A trumpet, a tournament, and the gospel

by Bobby McGhee ’99

I got started on a trumpet when my mom gave me her radio, and she told my dad, a principal and band teacher, “Just teach him the scale and he can figure it out from there.” I learned to play all the scales. And then my dad said, “I’ll give you $10 if you can play middle C and $20 if you can play the high C.” I was six years old.

I played by ear, I knew what fingers to put down, and I could play in any key. When I was a senior in high school, I snuck my trumpet into a Portland Trailblazers game underneath my trench coat. They ended up hiring me for six years to play at half times, or for the national anthem, or to go on the court to play at the games. I played the night they clinched the playoffs in 1978 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

After academy, I stayed out a couple of years and when I was 20 my mom said to Dean Loewen, “Bobby needs to go to college.” She collaborated with Walt Meske to get me to Walla Walla, and I lived at Whitman Lodge, my first experience in the dorm or with people 24/7.

At college I remember leaving the key in my “McGhee Mobile,” a ’66 Chevy Chevelle station wagon with the top cut off and a loveseat in the back, so that anybody could drive it. Sonnenberg was a big thing for me—I lucked out and won a couple of MVP awards, and I really liked playing with guys like Mike Hellie, Mark Sprague, Terry Todorovich, and Aaron Koelsch.

My mom told me, “Bob, no matter what you believe or how far you go educationally, if you don’t keep track of the people God put in your life it doesn’t mean anything.”

I found a community of lifelong friends at Walla Walla College, and I keep track of them.

As a way to do that, three other guys and I started a softball tournament at Brush Prairie. At first it was a small number of teams, and it just kept going and getting bigger. Then we had all these Adventist softball teams, but we didn’t have any spiritual program, so I asked Dr. Ivan Blake, then pastor at Sunnyside Adventist Church, if we could have a “little” program. It turned out to be big. Pretty soon they let me arrange the services, and to this day I’m shocked that they let me do that.

The program is on Labor Day Sabbath every year. I invite the talented performers that I know and pick a speaker every year. This year is our 20th (since we skipped during COVID). I don’t pay these guys, they just come out and do it for free. It makes me emotional, I don’t deserve it, but they bless everybody. People just step up and support it, and they get to see many of their friends there. It’s beyond a blessing.

I play the trumpet for this program and other places to make people happy. When I play for weddings or funerals “The Holy City” is my signature song. My wife is a flight attendant, and I thank God for that because it allows me to travel for these programs and to do stuff for others. God has found a way to allow me to be with people.

I don’t know how I know all these people except I spent a lot of time at Walla Walla College and since then walking around loving people. I’m especially driven to the people who are marginalized, minimized, and demonized. I want to be known as someone who can be trusted. The Bible says a good name is better than riches.

Next year is my 40th year of denominational employment—40 years as a pastor and chaplain! When I bring people together, they come out because I have kept track of them. Most of them have never heard me speak a single time. My ministry is not my job. My ministry is connecting with people.

I like everybody, that is the gospel. And God uses anyone who wants to be used.

Bobby McGhee (right) is a pastor at Adventist Worship Center and Cave Creek Church in Phoenix, Arizona. He and his wife, Robin, have been married 21 years, and are parents to sons Lucky and Caspar. You’ll find Bobby at the annual “Bobby McGhee and Friends” worship concert on Sabbath, September 2, at Sunnyside Adventist Church in Portland, Oregon.