The Young Worship Leaders Forum

08/09/2024

Whatever it is, it can still happen!

DuVernay was honored on Forbes and Know Your Value’s fourth annual “50 Over 50” U.S. list, which spotlights women who have rejected the conventional wisdom that their best years are behind them.

12/11/2023

I'm learning about waiting.

In 2022, I found myself waiting for a lot of things, and in the wait, I was told I had been assigned scriptures to preach (a "p" word that makes me feel unsettled as I type).

The texts were Mark 16:1-3 and John 4:1-26 in the NRSV (the UE was still a new development). I didn't know that these scriptures would be the bases for two messages I would later share at young adult services, one before my initial message and one after. I have shared with you what God gave me to share on Pentecost (visit my YouTube channel or scroll down on this page if you missed it), but in this season of waiting, it's been on my heart to share what came before and what came after.

So you see --
- Before there was an initial message, there this message. And the genealogy of this message is quite storied, as was the genealogy of Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One, whom this message is in part about.

So here go the "begats" but in reverse since I'm more matrilineal than patrilineal (the Gullah mothers on whose shoulders I stand like to talk about "before before").

So before there a Pentecost licensing service or an initial message about being "Already Anointed," there was this message: "Faith Questions."

Before this message, there was an invitation from Rev. Alethea Roselyn Smith-Withers to share a message at a Young Adult Service at the Pavilion of God Baptist Fellowship.

Before this invitation to share, there was an invitation to participate in a virtual Kwanzaa service at the Pavilion by Rev. Delonte Gholston.

Before that invitation was a divine meeting (rather meeting again) in Dr. Harold Dean Trulear's Ministry and social Justice Advocacy class.

Before that divine meeting in Dr. Harold Dean Trulear's class, was an invitation to come to the last Ministry and Social Justice class of the semester on November 30th.

Before the invitation to the last class of the semester, there was an honest conversation about my desire to strengthen and build ministries and make them more just from the inside out,

before that honest conversation was a nudge from God,

And before this nudge from God there were wrestling conversations with my leadership about what it might look like for me to fully embody and embrace my call to ministry.

Before, nay, alongside these conversations, was an assignment from Black clergywomen to share messages from two texts with women in the main character roles.

Before all of that, was the story I outlined in this message where Dr. Leslie Callahan shared this text Mark 16 and a message that called me back to HUSD.

This ain't even the whole story.
Like Jesus' 40 and 2 generations, some have been left out (or rather tabled for another gospel) for the sake of the agenda of this story (this is not unique to me; I'm borrowing from the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John of it all.)

That said, I have learned that "God will give us strength in the wait." We wait on God to come through and for us to see a breakthrough and we are given these invitations to grow and build/flex our muscles in faith through questioning and saying "yes."

As I sit in reflection on the Ways that God has made for me, even this very day, I am grateful that God has not punished or despised my questions. We talk a lot about questions and the findings of belief or lack thereof that they connote. In this message, the premise is that there is such a thing as a "faith question." And that we should ask those kinds of questions until we see (even with spiritual eyes) that the Waymaker has moved the stone out of our way.

And once we share our questions, God can work wonders through the reflections of others.

Here, then, is faith questions, complete with sermon reflection by the young adults for whom the message was prepared.

Praise God for the questions, the reflection, the wait.

11/15/2023

disconsolate /diˈskäns(ə)lət/
adj. without consolation or comfort; unhappy

“Come Ye Disconsolate” by Thomas Moore (stanzas 1-2), Thomas Hastings (stanza 3), and Samuel Webbe (tune) was famously covered by Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack (Howard Bison) on their 1972 album Never My Love: The Anthology. I have loved this hymn and their definitive rendition since Charles Fusius Gordon gave me a recording of it when I was 15 and as a member of the Voices in Praise Choir.

I am so thankful to my dear friend Dr. Emorja Roberson, DMA (that has such a nice ring to it 😄) for editing this video and singing this message with me.

This song has been on my heart and mind for months and popping up everywhere from book chapter titles (e.g. Jonathan Walton's chapter on the Ministry of Bishop T.D. Jakes in his seminal work "Watch This") to sermonic references and more contemporary music (Rev. Richard Smallwood's "Healing"). I tried to sing it alone, but there is something powerful about witnessing the disconsolation I see in this world with someone else, and with such a beautiful voice and soul at that.

