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Rainbow Rock!
Seminarian praise band rocks CYO youth conference
by Nathan Harburg, Sacred Heart seminarian
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Members of D-Vout, the seminarian praise rock band, wear their Sacred Heart shirts proudly as they perform at the Rainbow Youth Conference. |
Imagine if hundreds of youth came together voluntarily to sing praise to God, and imagine that the worship music was led by a group of seminarians. Wouldn't that make the future of the Church seem bright?
No need for wishful thinking, this is exactly what happened at the twenty-fourth annual Rainbow Conference organized by the Catholic Youth Organization and hosted at Detroit's Marriott Hotel on February 11 and 12. This was the first time the conference featured two optional praise and worship sessions led by seminarians.
Fr. Tim Birney, director of the archdiocesan vocations office, recruited six men from Sacred Heart to form a praise band for the event. They included Ryan Adams (Archdiocese of Detroit) on violin, Jorge Miramontes (Diocese of Madison) on bass, Ryan Ford (Diocese of Marquette) on keyboards, Mitchell Gleason (Diocese of Lansing) on vocals, Paul Bogan (Diocese of Kalamazoo) on sax, and your author (Diocese of Saginaw) on guitar and vocals. After considering names for our praise band, we decided upon a catchy one: "D-Vout"!
The experience was exhilarating and a bit surprising. Mitchell, the MC of the two praise sessions, expressed the sense of surprise that many of us had, saying "In no way was I expecting the youth to even pay any attention to us. I was thoroughly shocked by the number of youth that were thrilled to sing with us."
The highlight for Mitch was the chance "to witness to the youth of the archdiocese and be present to them." Jorge's highlight was "Seeing all the young kids rejoice and singing for the Lord" and witnessing "the grace of God at work in some of them." Ryan Ford really appreciated the opportunity "to use the gift of music for the glory of God."
This music ministry didn't just benefit the youth. The experience, said Jorge, "taught me to trust more in the Lord." I can surely echo him. Many of us would enjoy the opportunity to reunite "D-Vout" next year, God willing, and again "Make a joyful noise to the Lord" (Psalm 100) at the Rainbow Youth Conference!
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