THE TOUR EXPERIENCE

Throughout the year, we provide music for worship at St. Luke's on a regular basis. We also do outreach projects in our community throughout the year at nursing homes, community centers, and the Black Mountain Home for Children. These things are an important part of what we do as a youth music and arts ministry. 

But each tour is a once in a lifetime experience where everything we've worked on all year, comes together in an intensive
7-10 day whirlwind of travel, concerts, hands-on service work, and much, much more.

Annual tour is an integral part of the Crossflame ministry.  Tour helps us to forge new relationships.  Tour helps us come to a better understanding of ourselves.  It helps us discover and perfect skills and talents that many of us never knew we had.  
But most of all, during tour, we begin to understand something about our own faith journey as we share our message with others through music, drama, art and dance.

TOUR BUILDS FRIENDSHIPS

Have you ever spent much time with a group of people who are determined not to be "cool?"  People who are determined to  live up to the words of one of our favorite songs: "Draw the Circle Wide?"  

Amazing things happen in an atmosphere like this. Each person begins to feel safe in an environment where we are accepted as we are.  Each person begins to see that everyone has something to add to the group and its mission. Each person begins to feel safe in sharing something of themselves with others, and lifelong friendships are made.

TOUR HELPS US DISCOVER HIDDEN TALENTS

The most incredible part of making music with a choir is that we learn that it's okay if we are a less than perfect singer.  In an era of singing "stars," ordinary voices can and do make a difference when they join with others.  And sometimes we begin to realize "Hey! My voice is actually pretty good!" 

But there are other talents too. Teaching drama, art, music or games to children in a camp setting is also a talent. Bringing a smile to the face of an Alzheimer's patient or holding someone's hand in a nursing home is a skill that brings joy to others. Cleaning up and repairing flood damage in a Salvation Army shelter requires skills that many of us do not realize we have.  Painting murals in a children's home or homeless shelter makes the lives of everyone who sees them better.  And when simply visiting homebound senior adults we begin to realize that we have a talent for listening for other's stories.  

​Each of us has special gifts which often go unnoticed until we share them freely. 

Tour helps us understand ourselves

Our "regular lives" are filled with pressures that seldom offer us an opportunity to look inside ourselves.  We hurry from task to task, expectation to expectation, with little time to reflect upon ourselves and our place in God's world. With noses to the grindstone, we fail to see God in the ordinary things of life.  

On tour, each day begins with a short, reflective devotional, focusing upon God's constant presence with us. And as each day ends, we have an opportunity to share the "God moments" we have experienced during our day. And a funny thing happens. As we look for God's presence, we get to know ourselves better. 

SHARING OUR FAITH WITH MUSIC AND ARTS

The most common comment heard from our members each year comes from seeing the faces of people in our audiences as we present our program.  As we watch their exuberance as we present an up-tempo piece, or shed a tear as we hold hands with them and sing "Draw the Circle Wide" at the end of a concert, we begin to realize the powerful impact of the music we bring.

But we realize also, that every time we present our songs and drama, the message becomes part of our own lives as well. As part of our life's "sound track, we return to them when facing difficult times, and once again they offer us wisdom, strength and courage for each new challenge. 

​Every aspect of tour remains with us forever.