ELCA at papal mass

When throngs of the faithful gathered in Washington, D.C., for the papal mass Sept. 23 during Pope Francis’ U.S. visit, an ELCA organist was one of the participants. Joy-Leilani Garbutt is minister of music for St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Rockville, Md., and a doctorate of music student at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., which is why she was one of four organists chosen to play at the mass. When interviewed for her hometown newspaper in Fresno, Calif., her father Glenn Garbutt, also a musician, said his daughter would go under the family’s piano when he played. He said he knew early on she was meant to be an organist but never guessed one day she would play for the pope.