Having missed the deadline for the second quarter report as I was preparing to take 28 children, youth and chaperones to Music and Worship Arts Camp at Eagle Eyrie I thought I should combine the two reports. It is a lot, so here goes!
April 1 was Easter this year so we started the second quarter off with a bang. Easter is always an exciting conclusion to a busy and meaningful Lent and Holy Week. Following Easter the Sanctuary Choir begins preparations for Pentecost and for summer. The Children’s Choirs begin preparations for a final performance. This year the final program was held on the last Wednesday evening in May and consisted of a concert of all types of music from Sacred to Broadway. Everyone had a great time and the music was beautiful. Many thanks are due to Jessica Corbitt, Terry Witt, Kathy McGraw and Susan Braden for their wonderful leadership with the school aged choirs. Helen Davidson and Larry Allen provide amazing leadership for our Preschool Choir.
Our summer music program included a month of sharing favorite hymns and their stories, both the hymn story and their stories in our lives. This was a great deal of fun and helped people to get to know one another as we sang and shared songs we love. In late June seven of us attended Animate Worship Arts Camp at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. This camp is a favorite and we love attending. Meg Lacy was one of the preachers again this year. Each of the youth learns so much about designing and participating in worship services. Later in July—third quarter, twenty-eight people attended Music and Worship Arts Camp at Eagle Eyrie. This camp is open to children over the age of 10. We sing a lot, learn about worship, play in the amazing Eagle Eyrie pool and figure out how to go to bed without a parent to tell us what to do. This camp experience is very valuable to both the spiritual and physical development of the children. They learn a lot about independence at camp.
August always brings renewed interest in liturgical installations. This year our theme is “stitched together”. We are displaying quilts and tell their stories as we are listening, worshiping and waiting for God’s guidance in our lives. The quilts provide a wonderful visual for the use of every scrap to make something beautiful in our lives. A group of adults and youth spent a couple of afternoons at the church dyeing fabric and stiffening it with glue after it had been cut into large squares. These are being hung in the sanctuary ceiling to form a “quilt” over our heads.
The music ministry moves back into regular programming in September. The Sanctuary Choir and three children’s choirs meet on Wednesday evenings and Youth Worship Arts meets on Sunday afternoon. In September the church thinking is guided by the Narrative Lectionary. The structure for much of our study and worship follows the structure of this Lectionary. This year we are in Year 1 of the program. The worship installation that was envisioned in August is coming into being. Christmas music is being rehearsed. The next quarter will witness the results of all of the work. It is good to be back in a regular routine.
Please thank the choir members and leaders young and old for the amazing work that they do to make our worship services meaningful.
Judy Fiske
Minister of Music/Worship/Organist
