Archive for ◊ November, 2012 ◊

During the fundraiser InterPlay Seattle Giving Wings Member, Patricia Tyllia shared this story about why she is committed to giving to InterPlay.

“A free will donation is one that comes voluntarily from the heart.  As a kid growing up my family donated to the Catholic Church because that what members in good standing did.  As an adult, I kept giving and going because it was the thing to do.  My neighbors gave so I gave.

    In my forties the lack of inclusive language and feminine pronouns in the liturgy started making me cry. I left the church and felt free, free. I didn’t donate to any church. 

    Then my husband died and I was alone and lonely.  A friend brought me to Seattle First Baptist for a class on what archetypal symbols were.  After the class I heard the men in the church choir singing with so much tenderness in their voices I just sat down and cried.  I so longed for a good man’s tenderness. 

    Timidly I began attending services.  Retired ministers in the congregation would stop by and see how I was doing, introduce me to the people I sat with.  I kept going to the church.  After five years the church was voting on the yearly budget.  The entire congregation was voting.  This never happened in the Catholic Church.  Wow!  For the first time in my life, I wanted to be part of deciding where the money went.   To vote, I had to formally join so I did with glee.  After the budget discussion I wanted to donate my share, take care of my responsibilities.  I wrote out a check.

    When I turned sixty, I found InterPlay at the Women’s Convocation where Betsy was dancing and Krista taught a class. They and their dances said sheer delight was to be honored in our bodies.  I fell in love with InterPlay.  I signed up for every class I could get not caring if it was for leadership or just learning the forms, I had to be around people who practiced InterPlay.

    Five years later I was sitting at my table writing my donation check to SFB.  I began fantasizing about a church where my body could dance down the aisle, could swing its hips, and sway its arms because the body was part of the sacred.  

    Wait a minute.  I did have such a place.  It was InterPlay where they not only welcomed my body and its movements but they actually believed in the physicality of grace.  That was my body church.  My heart just filled with gratitude.  Quick as that, I made out my check for InterPlay and ran to the fundraiser going on and gave my check to Theron.  I felt good.  I was doing my job.  I was taking care of my beloved InterPlay.  Now that’ a free will donation!”  Patricia Tyllia

And here are some more fun photos from the event.  It was a beautiful evening celebrating our community!

The InterPlay Seattle Sounding Board sharing our hopes and dreams for InterPlay Seattle.

Theron Shaw inviting us to remember how InterPlay touches our lives.

Renewing Friendships

Good food! Good fun! Thanks to Sheila McCarthy and Joy Fry

Side by Side with Krista Harris and Masankho Banda

Here is Krista Harris’s report on Masankho’s week at Hamilton Middle School:

Masankho Banda, international InterPlayer and African dancer-drummer-storyteller was an artist-in-residence at Seattle’s Hamilton International Middle School for six days in late October.  The residency was funded by the Hamilton Parent Teacher Student Association, by InterPlay Seattle, and by  the University United Church of Christ.

Drummers in concert

Masankho taught five energetic classes each day, teaching students songs, dances, drumming patterns, and stories about his native culture of Malawi.

Hamilton middle school students were enthusiastic participants, and the week-long residency culminated in two performances for the school.

Masankho loves teaching African arts to students and believes that this is a vital way to help them embody global interconnection. He is grateful to InterPlay Seattle for sponsoring his visit to Seattle.