Anniversary
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
62 Stories For Cycle B
Harry and Herman had lived in the big brick house on the hill in Willow Bluff for almost half a century. Some assumed that they were bachelor brothers, but the old-timers will tell you that neither of them are natives. Herman came up from Texas in the late '30s to take over the feed mill when Jim Kinnamen died. Harry was from somewhere out East - Delaware or New Jersey. He worked for Herman in the mill, delivering feed and keeping books, until the war came. They tried to enlist together after Pearl Harbor in '41. Herman was accepted and went on to win the Silver Star in the Battle of the Bulge. Harry had a bad eye, so he stayed home and ran the feed mill for Herman. When Herman came home from the war, near the end of '43, business was booming, and he made Harry a full partner. That was when they bought the old Einerson place up on the hill and moved in together. After a few years, folks just came to accept that neither of them was ever going to marry.
Harry and Herman started going to church in '49, just after the addition was built, when Reverend Swingle was pastor. Harry immediately joined the choir. He had a beautiful tenor voice, and when people found out he could sing he became the soloist of choice at most weddings and funerals. Kate Swarmford used to say that Harry had the voice of an angel, and she made her family promise that when she died they would get Harry to sing "The Lord's Prayer" and "K-K-K-Katie" at her funeral. They kept their promise, and Harry sang both songs just the way she wanted. That was one funeral in Willow Bluff that no one ever forgot. They talk about it to this day.
Herman became active on the church Board of Trustees. He was often seen over at the church, after work and on Saturday mornings, repairing the roof, painting the trim, or puttering with the furnace. When they installed the new pipe organ in '55, the Trustees decided that, while they were at it, they might as well renovate the whole sanctuary. It was Herman who headed up the renovation committee. They made him chairman of the Trustees the following year, a position he was to hold for over thirty years. He had a way of recruiting the right people for a job and organizing them so that things got done in good order.
Their announcement on World Communion Sunday came as a surprise to the congregation and was the source of much puzzlement and consternation in the weeks that followed. Herman stood up during the time for sharing joys and concerns and said, "Harry and I would like to invite everyone to attend our fiftieth anniversary celebration on the nineteenth of November. There will be an announcement in the paper, but we aren't sending any formal invitations. We hope you will all be able to come. We've ordered one of those triple-decker cakes from the bakery, and Harry is planning to sing."
The puzzling began as soon as Herman sat down. "Anniversary of what?" Mildred Hersey whispered to her daughter Gyneth, loud enough for half of the congregation to hear. Gyneth shrugged her shoulders and whispered back, "I don't know." No one seemed to know. When the paper came out that Tuesday with Herman and Harry's picture on the front page, the whole town began to buzz. The announcement simply read, "Herman Fisker and Harry Beechum cordially invite you to attend their fiftieth anniversary celebration on Sunday, November 19, at 2:00 P.M., in the community room at the church."
"I don't understand it," Mildred said to her neighbor, Eunice Criven. "It didn't say fiftieth anniversary of their business or their partnership. You don't suppose they are ...." She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. The very thought was abhorrent to her. "To think that they have been carrying on like that here in Willow Bluff for fifty years. I can tell you right now that I'm not going to any anniversary party like that!"
The following Sunday, Herman sat alone in his usual pew in the center of the sanctuary. No one sat near him and no one greeted him before or after the service. Harry sat with the other tenors in the choir loft, and they spoke to him politely, but there was no joking and laughing as there usually was, and no one said a word about the anniversary celebration. It went on like that for several weeks. People began to wonder why Herman and Harry continued coming to church. There was even some talk about formally asking them to withdraw their memberships.
On the Sunday before the anniversary celebration, the organist, Gena Percy, stood up during joys and concerns and asked the pastor if she could say something to the congregation. The pastor nodded and Gena stepped out from behind the organ bench, walked over to the center aisle, and with her hands visibly trembling, began to speak: "I want to thank Herman and Harry for what they have done. It has given me the courage to say something that I have wanted to say for a long time. I am a lesbian. I am not ashamed to tell you that now, even though I know that many of you will not understand. I have struggled with who I am for years and years, and after much prayer, and the support of several dear friends, I have come to accept all that I am as a gift of God. I don't know why God made me this way. I have often wished that it could have been otherwise. There have been times when I have wanted to curse God because of the way I have been treated. But I don't feel that way anymore. I think playing the organ in worship has helped. Praising God with this beautiful instrument is the greatest joy of my life. I thank you all for the privilege of serving God as your church organist."
