From the Choir Director I’m excited to welcome back to the summer staff, Olivia Sorensen! Last year, Olivia really proved her worth at our outdoor services and this time, a recent college grad, she’s back at Edwards and ready to manage our worship technology both outside and inside. And I particularly would like […]
Commissioned Minister of Music
I've been proud to serve Edwards Church as its choir director since 2009, and have been a member since the following year. In 2017, I completed a multi-year process toward becoming a United Church of Christ Commissioned Minister.
On a weekly basis, I rehearse our choir, lead worship, and try to make life a bit easier for our talented accompanists, Susan Minor and Cheryl Elkins. I work closely with Pastor Debbie, passionate about worship that moves us and stays with us as we move into the world each week.
For me, music and scripture in inseparably linked. All the Bible verses that I know by heart are through their connection to an anthem or oratorio. I was told, at least partially tongue-in-cheek, that a church musician, in some ways, knows more scripture by heart that many pastors and theologians. Science shows that texts are more “sticky” when accompanied by music, and through repetition. My choristers frequently tell me on Thursday that Sunday’s anthem has been a weeklong earworm.
We all bring different interpretations to the scripture verses that we’ve learned over the years. And those personal interpretations can change wildly over the years, as we progress and make changes in our own development. The constant in all this is the verse itself. When we listen to choral albums and concerts, or make those glorious statements in rehearsal and worship every week, we choral enthusiasts are reaffirming our belief in those sacred texts. And if we find ourselves humming those melodies as we make our way through life, it may just be because it is the texts, and not the melodies, that God has planted for us to hear as the real soundtrack of our day.
My 2017 annual report is available, and you will find current posts I've written at the bottom of this page.
Music at Edwards: May 2023
This May we’ll continue a years-long tradition with a Mothers’ Day service that includes the music of John Rutter. As our program year winds down and we change to a very active summer season of worship, we plan to have another choir anthem Sunday in early June. For more information on these as well as […]
April Music at Edwards
This month, I’m wearing my tech hat rather than my music hat. At Staff Meeting and Council at the end of March we concluded that our technology is coming together consistently enough nowadays that we are ready to begin the transition toward a team of volunteers who will manage the setup and breakdown on Sunday […]
Excited for Spring!
Excited for Spring!For church musicians, the best time to think about spring worship music is the middle of winter, we’ve got to be prepared. For the first time, in mid January, I called together anyone at all who is interested in planning music for our services this Lent and Easter. As I write this, our […]
From the Choir Director
Welcome, 2023! I wish to extend a very sincere thank you to everyone who helped Edwards Church Music shine this Advent, often with their own guidance as I focused on trying to learn our new technology, a continuing work in progress. From our choristers and our Morning Glory songsters, to our soloists in our […]
Advent, In Living Color!
With our installation still ahead of us as I write this, I can only report that it is highly likely that through your abundance of giving, you will be able to see and hear all that Advent has to offer this year, as never before. As we settle in and learn the equipment (i.e. it […]
From the Choir Director
The choir will be singing a few times this November, there are so many special services to support! On, November 6, we will sing a new arrangement of “For All the Saints,” followed on November 20 by “All Good Gifts” for our blessing of pledges, and on Advent 1, November 27 we will welcome […]
A Season of Anticipation
Thank you, thank you! In the time between my writing and your reading of this article, we will be even closer to our financial goal to have the finest technology we could imagine. It is to be installed at the beginning of Advent. How exciting! (How nerve-wracking!) So many mixed emotions abound. Top of them […]
Summer Music Opportunities
Introducing “Morning Glory”As we welcome summer, our outdoor services will frequently include opportunities to lead the congregation in song as a “pick-up choir.” I’ve never really liked that term, feeling that it suggests an inferiority or sloppiness. Still, you may hear it mentioned from time to time and you might wonder what it means exactly. […]
Music Opportunities for April
Happy Spring! It’s been such a pleasure the past few weeks to see newer faces participating in our music making on Sunday mornings and Thursday nights. I’m happy that we are offering opportunities that are short-term in nature and which invite people who have never been able to commit to a ten-month choir season. Most […]