Jim Scott
On June 26, 1999, Unitarian Universalists gathered in a room at the Salt Palace to rejoice in song and poetry. The evening featured the poetry of Ken Patton, the renowned Unitarian minister, poet, and hymnodist; and songs by Jim Scott, noted UU musician and composer of three songs in the most recent UU hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition.
The Rev. Bob Murphy (right) of North Carolina opened the evening with his memories of the Charles Street Meeting House, where Patton served for many years. "Patton was a religious humanist, a religious naturalist, a prophet, artist and poet," said Murphy.
Jim Scott (left) got the group singing with "In a Circle of Friends," which was both sung and signed.
Rev. Carol Hepokoski then shared her memories from Starr King, where the brass symbols from the Charles Street Meeting House were placed after it was no longer in use. She shared a winter reading from Patton's Services and Songs for the Celebration of Life. Rev. Sarah Lambert (right) then read "The Free Spirit" from Readings from the Celebration of Life.
Jim Scott returned to the microphone and led a rousing version of "Gather the Spirit," one of his songs from Singing the Living Tradition.
Rev. Peter Scott's reading "Universal Religion" from Patton's Hymns of Humanity was accompanied by his reminicisences of Patton. Scott explained that in later life Patton had rewritten almost all of his early work to make it gender inclusive, but since much of the revised work was never published, Patton offered blanket permission to change his work for use in liturgy.
After more loving memories of the Charles Street Meeting House by a number of attendees, Mimi Bornstein-Doble, the accompanist for some of the singing, shared one of her own works, a preview of her upcoming workshop on Monday.
Rev. Christa Landon read "The Sun our Native Star" from The Wonder of Life, a more recent collection of some of Patton's best known work.
The group had the pleasure of sharing the first public performance and group singing of a new work by Jim Scott. This piece, based on Patton's "Let this be a house of nature and human nature," is called "Let this be a house of peace," and incorporates Patton's imagery in a singable form. The evening closed with several more of Jim's songs from the folk music tradition.
