Saturday, August 16, 2014

Lyle Lovett's Favorite Place

Had to pass this on (HT to Gene Veith)...

Read it all here. . . 

Or

have so many favorite places, but I’m picking St. Paul Lutheran Church, in Serbin, because besides being an authentically historic place to visit, it symbolizes how so many Texas communities came into being. St. Paul isn’t my home church, but its origins are much like those of the one I grew up in—Trinity Lutheran Church, in Klein, which was founded in the mid-1800’s by German immigrants seeking religious freedom and economic opportunity. My great-great-grandfather Adam Klein was a founding member of Trinity, but sadly the original building is long gone. 

St. Paul’s building, however, not only survives but still holds services every Sunday, and when you visit it, you step back in time. 

I have a family connection to St. Paul too. My maternal grandmother’s father, my great-grandfather Herman Schroeder, was the schoolteacher and minister of music at St. Paul after he retired from thirty years of service at St. John, in Lincoln. Great-grandpa Schroeder is the only person I know of whom I’m related to who was a musician.

Lovett is a singer, songwriter, and actor who has released thirteen albums. He lives in the Houston area.
 
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Just had to pass this on!  I don't listen to Lyle Lovett's music but it is clear from his words that the song within him was profoundly shaped by the voice of faith, the home of his family church, and the impact of church and faith upon the varied and diverse lives of those who worship in these church homes...  I would not characterize my home church as particularly beautiful from an aesthetic point of view but its beauty lies in the generations of my family whose song of faith nurtured my and encouraged my own voice to sing with them.  The crucifix, the old oak gothic altar, and ancient Estey pipe organ, and the worn baptismal font would make that place one of my favorite places in the world.

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