There was no whispering when Gena returned to the bench behind the organ. No one could remember when the church had been so quiet, except perhaps at funerals. It was a holy silence. Everyone who was present knew that he or she had witnessed something extraordinary, and even though they were all shocked and troubled by what Gena had said, they could not bring themselves to condemn her. To have done so would have been to deny what they clearly saw in her face as she spoke: something holy, something that they had no words to describe, but that they knew was of God. Others would condemn her when word got out that Willow Bluff Community Church had a lesbian organist, but they would not. She was one of their own. They had watched her grow up, seen her baptized and confirmed with their own children and grandchildren; they knew her parents and her grandparents, her aunts and uncles, her brothers and her sister. They were all members of the church, too. Whatever else she was, she was their Gena. Nothing could change that. When one of the newcomers wondered aloud if Gena would be allowed to continue playing the organ, the question was met with a stony silence.
Herman and Harry decorated the community room with crepe paper the following Saturday night. The next day, at 1:45, they stood at the door in their rented tuxedoes, waiting to see if anyone would come. Harry said he was willing to bet his next social security check that they would be eating freezer-burnt anniversary cake for several months. But by 2:15 the room was full and people were still coming. After they had opened their gifts, and Herman had made a little speech thanking every one for coming and saying some of the usual things about what a blessing it was to have so many faithful friends, Harry announced that he had a song he would like to share. He walked over to the piano, where Gena was already seated, and after she played the introduction, he smiled at Herman and began to sing in his sweet tenor voice:
For all these years, these friends and these blessings,
we give you all praise mighty God.
For trials, temptations, and hardships endured,
we thank you, O Lord, our salvation.
For this holy union of sinners forgiven,
redeemed, transformed, sanctified;
For grace all sufficient, sustaining, maintaining
our love all these years, thank you, God.
____________
Author's Note:
The music for "Anniversary" was composed by Kerri Sherwood, Director of Music, First United Methodist Church, Kenosha, Wisconsin. Ms. Sherwood's new CD of original solo piano music, Released From The Heart, is available from Sisu music, PO Box 1945, Kenosha, WI 53141.
Harry and Herman started going to church in '49, just after the addition was built, when Reverend Swingle was pastor. Harry immediately joined the choir. He had a beautiful tenor voice, and when people found out he could sing he became the soloist of choice at most weddings and funerals. Kate Swarmford used to say that Harry had the voice of an angel, and she made her family promise that when she died they would get Harry to sing "The Lord's Prayer" and "K-K-K-Katie" at her funeral. They kept their promise, and Harry sang both songs just the way she wanted. That was one funeral in Willow Bluff that no one ever forgot. They talk about it to this day.
Herman became active on the church Board of Trustees. He was often seen over at the church, after work and on Saturday mornings, repairing the roof, painting the trim, or puttering with the furnace. When they installed the new pipe organ in '55, the Trustees decided that, while they were at it, they might as well renovate the whole sanctuary. It was Herman who headed up the renovation committee. They made him chairman of the Trustees the following year, a position he was to hold for over thirty years. He had a way of recruiting the right people for a job and organizing them so that things got done in good order.
Their announcement on World Communion Sunday came as a surprise to the congregation and was the source of much puzzlement and consternation in the weeks that followed. Herman stood up during the time for sharing joys and concerns and said, "Harry and I would like to invite everyone to attend our fiftieth anniversary celebration on the nineteenth of November. There will be an announcement in the paper, but we aren't sending any formal invitations. We hope you will all be able to come. We've ordered one of those triple-decker cakes from the bakery, and Harry is planning to sing."
