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| Ed Lemus / Piano, Guitar
and Vocals |
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ackground |
| A Los Angeles native,
Ed Lemus began his musical career
as a child by playing piano and guitar during services at his
home church, St. Gerard Majella. He received his degree in composition
and choral conducting from the University of San Diego. A man
of deep faith, Ed currently serves as music director for several
churches in Los Angeles, including Westwood Hills Congregational,
Gateway Christian, and St. Augustine Church. Ed’s gift
for expressing his belief in God through music is well-recognized,
and he hopes that the music he helps to create at Nashuva will
touch your heart and deepen your prayer. |
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| What
does Nashuva mean to you? |
| To me it’s a
way of praying, a way of getting in touch with how you pray.
An approach to praying to God deeply, from the soul, as a community.
I get enlightenment from the prayers Naomi has written and also
I feel like I’m getting to know my relationship with God
a lot better. |
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| What
is it like to be part of the Nashuva band? |
| Being part of a very
enlightening experience. It’s working with people who
are more like a family than a band. We cooperate and help each
other. There are no egos. It’s a bonding experience. Instead
of performance it’s a way of prayer. |
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| What
is it like to be part of the Nashuva service? |
| Being part of it is
an exciting way of prayer. I play music at many services and
Nashuva is the only service I can relax and pray in because
everyone is included, including the band. It’s exciting
to be working with Naomi. I keep learning new things from her.
She’s a wonderful person to work with and extremely patient.
I keep getting an education from her sermons. They give me a
very well rounded and well centered view of scripture. The wonderful
thing about her sermons is that she has a wonderful gift for
combining technical information with lessons for life that are
so easy to understand. |
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| What
is the Connection between your Music and your prayer? |
| Music to me is a direct
connection to God. Music is the prayer. Even if the song has
no text, it is a form of prayer. It’s using your feeling
from the heart. |
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| How
would you describe Nashuva? |
| It is a meeting place.
A time to get together to pray and to relax and let all your
troubles go away and to concentrate on your relationship between
you and God and to talk to God which I don’t think we
do enough of in our lives. At Nashuva we can take the opportunity
to just stop. My favorite part is when we stop, close our eyes
and talk to God. Nashuva includes everyone. Every faith is included. |
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| How
does Nashuva differ from other services you’ve been part
of? |
| Nashuva is more praise
and prayer based than most services which are very structured.
Nashuva has its structure, but there’s a certain openness
to it. It has room to be more creative. |
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| What
is the Nashuva musical experience to you? |
| I love the style of
music. It’s a combination of styles. The music gets people
to pray. We’ve found a way to combine the old and the
new. |
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| How
would you describe the Nashuva community? |
| Very eager to get to
know each other. Very gregarious. Very happy. Very warm. The
response to the service is very strong. They actually pray.
It’s a really nice community. It feels like a family.
We have a combination of all different faiths that come. |
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| What’s
it like to be a Christian at Nashuva? |
| It’s a fantastic
experience being involved. Sometimes I forget where everything
I hold dear really comes from. It’s wonderful for me to
return to the roots of my religion as a Christian. God is God
to me and that’s something we all share. Judaism is the
root of my religion. Nashuva has actually been one of the rare
groups where I can pray deeply. People know who I am and it’s
a welcoming atmosphere and they’re very happy that I’m
involved. It’s also deepened my own faith and has made
me stronger. And I think a lot of it has to do with getting
back to the bible, the Hebrew Scriptures. |
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