Exceptional Music Exceptional Life

Graceful, gentle, elegant, and beautiful are just a few words that describe Mary Baldwin Woodland, and I can think of many more. She doesn’t like to talk about herself, but with some gentle prodding, she courteously agreed to share her fascinating story. She loves music and started at an early age, singing for thousands at a church revival, accompanied by her mother on the piano. Mary knew music was what she wanted to do with her life and pursued an education at Wesleyan College, majoring in voice and conducting and completing her masters at LSU. 

The summer of 1952 brought the best music students in the nation to the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, MA., the summer home of the Boston Symphony. An eight-week immersion in music and specialized training, individual analysis, and criticism. Leonard Bernstein was there that summer, teaching and working on his first opera. Mary and her friends would pile on his old convertible jalopy and catch a ride to their boarding house in town. She remembers picnic lunches under the trees, the marvelous climate, and the saturation in music she experienced. A quick internet search revealed an archived schedule and program with rehearsal times, picnic suppers, waltzing on the lawn, and both of Mary’s opera performances.

New York was the next stop for Mary, hoping for an audition with the Metropolitan Opera. She took a job at a local church, rented a room at a hotel for women run by the Salvation Army, and began to practice and work. She was in the middle of lessons and auditions when she received an unexpected phone call that changed her well thought out future. The dean of music at Stetson University in Florida called to offer her a job. She told me this was not in her plans; it was a different line of thought, and she had to sleep on it. Mary Woodland doesn’t make rash decisions, and after thinking this through, she decided to take the job. We talked about how New York was not a guarantee, and the idea of a stable job was very appealing. She taught voice, voice pedagogy, Italian diction, and was head of the opera department for four years. She loved to teach. 

Another love was on the horizon, unknown to Mary, God was planning a twist in her well thought out plan. Lamar College called with the offer of a position, and she went for the interview. On her way back to Florida, she stopped to visit her former LSU professor, who just happened to know a young man who would also be teaching at Lamar. When Naiman met Mary, he was smitten at first sight. He asked her out for coffee, and before she knew it, she was meeting his family. Mary, the planner, had to do some thinking about this course of events, and it took a summer of letter writing before she decided her future. 

 They took the jobs at Lamar and married in the dome church a year later. She tells a beautiful story about their lives together. Shared interests in music, opera, and history, two children she is proud of, and a lifetime of doing the things she loves best. Music is how she prays and worships, it inspires her, and it is how she serves God. She doesn’t have a favorite piece, but believes music that praises God, crosses all boundaries and she loves it all. She told me music that is made to worship God should always be the most exceptional music, the best we can possibly make it. I am inspired every Sunday when I see her standing in the choir loft, face radiating, singing from her heart, giving her best to God. 

Story and Photography by Michelle Holland

Carry Your Story

A new year presents itself to us, fresh, clean, and ready for us to make full use of all it’s days. What can we do better? What is our purpose? How can we best love the city with the heart of Christ? I spent an afternoon with Brandon Jackson learning about his life, listening to his story and discussing how other people help us find our way. 

You may know Brandon as a member of our choir, a booming bass that can fill the sanctuary without a microphone, but here are some quick facts I bet you didn’t know. He is one of seven children with four sisters and two brothers. He is originally from Los Angeles, and his grandmother was a minister. His aunt is a musician, and she would get them all together to sing, and as Brandon put it, “They were the youth choir!” She would play the piano when he was a child, and he would come into the room with a bang and start singing. I pictured him as a child and asked him to describe himself. We laughed when he compared himself to Dennis the Menace. He was curious and liked to take things apart, and they rarely went back together. If there was spilled food or missing batteries from the tv remote, Brandon was to blame. I had an image of Brandon happily belting out a song with a trail of parts, popcorn and destruction in his wake.

Family is important, and he describes this church as family. It’s hard to convey how much it means when people do things for you, are excited to see you, and love you unconditionally. We talked about a church family who is real, who live by what they say, and who’s actions we can see. Brandon told me how thankful he is for this church, to see people helping people, and how it feels to be inspired by what you see around you. When you experience love in action, it does something inside your head to motivate you to be better and to pay that kindness forward.

Brandon has experienced his share of trouble, and there is no doubt God had him on a collision course with Renee Kloes and FUMC. Music was always there for him, but without a purpose, it didn’t mean much. When you are loved by a family like ours, you can’t help but love back and give of yourself because you want to give back, and in doing that, Brandon has found meaning and purpose. We talked about our story and how each individual piece, each person’s unique perspective, adds up to the whole story of our church. We may have trouble communicating the complete story with words, but maybe we don’t need words. We carry our story with us daily, out into the city, a part of ourselves, and the pieces we have gathered from others. If we are proactive and do what needs to be done, the story will fall into place. We can work together to help others find their way, their purpose, and the love of Jesus. One life touches another in a continuous circle. We don’t need to make it hard, as Brandon told me, “Just tell the story for real and be yourself.”

Story and headshot by Michelle Holland