A Note from the Choir Director

Martin Luther, the Great Commission, God's Cheerleaders and Worship at Faith Lutheran Church...

Our worshiping community is not just another Lutheran Church.  Our church theology, culture and history are developments growing from the Great Commission ("Go and baptize...preach..."), Jesus' "marching orders" for evangelization of the world.  "Evangelize" is a command, not prefaced with the word "please."  Evangelization and worship are inseparable.  Every one of us needs the support of others in our faith lives, particularly in public worship.

Music has for centuries been at the heart of public worship.  Luther had a substantial musical education roughly equivalent to a modern Masters' degree in addition to his Doctorate in Theology.  He valued and enjoyed music greatly, writing hymn texts and tunes (often modified from"contemporary" public music of his time and place).  He believed that "the Devil should not have all the good tunes" and that music was one of the best prescriptions against the Devil's daily torment of Christians.  Luther understood a vital fact that we need to remember.  The worshiping community is not the focus of worship.  God is.  Worshipers are like sports team players or performers.  They (we) need to be coached and encouraged to worship effectively, to focus worship to God and in doing so, to encourage and assist all of us as a Christian community.  The coaches or "cheerleaders" are all who assist in some way, great or small, to focus our worship.  Every one, whether greeter, musician, or pastor, is part of a team to coach, lead and support us in worship.  Singing in the choir, ringing bells, playing instruments; even donations of music costs of worship are just a few examples of "cheerleaders" in our church.  Being a "cheerleader" for God requires a personal commitment and a sacrifice of time, effort and discipline.  With this commitment comes a special sense of community and fellowship that makes the sacrifice more than worthwhile.

Over the next several months, we have better and more urgent reasons than ever to "pull up our socks."  With a new pastor, new worship materials and a critical need to share the Gospel in this community, we will have many wonderful opportunities to celebrate!  The new worship materials combine about 60% of the LBW and WOV contents with several new service settings and other music especially for our evangelization efforts.  Our "cheer-leading" with music will be especially important over the next several months and you are most welcome to help us in worship.  I invite you to consider a commitment to our music ministry at Faith.  If you have questions about how you can participate, please ask me!