McGuires’ parting gift
Friday, June 19, 2009
Members of the McGuire family will present a “Simple Gifts” concert at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in the Grace United Methodist Church, 2 Neosho St.
The performance here will be the last made by the family — Mic and Pam McGuire and their children, Shawn and Caitlin — before they move to the Kansas City area, where Mic McGuire will head a Methodist church. He has been pastor of the Grace church for about 7 years.
According to information from the Grace church, he is being sent to establish a new congregation, Living Water United Methodist Church, in Piper, on the northwest side of Kansas City, Kan.
McGuire, who was an internationally known operatic baritone before turning to the Methodist ministry, grew up in Emporia and graduated from Emporia State University with a bachelor’s degree in music education. He attended the Cincinnati Conservatory, where he received his master’s degree and realized he could have a career in opera, according to Gazette files.
“Along the way, he gave up his dream of being a professional baseball player,” the article said.
Pam McGuire, a Hopkins Foundation Star Performer grant winner, has been vocal music teacher at Emporia Middle School. She has been hired to teach music in the fall in a Kansas City school.
The concert is open to the public. Donations will be accepted for the church’s building project.