Swanky music lilts over the boyish chatter and kitchen ambience like the whole Taco Bell was humming in vitality despite the emptiness in the dining room. Maybe the mood was due to the finally pleasant weather outside, or even because everyone was just excited to be at lunch rather than at work or school. Either way, the tiled floor, white walls, and black ceiling were alive as Aaron Huffman entered: blue shoes, blue jeans, white music camp t-shirt, grey backpack, and black headphones. He likes board games, lives with his friends, and sometimes lingers just a bit longer after a meal in order to push off his next productivity session. If you looked up “college student” in a dictionary, you’d just get a picture of Aaron. 

​

Aaron’s rather tall. It’s one of the first things I noticed about him back when I joined the Scholar’s program in August. He’s tall and looks sort of like Shaggy from Scooby Doo. Between the slightly longer windswept hair and matching coat on his face, Aaron was ready to be cast in some sort of Scooby Doo stage production. Except, unlike most everyone else I’d interviewed, Aaron wasn’t a production sort of a guy.

​

It’s Aaron’s senior year as a music education major at MSU. He didn’t have a moment where he attended a musical as a kid and could never go back. He was a kid with two musical parents who was rather interested in music but still ignorant. At least, he was like that until sixth grade. When he was old enough for band, Aaron began to learn trombone. Music slid more firmly into his life, and he eventually found euphonium. That’s right, he found two brass instruments. As a former brass player, I can confidently say that meant he liked to play loudly. If you’re going to play, you might as well be heard, right? 

​

In Aaron’s sophomore year of college, he began to study organ. If his brass instruments were loud before, the organ was consuming. Organs are built into the buildings they reside: a system of pipes meant to surround and astound. “You have no idea,” he reminisced, “how powerful I feel when I play loud in there, too—just all at my fingertips.” Just as the buildings in which they are woven inside of are different, so is each organ. This presents its own set of challenges. Because composers can’t anticipate the quirks of each instrument, music is written to be interpreted, rather than played. It also means that someone would have to play on multiple organs to master the variants. That’s what led Aaron to email First & Calvary about potentially playing the church organ. That’s also what led to his becoming the current organ scholar—despite not even knowing about the program beforehand!

​

Aaron’s concluding his second and final year as a scholar, and the experience has given him both room to grow and room to express his faith. “I’ve been pushing myself in ways, for sure,” he said. “I think I’ve gotten a lot better, but I still have a lot more ahead to do.” Despite apparent room for improvement, Aaron is by no means a novice. I’ll never forget watching the postlude one Sunday just to have Pastor Don point out that Aaron was playing a large portion entirely with his feet. 

​

I thought for sure Aaron ought to have felt a bit out of place as a young adult at the traditional service. I was mistaken. “I’m actually pretty old-fashioned, and so I connect well with a lot of older people,” he explained to me. Age, to Aaron, is no barrier for community. It helps that Aaron genuinely enjoys the hymns he plays. He likes to read over the lyrics beforehand and spend time thinking about them. “Sometimes, if there’s an important line or my favorite line from a hymn, I pull that solo stop out to bring attention to it so they [the congregation] actually realize what they’re singing.” God is good, mighty, and worthy of worship. According to Exodus 33:20, no one can survive looking at the face of God. Aaron knows that “at face value, that just seems really dark. But in reality, if you think about it, what it’s talking about is God is so, like, immense and just great in general that if a mortal man sees Him, he, like, won’t be able to comprehend it. I really like that verse because it outlines just how, like, powerful He is.” God is immense and powerful, and maybe that’s why Aaron’s been so drawn to instruments that can express that in worship so fully.

​

God is holy, strong, and deserves our praise. Aaron, fingertips poised over keys, is ready to help all creation listen.

​

Having Aaron at First & Calvary these past two years has been such a blessing. But, the looming end of senior year harkens him onward through life. If you’re interesting in improving and worshipping God with the dedication that Aaron has displayed, we’d love to see your application to the program: https://www.firstandcalvary.org/scholars-application

​

​

Written by Jocelyn Squires