East Milton Church Pours Out Wine and Song;
Music Committee hosts an annual social gathering to raise funds
 Ericka Jacobsen and Lynn Salmonsen came up with a unique way to raise funds for incidental music expenses at the East Congregational Church, UCC, in Milton.
One day the women were chatting about fundraisers at the church and Salmonsen mentioned how very few of the events allowed the members to mingle in a small setting and get to know each other better. It was then that the idea formed to combine a social event with a fundraiser.
Lynn, the music director and an accomplished pianist, enjoyed getting together with her friend Scott Woolweaver, a violist, and playing music in front of small groups. “I rarely get to play my own piano,” said Salmonsen, “and I just got a new house so I wanted to host a party. I invited Scott as well as a friend who works for a wine company so we could have a wine-tasting at the gathering. We dubbed the event, ‘An Evening of Wine and Song,’ and offered music, wines and light fare of three countries.” The tickets were $30 and proceeds were used to pay for robes, buy extra music, and hire special soloists to perform at the church. The evening was such a success that a similar event is held each year.
The evening is carefully planned out to give the guests a cultural experience. Wines of three different countries are chosen, then Salmonsen and Woolweaver select music arrangements from composers of those geographic areas, and the menu reflects the countries as well.
As an example, one evening featured French wines, the music of French composers Gabriel Faure and Marin Marais, and wonderfully sweet French desserts. Members, as well as friends and neighbors of the team, are invited to the event. About 35-40 people have attended each event, and many have praised the evenings.
“Attendees have told me it was a treat to not only get a concert and be educated about wines, but they got a chance to mingle in an informal and relaxed setting,” said Salmonsen The Music Committee helps pull off the event. Jacobsen, who was in charge of the behind-the-scenes work -- like planning, getting the word out, coordinating the six-person team, distributing flyers, and asking fellow church members to donate specific foods -- called the event “beautiful and relaxing.”
“We would never have gotten to know each other if it wasn’t for the intimate setting,” she said. One year the group digressed from its usual offering and hosted a Sunday afternoon of “Two sopranos, a piano, and a brunch.” Plenty of relaxing music but no wine tasting.
With or without the wine tasting, East Milton Congregational Church’s musical social gathering can be summed up in one phrase: C'est magnifique! *
*That’s great!
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Editor's Note:
Further Details About Previous Spotlight
Dear Reader,
The previous issue of the Spotlight focused on U2 Eucharist services, which involved playing recordings of U2 music and displaying the music's lyrics as part of worship. This article seeks to clarify the copyright issues surrounding such worship services.
While copyright law allows for churches to play legally obtained recordings of copyrighted music during worship, those same laws normally prohibit churches from projecting or otherwise displaying the lyrics to copyrighted songs without a license or prior approval from their publisher.
However in this case, according to the Rev. Dr. Paige Blair, the Episcopal rector who started the U2 Eucharist movement, U2's publishing company has given blanket approval for churches to play U2 music and display U2's song lyrics under the following conditions:
- the music must be used in a worship setting,the recordings played must be legally purchased, and
- any offering taken during the service must be given to a charity that is fighting extreme poverty or AIDS.
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