Those who sing pray twice!
Music has long been an important part of worship at Payson Park Church. We take the ministry of music very seriously. Our music program has a well-deserved reputation for excellence. Every week, we humbly try to fulfil our awesome privilege to proclaim the greatness, goodness, and love of God through words and music. Our goal is to create worship experiences in which God can speak to us, and can use us to minister to the needs of God's people. For this task, we use music of many styles and periods to proclaim God's message of grace, forgiveness, and hope. Opportunities to sing in choirs at Payson Park Church include: the Cherub Choir (ages 3 to 6); the Junior Choir (ages 6 to teenagers); and the Adult Choir.
The Adult Choir is composed of about fifteen enthusiastic amateurs, and four professional section leaders. The presence of section leaders enables the Choir to do a wider variety of music than would otherwise be possible, and to learn new music more quickly and easily. The Adult Choir sings in weekly worship services from September to June. We sing a diverse repertoire of works ranging from plain chant to Pinkham, from Sacred Harp to spirituals. Some recent highlights include Haydn's Little Organ Mass, Purcell's Rejoice in the Lord Alway, Copland's The Promise of Living, and Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs. Rehearsals are Thursday evenings from 7:30 to 9:15 (September to June) and Sunday mornings from 9:30 to 10:15, before the worship service. The Adult Choir warmly welcomes anyone who loves to sing and is willing to make a commitment to "sing unto the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things!" (Psalm 98:1)
Instrumental music, too, has a place in our worship; services at Payson Park Church have often included the sounds of the piano, flute, violin, viola, cello, trumpet, trombone, and others. We warmly encourage instrumentalists, both amateur and professional, to share their gifts for the glory of God.
Terry Halco, Minister of Music