Phil Miglioratti’s last service as interim pastor of Uptown Baptist Church in Chicago was wrapping up. He’d been touched by tributes from people who said he’d made a difference in their lives. But then music leader Mike Choby got up and started teasing his friend about Miglioratti’s obsession with the music of the Beach Boys. Miglioratti, you see, even has a Web site (www.prayforsurf.net) that he calls “the gospel according to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys.”
Choby told how Miglioratti recently dragged him to see Wilson perform the songs from his famous “Smile” album at a solo concert in Milwaukee and of going backstage with the pastor to meet the genius behind the music. And, of course, dealing with Miglioratti’s off-key singing–and humming in the instrumental parts–throughout the concert.
As Choby finished his roast, he sat down at the piano and paid tribute to Miglioratti by beginning Wilson’s song “Love and Mercy”:
Love and mercy, that’s what you need tonight
Love and mercy to you and your friends tonight
“It’s not a Christian song, but the concepts–love and mercy–certainly are,” Miglioratti said.
So he had the congregation stand, and they all sang it together as a hymn.
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