In many cultures, both modern and ancient, the call to prayer … to worship … is as important as the prayer itself. You can see it in the sweeping drama of the majestic minarets of the Turkish Mosques that kiss the sky where the Muezzin call the faithful to prayer; you can hear it in the stillness atop the breathtaking cathedral of the Himalayas; and you can feel it in the high order of the Catholic ritual of the procession of the priests and altar boys with the swinging of the incense holders and crosses and chalice held high. In the heart of Africa, Australia and Native American lands, you see and feel and hear it in the call of the Drum. The call … to worship … to pray.

The drum has been used to call people together for thousands of years. Archeological digs have unearthed rhythm instruments in almost every culture as far back as they can date human life. What is it about the drum that makes it so cross-cultural and transgenerational?

The drum touches us at our most basic core level, the first and second chakra energy centers that contain our primal nature. The drum strips away our pretense, our masks, and allows us to connect with that untouched, untapped core, where the purity and innocence that we truly are is still fully alive.

The drum removes the borders we have set up in our minds that separate us from each other and allows us to connect where the borders never existed—in the Spirit.

The drum tears down sectors, socio-economic groups, religious beliefs, gender affiliations and political alliances to bring us together as community.

Many Unity churches today have a weekly or monthly drumming circle as part of their extended ministry. Some have been started by the ministers themselves, who might have an interest in drumming; others have been initiated by enthusiastic congregants who are either drummers themselves or have experienced the drumming circle in other places; and still others have been brought to the ministry by persons in the community looking for a receptive venue to hold its Circle.  Regardless of how it began, it has become an integral part of many Unity ministries and is a relatively easy way of helping the ministry spill over into the surrounding community.

At Christ Unity Church in Sacramento, California, we have a monthly Drumming Circle, facilitated by master percussionist Michael Bayard. Initially Michael, and then associate minister Bruce Kellogg, created the Circle in 2005 as part of our midweek service lineup. It began rather simply, with various drummers and would-be drummers coming to just sit and play, along with those who just came to express through movement or meditation for approximately 20-30 people. Michael Bayard would take the rhythm of a human heartbeat and began playing the heartbeat on a large Native American Mother Earth drum, then all the participants in the circle would synchronize to the heartbeat with their drum. This created an overall resonance and synchronicity with the whole group, as well as establishing a medium for shared consciousness.

This ministry has since grown in numbers (150-175) and intensity into a powerful, healing, and “music medicine” program each fourth Wednesday, with the drummers and participants sitting in four concentric circles—one inside the other. Currently, Michael is using many different and effective sound and vibrational modalities to activate and align the chakra system, for the purpose of healing and restoring the mind, body and etheric body field.

He also utilizes the Aboriginal didgeridoo, voice chanting, various quartz bowls, the captivating and unique Sufi mystic song bowl, dancers and choreographers, chakra-colored lighting and many guest musicians on varying unique vibration-producing instruments. All this is put together to underscore the intent of the program, which is to activate the chakra system for the purpose of healing. Many people have had life-changing experiences and have written numerous testimonials to this fact.

For more information and support in designing a Drumming Circle prayer ministry, visit www.rhythmmagic.com.
 

Sheila Gautreaux-Lee is a licensed Unity teacher, ordained interfaith minister, choir director and director of the Center for Applied Radical Forgiveness at Christ Unity Church in Sacramento, California, where her husband Jim Lee is senior minister. She is a published author of two books, Praying Through a Storm and Messages, is currently working on a third book, and has produced a powerful meditation CD Light Visions. She is a certified Radical Forgiveness coach and teacher and has developed a strong Forgiveness Ministry at the church and throughout the Sacramento Valley.