I am also thankful to Joann Reynolds, Brian Hehn, Eve Hehn, Mark Miller, and Jacque Jones, for sponsoring, hosting and teaching me and a group of text and tune writers for the "Writing the Church's Song" writing retreat. It was a time to cherish and appreciate the beauty and power of hymns for our historical experience and our contemporary moment.

During the retreat, Jacque asked "what makes an enduring hymn? What makes it a heart song?" The question really got me thinking. I am still working on some of the pieces I brought to the retreat to see if they might one day be worthy of living rent-free in the hearts and minds of believers. But in the meantime the question applies directly to this song.

I believe "Come Ye Disconsolate" is an enduring hymn because it sees and acknowledges the comfortless, wounded, and suffering people among us and offers divine mercy, sacred space, and a heavenly reassurance that comfort and healing are possible.

It is the disconsolate -- the unhappy and inconsolable -- who need this reassurance the most. And it is the disconsolate whom we often try not to see -- let alone be -- as we make our way towards holiday cheer.

But how can we not? There is so much death. So much sadness. So much war and violence this season. There is disconsolation everywhere we turn.

We feel it in our bodies, our hearts, our souls, and our minds. It makes us weep, grieve in public and in private. It makes us try to numb the pain with whatever we can get our hands on. It calls us to the streets to protest.

There is pain in our midst. From the movement to to the movement to in DC/US city streets, to the grief and loss of loved ones (old, young, and in-between) who have transitioned to the great cloud of witnesses.

But there is also power in acknowledging the pain. Sitting with it. Feeling it, instead of rushing into Yuletide. To quote the title of a new friend's hymn, "There Is Room" for that.

I am thankful to have been raised and formed in Christian communities and traditions that honor the liturgical and civic seasons that invite us to show concern for the bodies of all of God’s people in preparation for the coming of the Incarnate Body of Jesus. AllSaintstide (October 31st – November 2nd), Election Season, and Veterans' Day into Advent invited us to prioritize, welcome, and make space for the disconsolate human bodies in our midst, with our Christian hospitality and our choices as citizens and disciples.

It's about the bodies after all. We feel sadness and grief in our bodies, so in some sense, "the body keeps the score" means "the body tells truth." When the mind plays tricks and the media offers escapes, the Body tells the truth (you'll get that when you get home).

If we aim to worship God in Spirit and in truth, we must honor Body, the bodies in our midst. I pray that this season and this song invite us to acknowledge, welcome feel with, hold space for, and take seriously the disconsolate, in ourselves and others. Maybe then we can experience release.

https://youtu.be/wDsKq5PSgEw?si=A_T5qBoUv17g3UKY

Min. Siera Grace Sings the classic hymn "Come Ye Disconsolate" with Dr. Emorja Roberson (professor, baritone/bass, and editor of this video). Famously covere...

09/03/2023

September 2nd.

At the start of the pandemic in 2020, we were all trying to cope with the deep effects of being at a distance from dear ones. Some were miles away in other states and some transitioned to the other side.

In the midst of intense grief and loss, for me, this period in our lives was a time of deep reflection and great creativity.

This piece was a part of a Women's Day worship experience I curated at the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church called "Sophisticated Ladies." It was a tribute to Nannie Helen Burroughs, a member of Nineteenth Street and the founder of Women's Day in the Black Baptist Church, as well as to "Lady Ella," Ella Fitzgerald and "Lady Day," Billie Holiday. They are two of jazz's most iconic singers, artists, and activists, and both celebrate birthdays in April (Jazz Appreciation Month) along with DC's own Duke Ellington and a host of others.

I learned this song from Ms. Tarica June when she asked me to sing it at her Aunt Lois' homegoing (still one of the most beautiful services I have ever been a part of).

It was the first time I had the pleasure and opportunity to hire and make room for the gifts of another Black woman in ministry, my sister-friend, contralto Ms. Nancy Konjo, a moment I still count as one of my greatest victories in music and ministry to date.

In this new stage of the pandemic with new variants in the midst of everybody being outside again, I still miss friends and family I haven't seen in a while and long to live out the lessons learned in creative reflection when the world was shut down.

