“My name is Lydia, and I’m in eighth grade, and I’ve been playing flute for three years. The song I’m going to play is Mozart Concerto No. 1 in G Major. Now, I’m only going to play the first movement, and only part of that movement, because that movement is ten minutes long. So please enjoy.”
Lydia Walquist’s comments during a rehearsal demonstrate the caliber of talent, poise and showmanship demonstrated at “A Young People’s Concert,” sponsored by the Kingdom Kids ministry of the Chicago Church of Christ.
In addition to Lydia playing the flute, Isabelle Hauser sang and played piano, several children played violin, Joshua Altman and Zack Zittle rocked out on electric guitar, and many other children participated in two choirs and a short scene for the Children’s Theater portion of the production.
This concert was the brainchild of Stel Walton Whitehead, who has been a disciple for 42 years. No, that’s not a typo! She was baptized in the Gainesville, Fla., church and moved to Chicago about two years ago, around the time of the birth of her first grandchild, Amber, the first born of her daughter, Erika Walton Sitzberger.
Whitehead was part of the well-known and much loved Crossroads Singers, which she says consisted predominantly of campus students and singles in the Crossroads Church of Christ back in the 1970s. She says the group formed in 1972, when most of them were baby Christians, and traveled all over the country and abroad for 10 years. Sherwin Mackintosh was the choir director.
The Crossroads Singers were more than a traveling choir–they had a mission and a ministry to befriend and mentor college and high school students–which is exactly what Whitehead and her team sought to do for the young students participating in this concert.
“There is so much entertainment in the world to draw children away from their faith,” Whitehead said. “I know how important it is for children to have something special to do in the kingdom of God.”
“They don’t get to do a lot because we are waiting for their talent to grow to a level where we all want to hear them,” she said. “But often children can’t get there by themselves. They have to have help. We are demonstrating what happens when you as a professional invest yourself in the talents of a little kid in the church.”
The adults who taught and mentored the young performers are talented professional artists of faith in their own right.
“If there is someone in the church who can train them and help them, it is to our benefit to [cultivate] that kind of relationship with talented people in the church,” Whitehead said.
Dave Eastman, evangelist for the Central Ministry Center of the Chicago Church of Christ, also has roots in the Crossroads Church of Christ. It was his region, or ministry center, of the Chicago Church that hosted this event for the entire Chicago Church congregation.
“I wanted all of the [whole church] represented,” said Whitehead. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to work together as one body to help children.”
“When Stel approached me about this, I thought, ‘Wow,’” said Phyllis Calderon, founder of A Touch of Classical Plus, and a mentor and teacher for the violin participants. “This is part of my vision, something that I wanted to do. So I jumped at the chance to be involved and help out.”
Calderon sees the value of music education in the overall teaching and training of children.
“Music is so important. Every child needs to have music as part of their curriculum…because it’s in everything. It’s in science. It’s in math…in literature and history. I think it just opens up a person’s soul.”
Whitehead shares the same mind set about the importance of music, and the arts in general, in children’s education.
“Research-oriented results show that kids who are in the arts do better in school,” Whitehead said. “They seem to have higher self-esteem, and we know from having to rehearse, it builds resilience skills. But more than anything, in the scriptures it talks about the parable of the talents, and that if people are able to use their talents, it’s a good thing. So I think between kindergarten through fifth grade is a wonderful opportunity to introduce them to the arts.”
Jean Altman, a singer in her own right, was very proud to see her son, Joshua, participate in the concert with his buddy Zach.
“He’s a very shy person by nature,” Altman said. “So it has been good for Joshua, because it brings him out of himself. He’s in his room for hours and hours playing the guitar. So this is encouraging for him. And I’m praying this will eventually encourage him to study the Bible and make Jesus Lord.”
Jameshia Farmer, who directed one of the children’s choirs, also sees her participation in the concert as an investment in the future of the church.
“These are our future worship leaders, our future musicians,” Farmer said. “These kids are still at the malleable stage that God calls us to be at. He said, ‘Let the little children come to me.’ I want to make sure I’m building them up so when they get older they cannot turn from what they’ve been trained in.”
Sitzberger, stage manager for the concert, said all the children participating have been playing or performing in their respective areas for at least a year. Some of them have even composed their own pieces, as was the case for teen Rachel Ramiento, who performed her instrumental work on piano.
“My daughter Erika grew up as, we didn’t call it Kingdom Kids at the time, but she grew up in the church,” said Whitehead. “And I think what made her want to be in the body of Christ were all those relationships we’ve had over the years with people who mentored her in the church. She loves Sherwin and Debbie [Mackintosh]. She loves and respects Dave and Kathy [Eastman]. Those relationships helped her become very grounded over the years.”
Sitzberger agreed.
“When I was 15, Sherwin and Debbie Mackintosh moved to New York, and that was when the church produced Upside Down, the musical,” she says. “I came [to New York] to baby sit their kids, and I ended up being in the chorus for Upside Down. To be a kid in the church, to see the level of professionalism, the level of commitment and devotion to put on a project like that in our church, it changed me.”
She also sees the arts as having a large part to play in her academic and spiritual development.
“For me, the theater really was a way that I felt connected in school, and then it was also a way that I felt connected in church,” said Sitzberger. “It’s good to be able to bridge those two things.”
She said parents will often encourage their kids to practice their music, or sports, or what have you, but it’s separate from church. Or they only perform for church, not in the world.
Sitzberger says kids don’t often get a chance to connect that, “the reason why I have this talent is because God gave it to me, and now I want to use my talent to glorify God. And that’s really what it’s all about.”
Whitehead invited those who attended the concert to drop an email to Dave Eastman to tell him what they liked about the concert and if they would want to see another one in the future. If the photos, videos and kudos on social media in the days after the concert are any indication, the feedback will be very positive, and another concert is in the cards for these kids.
