Reflections from Community Members

Brian and Marsha Parker are friends of Renovare and regular attendees of our concerts! Marsha’s business, Refined Gatherings, is also responsible for the beautiful floral creations that we’ve had at our last two fundraising dinners. We invited the Parkers to share some thoughts about their experiences with Renovare and are honored by what they have written.

Thank you for the opportunity to share our appreciation for the music of Renovare and the excellent social outreach you and your organization do and support our great city.

First of all, we greatly enjoy the beautiful music you perform and share with the community. We have heard you perform at Refined Gatherings’ #CONTENDFORPEACE floral workshop for cancer survivors, at ‘Facing the Rising Sun’ on this past Juneteenth, and most recently, ‘Stories from Our Streets,’ in the Buckeye neighborhood.

Second, we appreciate your social vision and ministry. We were especially excited to hear that you perform for, and give lessons to, inmates in correctional facilities. We are reminded of Jesus’ words: “Truly, I say to you, as you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:40.

We also value the music and words you shared on the Juneteenth holiday. We cannot adequately express how much it means to us that you use your gifts to celebrate and remember a part of American history that is so bittersweet. We see history as a continuous chain, that the present cannot adequately be understood unless the past is studied and appropriately commemorated. This is especially the case for Marsha as a former teacher of American and African American history in a local high school.

We likewise were deeply touched by the “Stories from Our Streets” performance and discussion in the Buckeye neighborhood in Cleveland. This is a neighborhood that has a long connection to Marsha’s family. We were moved by the way you used the lyrics from local resident poets and oral artists to express the powerful emotions that go hand in hand with living in a neighborhood that faces serious economic and social obstacles to abundant living. Our hearts join yours in desiring to see the revitalization of Cleveland’s often forgotten and forsaken living spaces, so that all people can share in the blessings that most of us take for granted.

We look forward to your next performance, and we plan on participating in some of the events sponsored by the organizations you featured who are doing the good and hard work necessary to truly make a difference in our community.

This passage comes to mind when we think of the work that Renovare is doing.

Isaiah 58:6-12 (ESV)

6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.

11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.

Thanks for all you do.

Best blessings & grace,

Brian and Marsha Parker