Today is Pearl Harbor Day, but since I have mentioned that event in several past posts, this one is about an outstanding man I consider to be a musical genius who was born on the second anniversary of that tragic attack.
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| Ken Medema in 2019 |
Kenneth
Peter Medema’s birth day was December 7, 1943. He was born in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, and brought up in the Dutch Calvinist tradition of the Reformed
Church. But he jettisoned his childhood faith and then as a college student at
Michigan State University, he met Jane Ann Smith.
Jane’s
father was the Baptist Student Union director at MSU and pastor of a small
Baptist church in Lansing. In his discussions with Jane and her parents, Ken
decided that “If this Baptist thing is what Christians are all about I want to
be a part of it.” *1
Ken
and Jane married in 1965 and she has been Ken’s exemplary “helpmeet” and his partner
in composition for all the years from then until now. Ken acknowledges that “without
her input and perspectives his music would not begin to be what it is today.”*2
The
Medemas currently live in the San Francisco Bay area, close to their two grown
married children and four grandchildren.
From
the time he was born, Ken Medema has been visually impaired. His sight has
been limited to distinguishing between light and darkness and seeing fuzzy
outlines of large objects.
As
Ken says on his website, “I started banging on the piano when I was five years
old, making up crazy little pieces on my mom’s piano. When I was eight years
old my parents got me a wonderful teacher who taught me the classics with
Braille music and encouraged me to play by ear.”
After
college, he worked for four years as a music therapist at Essex County Hospital
in
New Jersey. It was while employed there that he began writing his own
songs. Then in 1973, Ken left that work and began a career as a performing and
recording artist—and he continues to do so.
I
have had the privilege of hearing Ken perform two or three times and of meeting
him personally. The last time was in 2005 when he was at the Sunday morning
worship service at a Baptist church in the Kansas City area.
In
my diary/journal entry for that day, I wrote “Ken Medema was…wonderful. He is
one of the most talented people I have ever seen and met personally.”
Ken
Medema is a radiant Christian in the radiant center. Although as a teenager
and in his first years in college Ken seems to have been rather harsh in his
criticism of others, he began to mellow after meeting Jane, and through the
years he became a radiant Christian and winsome musical performer.
In
the 1980s he and Jane became outspoken supporters of moderate or progressive
Christianity, becoming ardent advocates of social justice for marginalized and
oppressed people.
Jane
studied at Union Theological Seminary and became the assistant pastor of
Dolores Street Baptist Church in San Francisco. That church began accepting
LGBT persons as members in the 1980s—and in 1989 their monetary gifts to the
California Southern Baptist Convention were rejected.
But
Ken has also been able to maintain an amicable relationship with conservative
Christians. One of the recent YouTube videos is of the Easter Monday chapel
service at Wheaton College.*3 Also, a few years ago he was
repeatedly a guest at the Hour of Power telecasts. (See
here, for example.)
At
the age of 80, Ken still keeps a busy schedule. His upcoming performances this
month include venues at Santa Ana, Calif.; Plano, Tex.; and Albuquerque, N.M.;
and his January schedule includes Christ Cathedral, Garden Grove, Calif.; and
the Jackie Kennedy Onassis Theater, New York City.
Truly, Ken is a radiant Christian who is a good example of
being in the radiant theological center that I have commended many times. I
encourage you to listen to some of his many YouTube videos—and to join me today
in saying,
Happy 80th Birthday, Ken Medema!
_____
*1 From “Blind musical artist Ken Medema
articulates his art form,”
Baptist News Global (June 26, 2011).
*2
From KenMedema.com website.
*3 Here
is the link to that video; Ken first appears about 6½ minutes from the
beginning.
** In 1977
a video was made portraying Ken’s early life, his meeting and marrying Jane,
and his early musical career. If you have time, this is well worth seeing (here).
The only response received (at about 6:15!) so far is by Thinking Friend Michael Newheart of Maryland (and originally of Liberty, Mo.), who began by saying,
ReplyDelete"I remember seeing Ken in concert a number of times when I was a youth and a youth minister. I was struck by his genuineness."
Thanks for commenting early this morning, Michael. I had not used that word (genuineness) in writing about Ken Medema, but I think, indeed, that is a good and accurate characterization of him.
