Called to Music

Music is a language like no other. Whether you speak English, Spanish, or another of the thousands of languages, music is a language that can speak to everyone.

As Greg Pierson, a parishioner and Minister of Music at Mother of Christ Church in Winton Hills said, “It’s the language that God has made available to use to express our relationship with Him and also to invite other people to a relationship with Him.”

For Pierson, music was instilled at a young age.

“My journey began in my teen years,” he said. “Around age 15 or 16, I was taught a few guitar chords. From there I somehow became embedded into music.”

“At that time I was very introverted and spent a lot of time alone but music became something that was a form of expression for me and a language I could use that helped me through,” Pierson said. “I embraced it and never let go of it.”

He continues living out his gift of music not only at Mother of Christ Church, but also through The Pierson- Young Project.

“In 2015, one of the musicians I played with (Stephan Young) was interested in making a CD because he had some music and he knew I had some music,” Pierson said. “We worked with Bobby Fisher and came up with the name The Pierson-Young Project because at that point we didn’t know what was going to happen. But it has turned into a ministry. We didn’t really count on that, it happened organically.”

Pierson and Young continue working together, sharing their music and God’s love. They produced another CD, offer clothing merchandise, and perform when they can, including in Share the Journey — a Concert for Compassion this past September. Pierson said that while they mostly perform locally, their music has been heard around the world.

In addition to music, he said that he wouldn’t be where he is today without his family – Gwen, his wife of 37 years, Kara, his daughter, and Max, his son. Pierson and Gwen have been members of Mother of Christ Church for 42 years, joining after they were married. Both children were baptized there.

He wasn’t born into Catholicism, though. Becoming Catholic is something Pierson doesn’t take for granted.

“The connection between Catholicism and your personal relationship with God was a big difference [between Catholicism and other religions],” he said. “Even to this day that’s still a major thing for me. I look at the church in terms of what my relationship is with God. I was blessed to be able to choose it because I saw what the church really was.”

Along with his music stewardship, Pierson is involved with Mother of Christ Church in various ways, including recently completing a third term on the parish council. And don’t expect him to slow down anytime soon. Even though he retired from the workforce, Pierson continues to innovate ways for bringing music to the world.

“There are few things that are more powerful than music.”

Pierson and Young continue working together, sharing their music and God’s love. They produced another CD, offer clothing merchandise, and perform when they can, including in Share the Journey — a Concert for Compassion this past September. Pierson said that while they mostly perform locally, their music has been heard around the world.

In addition to music, he said that he wouldn’t be where he is today without his family – Gwen, his wife of 37 years, Kara, his daughter, and Max, his son. Pierson and Gwen have been members of Mother of Christ Church for 42 years, joining after they were married. Both children were baptized there.

He wasn’t born into Catholicism, though. Becoming Catholic is something Pierson doesn’t take for granted.

“The connection between Catholicism and your personal relationship with God was a big difference [between Catholicism and other religions],” he said. “Even to this day that’s still a major thing for me. I look at the church in terms of what my relationship is with God. I was blessed to be able to choose it because I saw what the church really was.”

Along with his music stewardship, Pierson is involved with Mother of Christ Church in various ways, including recently completing a third term on the parish council. And don’t expect him to slow down anytime soon. Even though he retired from the workforce, Pierson continues to innovate ways for bringing music to the world.

“There are few things that are more powerful than music.”

This article appeared in the November edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine.