I guess to answer this is also to explain my vision for youth and the church today, for it is intrinsic to who I am. Graduating from the University of Florida with a Bachelors degree in Sacred Music, I have been employed for 25 years at Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville, the last 17 of which have been as Director of the Sonlight Ministries. As a college student, I maintained an appreciation of rock and pop music, much to the chagrin of my classical professors. I do not believe a musical style can be innately bad, and so I have enjoyed them all. I believe that in the church, perhaps more than anywhere else, it is important that music reach you, and not sail over your head. 

As I began working with high school students 17 years ago, it was clear to me that it was their own music which captivated them. So, I began to use it for the God-truths it contained. To this day, Sonlight¹s repertoire is predominantly secular music, and is selected and studied for the truth it can teach us. It is this kind of performance that is drawing in an enthusiastic congregation of 900+ regular listeners every Sunday morning. My raison d¹etre: If these young people can see God¹s truth as clearly embedded in the lines of a pop tune as in a three-point sermon, they will begin to understand that God does not live in our A-frame chapels. God is everywhere. It is this message that motivates my work with this choir and much of my life. I am committed to getting the church into the streets and the street into the church. 

Philosophically, my teaching methods (for the church, anyway) are unorthodox. I generally do not use religious music and will draw from secular resources for teaching as often as scripture in our discussions. In each rehearsal there is a Focus time (mini-sermon) during which I teach Christian principles through a song like Love, Thy Will Be Done by Martika or You Can’t Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones. I believe that truth can be found in anything, if we look. And, I believe it is more important to teach young people how to look than to make Methodists or even Christians of them. To use an analogy- if the “still, small voice of God” is like a message broadcast on a hard-to-find radio station (and indeed it is hard to hear, today), I can either relay what I have heard on that frequency, or I can help them learn how to find the station for themselves. It¹s the old “giving a man a fish or teaching him how to fish” thing. 

My style and ministry bent is also reflected in the fact that I run a pretty messy program. Everyone is welcome to be there and to bring with them their problems- be it alcohol, eating disorders, drugs, abuse at home, or just feeling like a misfit. I believe the church should function like an emergency room clinic. It makes no sense to hide one’s blood and pain there.

But most important, beyond theology, teaching methods, and style-  I am committed to being the love of God to these kids. I want them to feel that love in this program-  whether they are Christian or not, whether they have faith or not. I believe strongly in what I do and why and how I do it- and I have been doing it for 17 years. In its first year Sonlight grew from 17 members to 80. Since then it has grown to 120+, drawing in all kinds of youth and significantly affecting their lives, as well as inspiring the audiences to which they sing at church, in the community, and on national tours.

Sincerely, 

Rebecca Brown