There we sat in our first practice of our church's drum circle ministry. As part of my Doctor of Ministry program, I am studying my congregation's journey as a multicultural church. As a part of my research, we have formed a pilot drum circle group to practice over the next few months. After this initial phase, our hope is that it will open up to the wider congregation and grow and spread in our congregational life.
What I learned in my first practice:
-Take my wedding ring off sooner - my fingers were a little sore afterwards
-Wear pants - it's not easy to keep a big drum between one's knees when there's a skirt constricting my movements.
-Don't think too hard - a few times in the practice, we split into parts drumming different rhythms simultaneously. As soon as I concentrated too hard on my part I lost it. When I looked away from my drum and let the rhythm swell around me, I drummed longer.
-We're all learning - our group is made up of teenagers and octogenarians, people born in Ghana, Mississippi, Liberia and even New York. Everyone had something to contribute, and we joined together in harmony.
You are welcome to join us on this beautiful journey as we drum and learn together.