St. Augustine is credited with saying, "The one who sings, prays twice."
At United Church, we believe that music sets the tone for our
worship--literally. For many, listening to beautiful music is a
spiritual experience. It's like the Apostle Paul said: When we don't
know how to pray, "the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for
words" (Romans 8:26).
Our Director of Music, Caesar Storlazzi, ministers to the congregation in a
wide variety of musical styles, from Handel's Messiah to Barnett's
recent bluegrass mass. In addition, guest musicians broaden our musical
horizons with jazz, blues, and gospel sounds.
But listening to music is only part of the story. As in every facet of
our faith life, we believe we are called to be not only consumers, but
working partners. And so congregational singing grounds our worship
life. In partnership with God and sisters and brothers around the world,
we lift our voices not only in standard 4-part hymns (drawn from the
Hymns of Truth and Light hymnal, as well as a library of other
resources), but also songs of prayer and praise from many cultures. We
don't worry about sounding good so much as feeling good, pouring out our
hearts to God with the voices God gave us. After all, isn't that what
every Parent wants to hear?
Caesar has a creative gift and each Sunday directs our choirs and plays the Organ, piano, harpsicord and/or the oboe. We often have guest musicians and jazz offerings, and other varieties of music. In non-pandemic times, our United Church Choir rehearses Thursdays at 7:30pm at the meeting house (corner of Temple & Elm). Come on down and give singing a try!