The puzzling began as soon as Herman sat down. "Anniversary of what?" Mildred Hersey whispered to her daughter Gyneth, loud enough for half of the congregation to hear. Gyneth shrugged her shoulders and whispered back, "I don't know." No one seemed to know. When the paper came out that Tuesday with Herman and Harry's picture on the front page, the whole town began to buzz. The announcement simply read, "Herman Fisker and Harry Beechum cordially invite you to attend their fiftieth anniversary celebration on Sunday, November 19, at 2:00 P.M., in the community room at the church."
"I don't understand it," Mildred said to her neighbor, Eunice Criven. "It didn't say fiftieth anniversary of their business or their partnership. You don't suppose they are ...." She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. The very thought was abhorrent to her. "To think that they have been carrying on like that here in Willow Bluff for fifty years. I can tell you right now that I'm not going to any anniversary party like that!"
The following Sunday, Herman sat alone in his usual pew in the center of the sanctuary. No one sat near him and no one greeted him before or after the service. Harry sat with the other tenors in the choir loft, and they spoke to him politely, but there was no joking and laughing as there usually was, and no one said a word about the anniversary celebration. It went on like that for several weeks. People began to wonder why Herman and Harry continued coming to church. There was even some talk about formally asking them to withdraw their memberships.
On the Sunday before the anniversary celebration, the organist, Gena Percy, stood up during joys and concerns and asked the pastor if she could say something to the congregation. The pastor nodded and Gena stepped out from behind the organ bench, walked over to the center aisle, and with her hands visibly trembling, began to speak: "I want to thank Herman and Harry for what they have done. It has given me the courage to say something that I have wanted to say for a long time. I am a lesbian. I am not ashamed to tell you that now, even though I know that many of you will not understand. I have struggled with who I am for years and years, and after much prayer, and the support of several dear friends, I have come to accept all that I am as a gift of God. I don't know why God made me this way. I have often wished that it could have been otherwise. There have been times when I have wanted to curse God because of the way I have been treated. But I don't feel that way anymore. I think playing the organ in worship has helped. Praising God with this beautiful instrument is the greatest joy of my life. I thank you all for the privilege of serving God as your church organist."
There was no whispering when Gena returned to the bench behind the organ. No one could remember when the church had been so quiet, except perhaps at funerals. It was a holy silence. Everyone who was present knew that he or she had witnessed something extraordinary, and even though they were all shocked and troubled by what Gena had said, they could not bring themselves to condemn her. To have done so would have been to deny what they clearly saw in her face as she spoke: something holy, something that they had no words to describe, but that they knew was of God. Others would condemn her when word got out that Willow Bluff Community Church had a lesbian organist, but they would not. She was one of their own. They had watched her grow up, seen her baptized and confirmed with their own children and grandchildren; they knew her parents and her grandparents, her aunts and uncles, her brothers and her sister. They were all members of the church, too. Whatever else she was, she was their Gena. Nothing could change that. When one of the newcomers wondered aloud if Gena would be allowed to continue playing the organ, the question was met with a stony silence.
Herman and Harry decorated the community room with crepe paper the following Saturday night. The next day, at 1:45, they stood at the door in their rented tuxedoes, waiting to see if anyone would come. Harry said he was willing to bet his next social security check that they would be eating freezer-burnt anniversary cake for several months. But by 2:15 the room was full and people were still coming. After they had opened their gifts, and Herman had made a little speech thanking every one for coming and saying some of the usual things about what a blessing it was to have so many faithful friends, Harry announced that he had a song he would like to share. He walked over to the piano, where Gena was already seated, and after she played the introduction, he smiled at Herman and began to sing in his sweet tenor voice:
For all these years, these friends and these blessings,
we give you all praise mighty God.
For trials, temptations, and hardships endured,
we thank you, O Lord, our salvation.
For this holy union of sinners forgiven,
redeemed, transformed, sanctified;
For grace all sufficient, sustaining, maintaining
our love all these years, thank you, God.
____________
Author's Note:
The music for "Anniversary" was composed by Kerri Sherwood, Director of Music, First United Methodist Church, Kenosha, Wisconsin. Ms. Sherwood's new CD of original solo piano music, Released From The Heart, is available from Sisu music, PO Box 1945, Kenosha, WI 53141.
