Rev. McKinley L. Sims, M.Div.

Wake, now my vision of ministry clear;

brighten my pathway with radiance here;

mingle my calling with all who who will share;

work toward a planet transformed by our care.

There was a moment in my life, a very, VERY, brief moment in time- between my phases of wanting to be an astronaut, a test pilot, an Olympic bobsledder, an ornithologist, and professional rodeo clown- where I thought I might have a future as a Christian rockstar. I’d been at my friend’s house the weekend before and got my first glimpse of two bands: DC Talk and Jars of Clay. I was transfixed by their melodies and their style…and DC Talk had a black guy in the band! It was scandalously amazing, and I was convinced that I had what it took to praise God with my voice and my musical instrumental skills. The next time I had an opportunity to sing a hymn out, I decided that my career might as well start then. I decided to go for it….really go for it.

Right there, in front of everyone. Not in the shower first, not alone in my room, or in a soundproof studio… just jumped in feet first on “Morning Has Broken.”

I didn’t really know how to do it (singing). So I just kind of let myself be taken away with the music. Everyone else was doing the usual sing-talk of congregational hymnody, because no one wants to stand out above the group, and we’re all just silently committed to one another in a covenant of muddling through as best as we can without ruining the whole experience.

I broke the covenant by going for it.

REALLY going for it.

For a split second, I was CRUSHING the lines, “Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning”…..or I believed with every fiber of my being that I was. Turns out, I just kind of screeched as my voice broke over the “i” in “Mine.” The horrified looks of my fellow churchgoers let me know that I was not, in fact, crushing it.

I quieted my voice and cast my eyes back to the hymnal and tried to melt into the earth. I was in 5th Grade. I didn’t sing in front of people again until senior year of college, and that was for a charitable cause, dressed in a Snuggie and jorts while playing the Guitar and trying to be crowned Mr. William & Mary. That’s a different story, but…. I was clearly robbed in that pageant. Regardless, I never sang in public at any other time….until God started working a mysterious way.

Imagine my surprise when I found myself in a UU church on Christmas Day, leading services without the aid of a choir or piano or someone with a musical background. I was reminded forcefully of my experience in 5th Grade, but I didn’t know if we were all committed to muddling through as best we could or if someone might be looking for me to go for it….REALLY go for it.

I went for it. It went okay.

It wasn’t as bad as I thought, and I wasn’t Jars of Clay. Somewhere in the middle, and I’m cool with that. My calling, as it turns out, was not to be a Christian rockstar, or even to be a choir regular. My calling was not dependent on my voice, but my heart and my mind and my soul. Thank God for that.

Since then, I’ve been asked to lead songs and worship and do solos because no one else knows the words, played guitar at youth retreats, provided meditative music for a group of seven seminarians around a campfire in Ohio, and led a ward of mentally ill friends-of-Jesus in a rousing chorus of everything from “Seek Ye First” to “This Little Light of Mine.” Turns out I can sing a little bit, and it turns out that psych patients don’t care even the least whether you can or can’t. They just want you to go for it, with them and for them.

Because they’re going to go for it, without fear or fail, I can guarantee you that.

I’m honored to share my pathway with the radiance of beloved individuals who share this planet, this holy place, and who helped me see my vision of ministry more clearly than ever before. I may never be on stage with DC Talk, but I’m blessed to be able to share and lead and love people on the margins everyday when morning breaks anew.

So if you get the opportunity to go for it, REALLY go for it…I hope you will.

I pray we will.

I know they will. May that be so for all of us.