Photo by Grace Farms. Combining his love for music and ministry, Julian Davis Reid shares a prescription for hope in an unsettled world.

When Covid brought the world to a halt in 2020, Julian Davis Reid experienced one of his own. The lifelong musician had graduated in 2019 with an M.Div. from Candler School of Theology and was working in church music ministry, playing with his jazz alternative band, “JuJu Exchange,” and serving as a teaching assistant at Candler. Suddenly, concerts were canceled, and Reid had time on his hands.

Some of it was given over to vocational angst familiar from his seminary days, when he was trying to unite his music, theology and the local church. He’d started the “JuJu Exchange”with some friends while at Candler. As success grew, he wondered about the disparate pieces of his life, the space between his music and theological studies. By graduation, he was looking to combine doctoral work in theology with lay ministry and professional music.

At the same time, Reid was observing curious developments during the lockdown. In Reid’s hometown of Chicago, a coyote frolicked on the vacant Magnificent Mile. In Venice, dolphins swam in the Grand Canal. People were getting more sleep and participating in more leisure activities close to home, but they also felt restless, he said.

Around this time, Reid started hearing people call his music restful. It didn’t feel particularly restful to him, but he knew he wanted to offer something to a hurting world. In June 2021 he created “Notes of Rest,” which presents workshops and retreats throughout North America, inviting people into the rest of God practiced in the Bible and Black music.

“Notes of Rest” considers eight different practices (or “notes”) that God bestows: sabbath, sleep, sanctuary, stillness, simplicity, solitude, silence, and slowness. Reid guides participants through three movements: “Solo,” the contemplation of rest practices; “Harmony,” engagement with others; and “Resolve,” commitment to restorative practices of rest and music. Offering deep theological insights, Reid says participants grasp the concept quickly, and open themselves to the good news that God calls us to rest.

An album of congregational songs written with “Notes of Rest” participants is out this spring. You can learn more at juliandavisreid.com.