Music Opportunities

There are many opportunities to participate in the music life of Immanuel. The Adult choir leads worship twice a month. Throughout the church year, the choir offers music to enhance our worship participating in Lessons and Carols and Holy Week Services.

The Immanuel Orchestra is open to instrumentalists of all ages and will perform once a month during Sunday worship.

There are also opportunities to participate in contemporary music teams. If you play guitar, percussion or would like to lead, please make yourself know to Mary Hopper.

Philosophy of Music

As long as Christians have come together to worship, music has been a central part of their experience. Music at Immanuel is not meant to be primarily a preparation for worship; instead, it is an act of worship itself. Whether we as a congregation are singing hymns or choruses or listening to a choir or a soloist, we are participating in the offering of praise to God.

Singing itself is a unique form of human expression, which has the power to open our individual souls and to blend them into the harmony of shared feelings and meanings. When we sing in worship services, we affirm our individual and group commitments, we receive instruction, and we are opened to one another and to the Holy Spirit.

Instead of being entertainers who are there to enhance our comfort and enjoyment, the choir and soloists help lead us in worship by providing encouragement to our spirits. Instrumental music may serve to draw our minds away from ordinary concerns toward a contemplation of God himself. Having no words, such music may evoke specific feelings, images, and associations. Like vocal music, it can lead us into worship as well as serve as an act of worship itself.

All of the music at Immanuel is selected each week to coincide, as closely as possible, with the spirit and content of the Scripture and sermon for that day. At times, this will mean that we worship with familiar tunes and words, while at other times we may be introduced to new songs and hymns that are appropriate to the particular theme of that week. Whether classic or contemporary, whether strange or familiar, music at Immanuel is meant to help each of us flourish in our fellowship with one another and in the worship of our Savior.

Immanuel's Instruments

In the context of worship, we rely on the natural sounds of human voices and acoustic instruments. To provide this our church supports two main instruments.

The first is a Steinway 7' grand piano, which lends a beautiful rich tone to our services. It is used in a wide variety of styles including contemporary, jazz and classical. The piano is dedicated to the memory of Sanna Anderson Baker, former worship committee member.

The second is a two-manual pipe organ which adds a great beauty and color to our worship services. Like many things in the church, it was acquired and built by our members. Its three divisions contain twenty-five ranks designed on principles of American tonal architecture. While designed primarily to accompany congregational and choral singing, it has sufficient resources to play a variety of solo literature with a wide musical palette. In 2004 it was dedicated to the memory of Ruth Steffler, former choir member.

Church members have given instruments as gifts to Immanuel. We are happy to have a Yamaha electric piano, a Roland electric piano, a djembe drum, and other percussion instruments to use in our worship services.