New Year’s Eve Night Watch Sing at GLIDE Church

WHAT: New Year’s Eve Night Watch Sing at GLIDE Church

GLIDE Church invites the community to join together for a free, family-friendly, joyous evening to welcome in the New Year with good intentions and loving hearts through instantaneous song and celebration. For some, New Year’s Eve is best experienced as a time of reflection, a time to contemplate the old year passing and the birth of a new one, an opportunity to come together and set intentions within a sacred and safe space with fellow community members. This year, for the first time, GLIDE Church is offering a space for this in the hours leading up to midnight, in the form of nonstop creative circle-singing and spoken word in the Church sanctuary. There’s no experience or sound equipment necessary, just voices singing in the sanctuary.

Community members are invited to come and go (or stay the whole time) throughout the radically inclusive, all-out fun, reflective and creative experience, as GLIDE Ensemble Director Vernon Bush and other facilitators offer up their inspirations within the circle of singing.

WHEN: New Year’s Eve, December 31, 8:00 pm – 12:00 am midnight

WHO:
• GLIDE Ensemble Director, singer, composer Vernon Bush
• GLIDE Minister of Celebration Marvin K. White

WHERE: GLIDE Church, 330 Ellis Street (at Taylor), San Francisco

FOR MORE INFO: Call (415) 674-6000 or visit GLIDE.org

ABOUT GLIDE:

Building on its 50-year legacy, GLIDE challenges inequities and stands with the poor, people of color, LGBTQ persons, and others facing oppression, isolation and stigma, while offering a holistic, integrated model of programs and services to address the complex needs of the community. Today, GLIDE continues to deepen its impact and extend its reach to thousands of individuals and families in need across the city. Through comprehensive services, fearless advocacy and spiritual connection, GLIDE remains a powerful beacon of hope for a healthier, more just and inclusive city.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SINGING CIRCLE:

Circle singing is totally made-up music, invented right on the spot, and most of the time it doesn’t require any words—unless they bubble up in the moment. Standing in the center of a community circle, the facilitator (Vernon Bush) starts by pulling music out of the air. Once he or she feels there is a good sense of musical motion, the facilitator will move it to a section within the circle and it will repeat. This goes on as other musical phrases are likewise created, building a spontaneous, layered composition.

What is created together is a spontaneous community choir of wonderful, interlocking, rhythmic music that uplifts and inspires more singing.