At the same time, I have experienced the promise of reunion be fulfilled this year with family and friends I hadn't seen since 2019.

As I aproach Thirty-Won, I hope to embody the Grace and Wisdom of a sophisticated lady, and I give thanks for all the Sophisticated Ladies who made this musical ministry moment possible, those I have listed and those who, like my mama, village, and ancestors are cheering me on behind the scenes.

I hope you enjoy my arrangement of this classic standard. It feels real "gospel" this September (Gospel Music Appreciation Month) as I listen to it three years later.

This time, I hear echoes of John 14:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also."

All this to say, "We'll be together again."
I pray to be with you, dear ones, sooner than later.

https://youtu.be/YzwpKJ8GWZI?si=XA_c4Wdv7YtKHFIM

Siera Grace Sings her arrangement of "We'll Be Together Again" with Nancy Konjo for Women's Day 2020 as an encouragement to those who are grieving and lonely...

09/01/2023

It's September 1!
Which means the countdown to 30-Won has begun!

In honor of the first thing I decided to do to celebrate, going to this evening's Gregory Porter Concert on the Wharf, here's a flashback to me singing "Take Me to the Alley" on Palm Sunday April 4, 2020.

I arranged this rendition early in the pamdemic in celebration of National Jazz Appreciation Month (April every year) and in recognition of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (April 4, 1968).

This song by Gregory Porter, and the second verse which I added for the occasion, show how the Gospel story and the stories of Black people converge to create transformation and victory in our lives and in our world.

Beyond that, this piece, this song-story, is a call to remembrance and a call to action-- of and for the least of these (those we are called to love, seek justice for, and serve) and of and for the greatest of these (those who are faithful servants of God and people, the ones we are are called to be).

I hope folx enjoy DC Jazz Fest 2023 this weekend and that this message through music blesses you. I pray it speaks to something in you that longs to be free and to help others be free as well.

Blessings and here's to Thirty-Won!

Siera Grace covers Gregory Porter's "Take Me to the Alley" at Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, DC to celebrate Palm Sunday 2020 - the first Su...

03/16/2022

For those who need peace right now.

Join Dean Richardson of Howard University's Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel in this morning's meditation: Peace Beyond Understanding

03/05/2022

It’s been a while, so before the day ends, enjoy this ❤️🖤💚

01/21/2022

It’s and we’re back with another spotlight!

This week, we are featuring a conference that has been a second home to us since our inception and throughout the pandemic: the Samuel DeWitt !!!

This conference is:
✅ Fully Virtual
✅ Intergenerational
✅ Inclusive & Affirming
✅ Ecumenical & Interfaith, and
✅ Unapologetically Black 🖤✊🏽

The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Clergy and Lay Leadership Conference has been and for the last 2️⃣ decades! This will be their 2️⃣nd and this year’s theme is: “Envisioning Something New Can You See It?”

The Proctor Conference has welcomed us — mind, body, spirit, and gifts — since we got connected in 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣, and we are glad beyond measure to have a space to worship, pray, fellowship, and serve that meets our liturgical, intellectual, political, communal, and cultural needs.

We are praying for a great time of envisioning and preparing for the NEW THING that God is calling us into as justice-doing worship leaders! Hope you’ll join us online for this great virtual experience!

To register for or learn more about the 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣2️⃣ Proctor Conference and to see the conference schedule visit: www.sdpconference.info

Stay tuned for more content in the coming days! Until then, be safe, be well, and ✊🏽🙏🏽🙌🏽

❤️
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❤️
😎👍🏽

01/14/2022

Today we’re throwing it back to the 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣9️⃣ Calvin Symposium of Worship where a gang of from the James Abbington Church Music Academy ( ) and their beloved mentor, one .g.price.iii, served as ambassadors for the African American Ecumenical Hymnal with their namesake Dr. James Abbington, Dr. Lisa M. Weaver and a host of other amazing individuals committed to and !

Today we celebrate Dr. Price’s birthday and his work in the church, the academy, the public sphere, and as a mentor of young worship leaders.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Price! 🎉🎉🎉

❤️ ✊🏽🙌🏽
🙏🏽 🙋🏽‍♀️ 🔙

01/07/2022

A thread about Epiphany

What epiphany did you have today?