by Rachael Cummings

TWO gifted Christian artists are offering Canadians a unique opportunity to support a good cause.

They have just embarked on their 16-city 'Story and Song Tour,' which runs to November 8. The tour, which is sponsored by World Vision, combines the storytelling skills of Adrian Plass, a bestselling author from Britain, with the musical talent of Glen Soderholm, a Canadian singer-songwriter.

Having written over 30 books in the last 20 years, Adrian Plass' literary repertoire consists of poetry, novels, biography, short stories, and satire -- the Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass books being the most popular of the bunch. His performances, like his writing, are often humorous and profound, centring on his own experiences and inadequacies. In recent years, Plass has shared the stage with his wife, whom he met at theatre school.

Glen Soderholm is an Ontario native who, after serving as an ordained minister with the Presbyterian church for a number of years, became the director of Moveable Feast, a consulting ministry that exists to help faith communities participate in vibrant worship. Soderholm has recorded five albums, all of which are distributed by Signpost Music (founded by Juno award winning artist Steve Bell).

The goal of the 'Story and Song Tour' is to raise awareness for World Vision, Canada's largest private relief and development agency, and to encourage people to consider child sponsorship, or to continue to sponsor, even in this tough financial climate.

Plass told CC.com that he and his wife had been encouraged some time ago to visit their sponsor child, and to tour World Vision's projects in Bangladesh, where she lived. "We went feeling very troubled and inadequate about why we were going, and in fact, it was a wonderful experience," he said. "World Vision said to us, 'Ask anything you like -- no holds barred -- and write whatever you want when you get back,' so we wrote a book called Colours of Survival, and we found that what they did was absolutely wonderful, and we've been very happy to support them ever since."

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Soderholm, too, was impressed by the integrity and work of World Vision. "I always think that when we have an event like this, what we're doing is that we're announcing the reign of God," he said. "We're announcing the kingdom, you know, and World Vision, I think, is an integral part of what God is up to in his kingdom, and so as long as we are pointing to that in our own inadequate and human ways, you know, I think the spirit takes it and does things that completely surprise us and shock us."

Both men seemed reluctant to reveal a fixed agenda for the two and a half hour performance. "Adrian and I seem to be quite happy to allow this to evolve, and let the Spirit kinda lead us," said Soderholm. It is likely, however, that he will introduce songs from his most recent album, This Bright Sadness. Having focused on worship-themed songs for his last two recordings, Soderholm's newest release reflects the musical influences of Bob Dylan and Bruce Cockburn.

"I like the notion of writing from the point of view of being human, and maybe from a Christian worldview, as opposed to writing gospel music," said Soderholm. "But at the same time, I was creating worship music for the congregation that I was ministering to, and so it seemed logical to release that stuff, as well, because I think it's not bad, but I always had intended to go back to a more singer-songwriter album. I ended up having a year of quite a bit of loss -- losing my mother, and some other people in my life -- so [This Bright Sadness] really ended up becoming my Ecclesiastes, my lament CD. And so I'm proud of it, because I think it's very honest, and it's dark at times, but it's truthful."

Plass, too, said he was likely to draw materials from his newest release, Looking Good, Being Bad. The satirical book contains the annual report of the fictional "College of Churchmanship," which, among other things, instructs Churchmen on the fine art of "begging lettermanship," (writing missionary support letters) and speaking in tongues (suggesting that repeating the names of the Sri Lankan cricket team from the early '90s is "remarkably effective").

Writing satirical work about the Christian church can be tricky business and requires a good amount of discernment, said Plass. "It's a perennial issue of the church: What is sacred, what is not; what can you laugh at, what can't you; what is genuinely important, and what is not. And I think every generation of Christians wrestles with that, I'm afraid. It's not something that we're going to solve.

"It's something that we have to keep tackling, and looking at, and working at all the time, because Christians are like children who've been left in charge of the house -- they make up horrendous rules for each other because they're nervous.

"I think it's a big thing to follow Jesus," he added. "So we've got to work out what's important, and what is not, and stop messing around with silly little trivial things."

October 22/2009