Canadian Mennonite
Volume 11, No. 20
October 15, 2007
Swapping pork for music
STOUFFVILLE, ONT.
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Mennonite singer/songwriter offers unique music subscription service
Bryan Moyer Suderman, creator of the God’s Love is for Everybody CD and member of Community Mennonite Church in Stouffville, has started an experiment in alternative music economics. Instead of just selling physical CDs, he’s selling music like fresh vegetables—and taking unusual swaps in exchange for his tunes.
In an effort to move away from the extensive touring and selling process he describes as “the standard—and spectacularly unhealthy and unsustainable—model in the ‘mainstream’ music business,” the singer and songwriter has launched his own music-by-subscription service. The idea came from a woman who told Moyer Suderman as he was leaving a performance, “So if you ever want to exchange pork for music, just let us know.” He describes mulling over her offer and then writing back, “I don’t know if you were serious when you made that offer of pork for music, but if you were, I’d love to do it!”
They did exactly that, and the idea has grown into a new way for Moyer Suderman to deliver what he does. Through his website, he is offering an annual membership to those who would like to get regular electronic deliveries of “fresh, home-grown, organic music—new ‘songs of faith for small and tall’” straight from the source. Subscriptions are normally purchased, but he has also exchanged membership for pies, photography, website assistance and painting around the house.
“Our mechanic has agreed to an oil change for music,” said Moyer Suderman, laughing.
The singer/songwriter is modelling his effort on how community-supported agriculture farms operate: Subscribers pay a one-time annual fee to get regular deliveries of a variety of fresh produce throughout the growing season. He is providing three deliveries of music a year, with four songs per delivery, along with an extra set of songs once per year written by subscribers. His September 2007 music is online now and his next delivery is planned for November.
Besides the songs themselves (in MP3 format), Moyer Suderman is also providing reflections on where the songs came from, ideas for using them in different settings, musical notation for the pieces and a lyric sheet.
“We love being able to use upbeat songs that have good Mennonite theology that matches,” says subscriber Lisa Carr-Pries, a pastor at St. Jacobs (Ont.) Mennonite Church. “We don’t have a lot of writing for who we are and what we believe.” Carr-Pries notes that the church uses a lot of the music with its junior Sunday school group, and suggests it would be even more useful if musical themes were linked to the Gather ’Round Sunday school curriculum material.
Moyer Suderman also hopes that music subscribers will share how they’re using the songs, send ideas for new songs and exchange their own songs through the service. “Membership in SmallTall Music is much more than making a consumer choice to receive a certain kind of product,” he says. “[It’s] an opportunity to be an active participant and partner in the process of creating, testing and sharing new music for the church and for families of the church.”
For yearly subscription charges, visit smalltallmusic.com. Fresh chops or crops are always welcome.
Review
How does your money talk?
My Money Talks: Songs for Worship by Bryan Moyer Suderman
Jesus had a lot to say about money, but the songs Mennonites sing in worship rarely do, notes Bryan Moyer Suderman. The Ontario singer/songwriter is hoping to change that with the release of his new recording, My Money Talks: Songs for Worship.
Approximately two years ago, the Mennonite Foundation of Canada invited Moyer Suderman to create the CD, which contains 12 songs on economic stewardship, and provided him with a Legacy Grant to begin.
“I was intrigued with the project,” Moyer Suderman says. “I had been thinking about questions of economic stewardship for a long time. And it seemed like a really good match for what I do within my music ministry.”
Moyer Suderman had a number of different candidates for the title track of the album, including the songs “Take Good Care” and “Generous God.” But he eventually settled on “My Money Talks.”
“It really does highlight the economic stewardship issues at the core of this project,” he says, adding, “The refrain of that song says, ‘My money talks. What can you hear it saying?’”
The CD includes a variety of styles and genres to reflect the different kinds of worship practices in congregations.
Erwin Warkentin, general manager of the Mennonite Foundation of Canada, feels the CD is a needed resource. “There are very few songs in our Mennonite hymnology that deal specifically with money,” he says. “And it’s certainly something we have an abiding interest in because we do stewardship resources and education.”
Warkentin encourages churches and individuals to purchase the CD, become familiar with the music and use the songs in various worship settings.
A CD release concert was to be held at Bethel Mennonite Church in Winnipeg on Oct. 13.
The album will also be shared at a series of concerts in Ontario, beginning on Oct. 26 at Floradale Mennonite Church and continuing on Nov. 3 at Community Mennonite Church in Stouffville, Nov. 18 at Bethany Mennonite Church in Virgil, and Nov. 24 at Leamington United Mennonite Church.
My Money Talks: Songs for Worship includes lyrics and liner notes, and is distributed by Herald Press. It is available at smalltallmusic.com and selected bookstores. An accompanying songbook with music notation and piano arrangements will be available in early 2008.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the CD and the accompanying songbook will be given to the Mennonite Foundation of Canada and to the Global Church Sharing Fund of Mennonite World Conference. l
Review
Arts speaks to the dignity of all of us
WINNIPEG
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Visitors to the Invisible Dignity exhibit at Winnipeg’s Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery have the uncanny sense of being watched. It’s no wonder, as windows to the soul peer out from every wall—eyes of the hungry, the poor, the exploited and the displaced. The feeling is unsettling and more than a little compelling. Those eyes evoke compassion and they demand a response.
That is exactly what the exhibit is intended to do. The exhibit is the central platform of the Invisible Dignity Project, a series of events employing art, music and discussion to address a variety of social injustices.
Cornelius Buller, now executive director of Urban Youth Adventures in Winnipeg, identified the need for such a venture several years ago when he conducted research into human trafficking for the Salvation Army Ethics Center. He was appalled by the horrifying abuses he discovered and by the pervasiveness of the issue. He decided to do something about it.
A conversation with Winnipeg artist Gerald Folkerts helped Buller find an appropriate response. At the time, Folkerts was creating a series of paintings to tell the stories of individuals marginalized by society. The duo then approached others they felt might be inclined to support their initiative. Calvin Seerveld, a Toronto-based academic who has made a career out of connecting people to issues through art, agreed to be a keynote speaker. Christian recording artist Steve Bell offered to provide musical support. As the list of participants grew, the project solidified.
Five artists contributed to the project: Yisa Akinbolaji, Manitoba/Nigeria; Jo Cooper, Quebec; Steve Prince, Virginia; Ray Dirks, Manitoba; and Folkerts.
Dirks, who also assisted in project planning and is curator of the Heritage Centre Gallery (one of the Invisible Dignity exhibit’s venues), views the art and related events as an opportunity for self-examination. He believes art touches people on a visceral level by evoking questions: How do I react to these people? Do I pay attention to them? Do I view them as equal creations made in the image of God? “This gives us an opportunity to be confronted and stimulated,” he says, which are the first steps toward action.
Art exhibits are on display at the Heritage Centre Gallery and Winnipeg’s Booth College until Nov. 17. Other related activities are scheduled into February 2008.