DeleteHere are comments just received from local Thinking Friend David Nelson:
ReplyDelete"Thanks for reminding us and reminding me of a sound of hope in the midst of terror. Ken Medema spoke and played at a National Speakers Association years ago and told the story of Hanoi Hilton American prisoners who tapped the wall to communicate. He listened to a speech about it and responded in a way only he is capable of by tapping the piano and singing a song of hope. It brought the entire community to its feet and our hearts rejoiced. I will never forget it."
Thanks for sharing these comments, David. I have always been impressed with Ken Medema's creativity as well as his spontaneity.
DeleteHere are brief comments from Thinking Friend Jerry Warmath in North Carolina. (He is a friend from our seminary days in the 1960s--and one of four TFs whose name is Jerry.)
ReplyDelete"I had Ken at two churches I served. We also shared the spotlight at a university special event. And he came to visit the church where I am a member, Myers Park Baptist in Charlotte. I respect him deeply."
Thanks for reading today's blog article and responding, Jerry. It was good to hear from you again.
DeleteWell, I have heard his name for a long time, but never had the chance to hear his music, so I did the modern thing and checked YouTube. The last song I listened to was "Flyin' Like an Eagle," and that seems a good metaphor for him. Full of grace and talent, he made the old gospel sing. Yet, somehow, that left me a bit empty. We live in a time of genocidal warfare, fueled by mutual PTSD, one side with flashbacks to Holocaust, and the other side with flashbacks to Nakba, except Nakba never ended, and grows by the day. I guess my eagle is grounded at the moment! Perhaps too much divine discontent. So America sends lots of bombs.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Craig--and for taking the time to listen to Ken Medema sing on YouTube. I just now listened to the eagle song you referred to, and it is based on words from Isaiah 40:31, words of hope and encouragement as some of the Israelites were returning from captivity in Babylon. The video was from the mid-2000s (meaning before 2010) and maybe at a time that the U.S. was recovering somewhat from the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks. But I see your problem about relating that to the situation in the world today.
DeleteI have felt some dissonance with Ken singing a few (or several) times on the Hour of Power, the televised services of the Crystal Cathedral started by Robert Schuller as a congregation of the Reformed Church in America. That was the denomination Ken was a part of as a boy but which he left with great dissatisfaction as a teenager. I have also wondered if his singing at the Hour of Power was partly due to his need for income for him and Jane. Living in the San Francisco area is very expensive, and no doubt they had bills that needed to be paid.
His name struck some kind of vague memory, but I really didn't know anything about Ken Medema. My loss! Thanks, Leroy, for introducing us.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing, Charles. Ken hadn't started his career as a musical performer until several years after we were at Southern Seminary. But in the 1970s and '80s, he was quite popular among some moderate/progressive Southern Baptists. But certainly not all such Baptists were able to know about him or to hear his outstanding musical performances.
DeleteI believe it was Ken who presented a Sunday night concert at our church, Arlington Baptist Church in Arlington, VA in the mid 1980's. His giving spirit is reflected in his willingness to come to our rather small (125 attendance) and bring such a wonderful presentation. I knew so little about him and wondered why he would give us his time. Just a reflection of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Tom. It was my impression that through the years Ken did perform in many different places for crowds both large and small. I don't know if he ceased to do that, but the YouTube videos are almost all of prominent venues with many people present. I hope he is still willing and able to go to rather small churches such as you mentioned. But maybe with his advanced age now, he has to take fewer engagements and does those that are more supportive of his financial needs, as I indicated in my response to Craig above.
DeleteEarly this morning I received an email from Thinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy, for introducing some of us to Ken Medema. I had not heard of him previously, but he must certainly be a most remarkable man."
Thanks for reading and responding, Eric. Yes, Ken Medema is certainly "a most remarkable man," and I'm sorry you have never had been able to see/hear him. In looking at his upcoming schedule, I see that he is to be in Madison, Wisconsin, next April but doesn't have anything scheduled in Chicago.
DeleteThank you for reacquainting me with Ken Medema, Leroy. My memory of him was vague, but it all came back when I went to the video links you provided at the end. Enjoyed both his music and his spirit at Wheaton — he must have had a variety of musical styles over the years.
ReplyDeleteYes, Ken Medema has had a wide variety of musical styles through the years. And what has impressed me so much is how he uses the various styles to create rapport with the people listening to him sing/play. At the beginning of the Wheaton College chapel service, the students seemed a bit reserved, but Ken was able to develop meaningful rapport with them and they were soon fully engaged.
Delete