Mark Stanton Welch at Seattle Unity

An incredibly awesome opportunity presented itself after the Youth Team Conference in January. Realizing that Mark Stanton Welch would be in Washington for the Unitreat at Cispus in June, I checked to see if he’d like to come to Seattle Unity to do some music and/or some healing work. He said “yes!” and so we put together a plan.

My intention was twofold: One part was to give Mark a chance to come to Seattle and network with folks from the Puget Sound area. The second part was to create a fun family event for the kids at Seattle Unity and their parents.

We booked Mark for a Sat. afternoon Sound Healing Workshop and an evening potluck and spiritual dance event.

I received a flier invitation from Spokane Unity when they had Mark at their church to share his talent. I loved the flier so I designed one similar to theirs. We emailed the flier to the Unity churches in the area and started calling our families. We marketed the event in our Sunday bulletin, in the weekly Unity updates and on the big screen in the Sanctuary.

Then Jenny Garvin and Don Bennett, our Uniteen teachers, said that the Uniteens wanted to have a lock-in. I mentioned that this date was open at the church and it would be a great tie-in for the kids. Jenny and Don set it up to host a lock-in to give the kids a chance to debrief their Unitreat experience, welcome the new kids into the group and to give a more heartfelt closure for those Uniteens graduating into Y.O.U.

And the cherry on the top was that Mark would be staying with Paul and me so we’d get to visit with him.

We had a wonderful day with Mark at Seattle Unity. He was so easy to work with and gave us all so much of his healing energy. My chakras were all cleaned out during the workshop. I was reminded about the powerful healing that sound provides as we listened to the different tones of drums and rattles. When you pay attention, you can feel them in different parts of your body. Chanting our birth names reconnected us to our purpose. Toning on different notes vibrated the different chakras and, again, careful listening made it possible to actually feel them.

Our potluck was yummy. I have been involved in potlucks where everyone ends up bringing chips and dips because they are so busy they just grab something at the last minute. At this potluck we started out with a whole table full of desserts. That’s not a bad thing but I was a little concerned for just a short moment. Then the salads and several containers of chicken arrived. Then beans and macaroni and rolls. Everyone got plenty to eat.

The energy heightened in the room as the songs and dances that Mark led became more intimate. This caused the heat to rise so off I went to find one of the big fans. Don and I kept the water pitchers filled.

The evening was a success and we enjoyed spending time in this way with dear friends from Lynnwood Unity, Unity of North Sound in Bremerton, Kent Unity, Olympia Unity as well as folks from Sonia Choquette’s classes.

Everyone wanted their picture taken with Mark, including the Uniteens. It was great fun seeing the groups gather around Mark to be photographed with him. He is well-loved.

The Uniteens had their lock-in and when I arrived on Sunday morning at 7:30 with their breakfast they were all sound asleep. At both the Sunday services, they each spoke and shared highlights from their Unitreat experience as well as expressing gratitude for the financial support from the congregation so they could go. They are an amazing and awesome group of young people and Jenny and Don have done much to guide them into being strong leaders.

I’m grateful for the way everything came together for a successful event. I look forward to more such events in the future.