing some cosmetic damage to the church’s Dobson organ, which is central to Sunday’s piece.

Garvey said the organ’s pipes are in good shape because they were housed under a different portion of roof. The water caused some swelling of the wood, but the organ’s makers have been to Augusta to repair the damage.

Despite this, Garvey said the concert will go on as planned.

“Some of the pews are missing. Seating will be snug, but we have the balcony too. People can sit up there. It looks messy, but we’ve been using it for worship, so we know we can do it,” she said.

The St. John choir has been rehearsing, and the date has been booked on organist Bradley Hunter Welch’s calendar for about a year, so musically, they are ready to perform it.  And she’s looking forward to the concert, which may provide some emotional healing that only music can for those In the community.

“Some people might say ‘I’d rather sing a happy tune,’ but the grief experts tell us before we can sing a happy tune, we have to grieve. The brain, the body has to grieve before it can pick itself up and dance again. If people are looking for an opportunity to explore that profound experience of grief in a musical way, this is my favorite piece of music in the whole world,” she said.

It was the Dobson organ, installed In 2003, that inspired the creation of the Concerts with a Cause series.

“Since its beginning in 2003, Concerts with a Cause has donated $258,708 to 63 local organizations which are doing good work for the Kingdom of God in our community,” according to the church website.

One stipulation of the series is that it’s never used to raise funds for the church or its missions, Garvey said; however, if anyone attending Sunday would like to donate to a new roof and new floor, they will say, “thank you.”

The recipient for this concert is Family Promise, which has a mission to “empower homeless and low-income families to achieve sustainable independence through community response,” according to the Family Promise of Augusta website.

Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years and is a Georgia Press Association award winner. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.