The Arts

Congregational song is central to our music. We sing hymns, spiritual songs, psalms, and liturgical refrains. These range from classic hymnody to contemporary songs. Some proclaim the word, others express praise or prayer, and still others move us into meditation and contemplation. We all participate, in whatever way we are able.

While the organ and piano may be most frequently used, other instruments augment and embellish our song. Wind and stringed instruments, guitars, and the occasional light percussion add dimensions of beauty and energy.

Choral ensembles add another dimension to our worship. The Chancel Choir (see below) rehearses during the Fall and Spring seasons, practicing formal anthems and less formal service music, and sings at most of our services. Our Children’s Chorus brings songs that they’ve learned in Children in Worship. And our New Choristers gathers singers of many ages to sing less formal but equally inspiring songs.

Across the centuries, choirs have played an important role in the ministry of the Church. Choirs have given another expression to the Word of God, and have elevated the praise of God’s people and deepened their prayer. So it is with the Chancel Choir of Second Church.

In our worship together, Second Church looks to the Chancel Choir to give expression to the Word, and to give a collective voice of praise and prayer that individuals cannot by themselves. This happens through choral anthems, through the teaching of new hymns and songs to the congregation, and by inviting the congregation into the song by way of refrains and short choruses. Our eclectic approach to vocal music includes a wide variety of genres, from classic anthems to contemporary contemplative meditations. We seek to use music that embodies the great diversity of the Church, its styles, its generations, and its cultures.

For the choristers themselves, the Chancel Choir is a small community within the congregation. We pray together, breathe together, work together, struggle together, hit high notes and low notes together (literally and metaphorically!), and together we offer our talents as our own offering. We are intergenerational, we have a wide range of skills and experiences, and we each have our own preferred styles. Together we represent in a small way what the Body of Christ is like as a whole.

In a recent interview, John Rutter, one of the grand choral masters of our day, said:

“Choral music is not one of life’s frills. It’s something that goes to the very heart of our humanity, our sense of community, and our souls. You express, when you sing, your soul in song. And when you get together with a group of other singers, it becomes more than the sum of the parts. All of those people are pouring out their hearts and souls in perfect harmony, which is kind of an emblem for what we need in this world, when so much of the world is at odds with itself…that just to express, in symbolic terms, what it’s like when human beings are in harmony. That’s a lesson for our times and for all time.”

(You can find this interview here, courtesy of J. W. Pepper.)

Mr. Rutter’s comments are at the same time ennobling and humbling, reassuring and challenging. And when we place them into our identity as part of the Body of Christ, we are reminded that our calling is to live in harmony, in reconciliation, in sharing together in the ministry of the church, each to his or her own abilities.

You are invited to participate with us. We sing regularly during the Advent and Lent seasons at the 10:00 service and several other festival services throughout the liturgical year. We rehearse on Wednesday evenings at 6:45 and Sundays at 8:45. Contact the Director of Music Ministries for more information or to sign up.