Harmony Choir Blog!
CHOIR IS CANCELED DUE TO HEIDI IS SICK. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE CHURCH CALENDAR
04/09/23: We'll sing Amazing Grace--My Chains Are Gone during the Offering at our 9:00 a.m. Easter Service. Happy Easter!
04/02/23: Meet at the church at 8:30 a.m. to practice O Sacred Head, Now Wounded. We'll sing it during the Offering.
04/04/23: PRACTICE IS CANCELED.
03/28/23: Practice all.
03/21/23: Practice all.
03/14/23: Practice all.
03/07/23: Worked on Let All Mortal Flesh be Silent (We plan to sing this one on March 22), O Sacred Head Now Wounded and My Chains are gone.
02/28/23
02/21/23: CHOIR IS CANCELED DUE TO SNOWY WEATHER CONDITIONS (e-mail was sent to members).
THE CHURCH CHOIR STARTS UP AGAIN (in the Organ Loft) ON FEBRUARY 14, 7:15 P.M.
02/14/23: We had six people show up for choir practice! Yeah! Word on the street is that we'll have another person, too. We dug into our Ash Wednesday song. I think it went well. We just touched on O Sacred Head, Now Wounded a little bit. We even tried our Easter Song. All of the songs are familiar ones.
02/14/23: Song Plan:
Lent (Hoping for Ash Wednesday, 7:15 p.m.--rescheduled to March 22): Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (Hymn)
Lent (Sunday, March 26, 9 a.m.): O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
Easter (April 9, 9 a.m.): Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
I sure hope you can make it. It should be bunches of fun!
--Heidi
12/27/22: CHOIR IS TAKING A WINTER BREAK. THANK YOU TO THE CHOIR FOR THE BEAUTIFUL SINGING FOR GOD'S THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS WORSHIP! YOU MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN ADDING BEAUTIFUL HARMONY AND VOICES TO OUR PRAISE AND WORSHIP!
12/24/22 (6:30 p.m.) Christmas Eve: Again, the choir did very well harmonizing to Song of Mary (new version) and Linda Fahrenkamp did an angelic solo part to this song, as well.
12/24/22 (3:00 p.m.) Christmas Eve: The choir did an amazing job singing Christmas hymns in 4-part harmony for the 3 p.m. Christmas Eve preservice music. The congregation joined in.
12/20/22: This is the last chance to practice until Christmas! The plan to sing Silent Night a cappella in 4-part harmony in the welcome area as people arrive for the Christmas Eve Service (3 p.m.) was tweaked a little bit. Gay thought that maybe the choir could sing the whole preservice just outside the Sanctuary doors (by the cradle roll lamby board) when people walked in. She suggested that maybe I wouldn't have to play at all. I thought, well . . . let's have the choir move right back into the Sanctuary and stand up front then . . . holding the red hymnals and singing a whole playlist. I'll play piano up front for the preservice. We made a hymn list. I timed it, typed the plan up and will hand out to the choir members at the 3 p.m. Christmas Eve service. This will be neat.
12/13/22: Snowflakes again? Well . . . it wasn't so bad. The choir met and practiced the same hymns as on Dec. 6th. We'll sing and harmonize to The Angel Gabriel this Sunday, December 18.
12/06/22: We practiced Song of Mary (Linda soloed the chanting and the choir sang the refrain), The Angel Gabriel, Peace Came to Earth, On Christmas Night All Christians Sing and Silent Night. O Holy Night has been dropped..
11/29/22: CHOIR IS CANCELED FOR TONIGHT. The predicted amount of snow for today (by the National Weather Service at 9:27 a.m.) is 6-10 inches. Yikes!
I was going to have us go through "My Soul in Stillness Waits" tonight (Pastor wants to use it as a Congregational response for our Advent Services), as well as "O Holy Night". The good news is that we have already used the hymn "My Soul in Stillness Waits" before, so the Congregation hopefully should be familiar with the tune. Stay home and stay SAFE!!!
11/22/22: We decided that we're good to go on our Matins Liturgy for Thanksgiving. There are some visual problems in the liturgy, but highlighting should direct the Congregation's eyes, and the Choir will definitely be a great help for leading the Congregation.
We went over harmony for "Now Thank We All Our God", which we'll sing on Thanksgiving--the choir will sing verse 1 in unison, verse 2 harmony, then all will sing (choir and Congregation) verse 3. We dove into "The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came" tonight, too. We delved into more of the dynamics of "O Holy Night" tonight.
Next week, we'll tighten up some timing on "O Holy Night", and work on our facial expressions to match the lyrics to light up the words.
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11/15/22: CHOIR IS CANCELED FOR TONIGHT, DUE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF ICE FORMING ON THE ROADS (NO SALT OR SAND YET ON THE ROADS). THE ROADS ARE NOT ICY YET (3:49 P.M.), BUT THE TEMPERATURE IS 30 DEGREES NOW AND IS SUPPOSED TO GO DOWN TO 27 DEGREES TONIGHT. STAY WARM AND WELL! TRY PRACTICING "O HOLY NIGHT" (VIA THE LINK).
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11/08/22: Pastor Koch requested some additional hymns to learn for the upcoming Advent/Christmas Season:
598 Now Thank We All Our God (Thankful hymn for such a special family day)
325 My Soul in Stillness Waits (Nice one--a minor key hymn)
328 The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came (Also in a minor key and Heidi LOVES this one)
330 Peace Came to Earth (Very peaceful and calming hymn . . . I need this one)
338 On Christmas Night All Christians Sing (Joyful)
O Holy Night is shaping up nicely. We are solid on the new Matins and Vespers Liturgies. YEAH!!!
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Our CHURCH CHOIR has resumed (as of October 25, 2022, after 7 years of hibernation) and is already giving glory to the Lord! Please join us in using your vocal talent for worshiping the Lord on Tuesdays at 7:15 p.m.
10/25/22: Initially, our first goal is working on learning how to sing our new church liturgies. Also, as a secondary goal, we are focusing on singing the 4-part harmony in the precious hymn "Silent Night", as well as other Advent and Christmas hymns from the new hymnal (in November/December). (The Pastor will select when we'll sing these pieces.) We hope that we can continue in learning the harmony to other beautiful hymns God has given us, as well, after the New Year rolls over. Our challenge piece is "O Holy Night." In the hopes of learning this piece in time for Christmas Eve (tentative day for singing it--not set in stone yet), here is a link for practicing: O HOLY NIGHT.
I think everything is going well, so far. We have to remember that God helps us to learn His beautiful worship songs. I truly believe that he guides us in everything to serve Him--even our singing/music.
DID YOU KNOW . . . Hymns and spiritual songs are very powerful weapons for your spiritual war chest. (The devil hates when we sing God's music.) Singing music to God is part of your spiritual armor! Even if you do not join the choir, keep on worshiping the Lord by singing those hymns. Whether you are a Meadow Lark, a Nightingale . . . or a Crow, just know that God made your voice to serve him--whoever you are and wherever you are . . . and even to battle evil. That sounds a little intense in this day and age, but I put singing, playing an instrument and listening to Christian music somewhere in the area of using the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit. If you're singing a song with the actual Words of God in it--like our liturgical Psalms we can learn in Choir--this would be the Sword of the Spirit.
The Armor of God
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
ON THAT NOTE: Please think about joining Choir. Everyone is welcome to come, and it is a place where you can find joyful Christian Fellowship! This is a GREAT way to get into the Christmas Spirit. Music is the key!
Staying tuned in God's Word,
Heidi Gilsrud
Choir Director
952-758-2828
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