Coaching for Character

When I was 11 years old our family moved from San Diego to Sacramento. Ronald Reagan had just been elected Governor of California and my dad, who was his campaign manager, had accepted a position in the Reagan administration. Of course, for me moving meant adjusting to a new school, making new friends etc. It was at this time in my life that God did an amazing thing. He dropped me in the middle of the run-of-the-mill, 800 student, John Barrett Junior High School. What I didn’t know was that at this average public school was a Christian music teacher named Alfred Kenney.

Mr. Kenney was a graduate of the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. However, he had been in a car accident in his twenties and, because his left hand had been badly crushed, he retained only three fingers. Yet somehow, this amazing man was able, with only his right hand, and without a rehearsal accompanist, to conduct, rehearse and otherwise enable junior highers to sing 4 to 8 part music in German, French, Latin, Italian and English. We also recorded an album every year and went on tour.

But beyond these experiences, Mr. Kenney took a personal interest in his students. Like most junior highers, I was a lump of impressionable clay ready for molding. He had us memorize important historical quotes on character, awarding plaques for various levels of achievement; major, colonel etc. I also took voice lessons from him not only in junior high, but through my high school years as well. Under his mentoring I went on to win superior ratings, competing in festivals on the State College level. The fact is, the reason I ultimately pursued music ministry is due in large part to the musical and spiritual influence of Mr. Kenney.

After I graduated from high school, some years passed and Mr. Kenney and I lost track of each other. Then, just after I received my Bachelor of Music Education degree, I decided to return to Sacramento to visit friends. While there I looked up Mr. Kenney and called to see if we might spend some time together. About three hours later I arrived at his house. Mr. Kenney was a tall man, but when he answered the door, I was surprised at how thin he was. We talked for an hour or so and caught up on what had been going on in my life. I sang a song for him that we had worked on many years before, and then left.

Another five years passed before I was in Sacramento again. I was ashamed I had not kept in touch, but my Continental Singers tour was passing through, and I knew it was important that I call. I had a strange feeling of anticipation as the phone rang. His wife Frieda answered, so I simply said, “Tell me about Mr. Kenney.” As it turned out, Mr. Kenney had had cancer when we had visited five years earlier. The day I called he had been in bed for the previous three weeks. She shared with me that it had taken him three hours just to get up and get ready for my visit. But he had insisted on seeing me. After I left he went back to bed and passed away two weeks later.

God has a way of orchestrating divine appointments. It was an honor to know I was the last of his students to see him before he passed away. What he couldn’t possibly know is the extent to which he influenced me and changed the course of my life. We often never know the full impact we have on others. I know God's special plan is for older generations to reach out to mentor and nurture younger ones. I’m eternally grateful that God’s plan for me included bringing Mr. Kenney into my life.