Rally Day is coming! I've always been excited by this time of year in our church. The choir starts back up in earnest and, believe it or not, we will shortly begin rehearsals for our Christmas Cantata! Our education programs resume. People are back from their vacations and are in church every week again. It's a time when the family comes back together and routines resume.
The Fall Worship Schedule is one aspect that resumes. We will have a traditional service at 8:30 followed by a blended service at 11:00. We want to hear about your wishes and needs for these worship experiences. Have a favorite hymn that we haven't sung in a while? Let us know. Heard a song on Christian radio that touched your heart? Let us know. Communication is vital to all aspects of ministry. Let's hear your voice.
Speaking of the Christmas Cantata—we are looking for voices. This is a great chance to commit yourself to service for a defined period of time. While the choir will begin rehearsals in October, if you would like to give the cantata a try, I would ask that you join us beginning in mid-November at the beginning of each rehearsal. You would only need to stay for about one-half hour while we practice those songs. Think about joining us.
You may have begun to wonder where we are with hiring musicians to replace Joey, and Bob while he is in Florida. After much prayer, thought and discussion, we have decided to continue with the current instrumentalists for Sunday worship. While everyone recognizes the benefit of a strong music program, the decision was made in an effort to be as fiscally responsible as possible. Even though we are meeting our expenditures, we are not yet meeting the budget and did not feel that another expense was warranted. After we have a pastor in place, we will revisit this decision. There have been many discussions with different groups around this topic. If you would like to share your feelings on the topic, I would be interested in hearing your viewpoint. In the meantime, thanks be to God for sending us Gene and Sherri to share their talents.
As I'm sitting here writing this, I am getting ready to go to Nick's funeral. Nick was a member of the choir for many years, recruited while he was working at Montgomery Wards—no one is safe from recruitment (: He was an honored member of the Sub-dudes (the bass section so named by Bryan). He sang with us until he could no longer sing without the support of oxygen. That's commitment! Often when loved ones pass away, we are reminded that we don't often enough take the time to thank people for the things they do. This is my time to thank our choir members for the musical gifts and friendships that they share each week. They are tireless in their efforts to give praise to God through music, to help lead the service, and to support one another. I can't imagine working with a better group of people. If you think of it this week, please give them your thanks too.
Sharon