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Director's Notes
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This has been a wonderful year for Jubilate. Our tour was most amazing, with "concerts" that were more worship experiences than just concerts. It seemed that the music we learned, while difficult, was always what was needed in the places where we sang. In Orlando, we presented our concert just a few hours after most of the members had attended the funeral service for an interim minister who, at age 41, suffered a massive heart attack, suddenly and unexpectedly. As we sang "I've been in the storm so long," the members of the church, who were IN THE STORM were ministered to and comforted by the music and the ministry of our members. Another anthem, one that I added as an afterthought, "In Remembrance," was also especially meaningful for this hurting congregation.
On Sunday, April 22, one week after the tragedy at Virginia Tech, Dr. Leland interrupted his preaching schedule to address the tragedy and to give some hope and comfort for dealing with the events of Monday, April 16. Jubilate sang one last time for the
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semester as a part of that service. We sang "I've Been In the Storm So Long" and "In Remembrance." For us it was therapeutic, in helping us deal with our sense of loss and longing to help out. When I emailed them to ask about singing for this service, one of our members emailed back to say that she was convinced that God had given her these songs to deal with this situation. I think that we all felt the same as we sang, "Lord, in your infinite mercy, grant them rest - rest forever more."
You, as alumni of Jubilate, belong to us and we to you. You know how we feel, and you know what our struggles and victories are. Please pray for our members - I am sure that you already do, but especially now, as many are moving on, and those of us who are here will miss them deeply. We have need of many more to join us next year, so pray that God will lead to us those who will keep us a strong and meaningful ministry to each other and to all who hear us sing.
Alba
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From the Podium of... Mike Norris
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Dear Jubilate Alumni,
I hope that this finds everyone doing well and enjoying life! There is hardly a day that goes by that I don't think of so many of you, hoping that you are happy and wondering what wonderful things you are doing to make our world a better place for everyone. I am so grateful for the years that I had the God given opportunity to be in Charlottesville and University Baptist Church. Jubilate was such a fulfilling part of my work and the relationships that were formed with members of the group are some of my most cherished. I know that God is using each of you to influence people and make a significant difference in your communities.
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A quick update on our family - I'm still serving as Minister of Music at First Baptist Church in Tallahassee and as a music faculty member at Tallahassee Community College. Laurinda is employed as the Director of Food Services at our church. Anna will graduate from FSU in April and move to Memphis where she will do a two year assignment with Teach for America. Cain is completing his freshman year at the University of Florida. I am already excited and looking forward to the 2008 reunion. I look forward to seeing all of you and uniting our talents to make beautiful music for the glory of God.
Mike Norris
Director, 1990 - 1995
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As our first year as an "official" organization draws to a close, I want to highlight a few of our accomplishments and share with you a few of our current challenges and opportunities. A major achievement of the past year has been in the area of fundraising. When we held our first organizational meeting in April of 2006, I was surprised to find that because recent alumni support had been so sporadic the Jubilate steering committee did not project any alumni support in either their 2005-06 or 2006-07 budget projections. We felt that this was not due to unwillingness to give on the part of alumni but was simply a failure to solicit their support and to keep donors apprised as to the results of their efforts. I am very pleased to report that within the last 15 months, alumni have contributed over $4,000 to the various funds established for the support of Jubilate and the alumni association and that the endowment funds currently stand at over $65,000 (for a more complete report, see page 4). Thank you to each one who gave, your response was marvelous.
The reaction of alumni to our efforts at building community and keeping everyone in touch has been very gratifying. Your words of encouragement about the alumni newsletter have been much appreciated. In addition to the newsletter we are currently working on establishing a website for the alumni association. (For links to video files of this year's concert program see the bottom of page 2.)
Plans are already underway for the 35th Jubilate Reunion to be held April 11-13, 2008. You will be hearing more about this in the fall but mark your calendars now and save these dates. If you are interested in helping out with any of the various reunion committees please contact Cindy Jarmul. Many of the tasks can be accomplished over the phone or by email, so distance from Charlottesville should not be a hindrance to anyone who is willing to help.
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Also next April, the term of office of four of our alumni directors will expire. According to our
constitution, these individuals are not eligible for reelection so we are beginning the process of finding candidates to fill their positions. Members of the Board of Directors meet twice a year on a Saturday(fall and spring) at UBC for several hours to do what boards usually do. If you are interested in serving a three-year term (Fall 2008 - Spring 2011) or would like to nominate someone, please contact Amy Long Ebel, Jeanette Fauber Martino, Erin Hallisy, or Tracey Rehder Jenkins. This nominating committee will recommend candidates to the Board at our fall meeting and a slate of candidates will be sent to the members for a vote in the spring of 2008.
Finally, let me share with you an opportunity that we have to be of great help to our younger brothers and sisters in next year's Jubilate. Expenses from this year's tour were much higher than anticipated. In large part this was due to transportation expenses being much higher than expected. Also, one of the concerts this year was held in a retirement community so Jubilate members had to stay in a hotel for that night. An anonymous donor in the UBC congregation has pledged to cover the transportation costs, but that will still leave a deficit of $2,000-$3,000 in the Jubilate operating fund at the beginning of next year. Alba and the steering committee have been making plans to increase their fundraising efforts and to trim expenses for next year, but I would like to see us help them to start out the year in the black. Soon you should be receiving a letter in the mail asking you to help us realize this goal. Your gift to the Alumni Annual Fund will help to erase this deficit in Jubilate's operating account. Gifts of all sizes are needed and appreciated, we simply ask that you give as you feel led by the Lord. If we all are faithful to do so then the need will be met. (For information on giving online through the UVa Fund click here.)
Soli Deo Gloria,
Dave Alls '74-'76
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Hello Jubilate Alumni!
As the school year winds down, Jubilate is staying as busy as ever! We have had a wonderful semester with an amazing program that we have thoroughly enjoyed singing. Our tour to Orlando, FL over spring break was a blast. We managed to survive a week together in very close quarters, and we even have pictures to prove that we had at least a little bit of fun! On the way down, we had the privilege at singing at several churches, including the home churches of two of our fourth-years, Sarah Reynolds and Alex Greene, as well as the church of former Jubilate Director Len Willingham. We had a free day in Orlando, where Jubos had the option of going to one of the theme parks, laying out on the beach, or simply hanging out and enjoying a day of rest. On our way back, we sang to a very receptive congregation in the marvelously furnished Aldersgate Retirement Community in Charlotte, NC.
In addition to our post-tour concerts at my home church in Richmond and Caroline Melton’s home church in Waynesboro, Jubilate has remained active
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in events around grounds. In the month of March, we performed at the Amnesty International Refugee Vigil as well as the Grace Christian Fellowship 30-Hour Famine Benefit Concert. We kicked off April with a beautiful Homecoming Concert to a full congregation at University Baptist Church. We continued our outreach efforts by singing the National Anthem at the baseball game versus University of Richmond and by singing at a Friday night large group meeting of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
We would like to thank all of our Alumni for your prayers during tour. The Jubilate family continues to grow both larger and closer, and it is only because of your continued support. We were especially delighted to see those of you who came out to hear us. It was great to see a number of alumni at our concerts this semester. If we didn’t get to see you this spring (and even if we did), we hope you’ll be able to join us in the future!
God bless,
Sam Zhao
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