O U R P R AY E R A N D WO R S H I P I N S O N G I felt so sad for the past year when we couldn’t sing. I felt a real responsibility to sing for them during that time, lifting up their prayers as my own in song.” Sharing talents and gifts is integral for the entire music ministry, and for Erika, this act of stewardship means a lot to her. “I feel for me, my main gift is singing,” Erika says. “I feel God gave me this gift so I can communicate with Him. It’s my form of communicating with God and if I can help others in this, that is what I want to do. God gives us gifts to honor and glorify Him and draw closer to Him. I feel that’s why God gave me this gift.” As we return to singing together again, Andrew shares how he is once again able to combine his gifts, embodied in his two worlds of study — vocal performance and music management. “When this job opened it was a real unexpected calling,” he says. “Being part of many choirs and ensembles, with organizational experience and using music as the way to have an experience of the Divine, it’s been a real calling to use this in ministry.”
As we enter the month of September, Andrew is anticipating working with our musicians to address changes that took place during the last year and a half in the music of the Church, particularly the music for the Eucharist. There will be video and audio recordings shared with our parishioners so we can become familiar with these changes. New members are welcome for all SMP ensembles. The skills required for singers are being able to either read or learn music well enough to be able to sing it back. Instrumentalists should have some dexterity on their instruments. Andrew asks that potential members understand that their work is a form of prayer and that they will be both helping to lead the congregation in song while being a part of the congregation themselves. “We’re leaders and also part of the congregation,” Andrew says. “We’re looking for people who understand it — who are talented, humble, and submit themselves to playing music and being open to what the Holy Spirit does musically.”
Those interested in joining may contact Andrew Goldstein at 360-292-7140, or Erika Peterson at 360-754-4667.
PLEASE JOIN US FOR
OUR PARISH RETREAT You are invited to join us for our Parish Retreat on Sept. 11, as we welcome Lisa McArdle, who will be leading a presentation on “Stewardship in the Family.” For information or to RSVP, please contact Chris Peterson at cpeterson@saintmichaelparish.org.
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