Lessons in Joy & Unity with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir
By Sarah Fisher
(originally posted on medium.com)
Terrance Kelly and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir 2022 Holiday Performance
In an uncharacteristic moment of spontaneity, I found myself googling gospel performances around the Bay Area one October evening in San Francisco. It was the fall of 2015, my life was undergoing some overwhelming personal and professional changes, and I was searching for some meaning to it all. In some divine intervention, tickets to the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir holiday concert popped up on my screen. You need to save money, Sarah. And catch up on your sleep. And what about that long to-do list? You’re so busy, you can’t schlep all the way over to Oakland for a show! Yes. Yes to all those things. Yet somehow, something that evening was guiding me closer to a community I had been searching for for a long time…or a lifetime? My excuses didn’t stand a chance. One text to coordinate with a friend, and the rest is history.
I fell in love with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir as I watched their renowned holiday concert at the Paramount Theater in Oakland that evening. I found myself up out of my seat with every song, clapping from side-to-side like a wobbly fawn taking their first steps but filled with so much aliveness, I was ready to burst. The aliveness I felt that evening was unassuming. Simple. It was quietly pointing me to an ancient truth that I’d forgotten — that spirit lives inside me, inside all of us, every single day. It’s right there, patiently waiting if we’re willing to slow down, clear our throats, and come together.
Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir Performance at the Paramount Theater in Oakland in 2018
I joined the community choir as a soprano in 2016 when the world seemed to be falling apart in separatism. Rehearsals served as a refuge from the chaos and as the weeks went by, I noticed myself starting to discover spirit in everyday moments. I was in touch with a sacredness in the struggles and joys of ordinary living, with my voice and the voices of hundreds of souls singing alongside me. I can confidently say today that there’s nothing like a giant mass of voices singing to Kirk Franklin to remind us that we are worthy, that the human spirit perseveres, and that our broken, flawed, human selves are at their most beautiful in loving community.
Founded in 1986, OIGC’s mission is to inspire joy and unity among all people through Black gospel and spiritual music traditions. And with a fearless leader like Terrance Kelly, it’s quite literally impossible to not feel faithful in his presence. I’ve been learning from Terrance for nearly seven years now and singing sure ain’t the only thing I’ve learned about. Terrance has taught me how to live. How to appreciate difference in people, how to love both the ups and the downs that accompany life on this planet, and how to do so with a little bit of humor in the mix.
Terrance Kelly and the Oakland Interfaith choirs praying before the 2022 holiday concert
To be quite honest, I’m still not sure if I found Terrance and OIGC or if they found me. Either way, I was mysteriously guided to this group in a moment of genuine spiritual need. OIGC has chosen to promote joy and unity in the face of today’s divisiveness and the choir is a microcosm of just that. Every single member is different — in race, in religion, in socio-economic background, in gender identity, in sexual orientation, in able-bodiedness. In privilege, we are all different.
The steadfast commitment to finding joy and unity despite the difference? Well, if that ain’t spirit, I don’t know what the heck is.
Sarah Fisher is a Soprano in the Oakland Interfaith Community Choir, living in SF as a psychotherapist (sarahfishertherapy.com), writer, and eternal creative.
Have a story to share? Submit your story!
