Faith United Presbyterian Church |
200 South 8th Street Monmouth, Illinois
61462 Phone: 309/734-5129
Fax: 309/734-5120 |
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A d u l t C h o i r Faith United believes music to be central to the worship of our Lord and it is of importance in the spreading of His Word. Thus we strive to make our program as vital as possible. The first music one is aware of in our worship service is that of the organ. When the present sanctuary was constructed, Elwood Ball, now Director of Music Ministries Emeritus, took on the task of finding a great organ company to build a well-integrated pipe organ specifically for this structure. The happy result was the magnificent 36 rank Reuter that we now have. It continues to enhance our worship services and has been of benefit to the entire community. It has been the subject of praise from several touring concert artist, from Anita Werling to Diane Bish. We are fortunate to now have the organ bench occupied by the talented Barbara Gossett, a graduate of Monmouth College. She was mentored by Elwood Ball and is now studying with Linda Andrews at First Presbyterian Church in Macomb, Illinois. The very active Chancel Choir performs at worship and rehearses one hour prior to worship each Sunday. The ensemble does perform additionally for special services such as Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, and Maundy Thursday. The usual accompaniment is piano or organ, but on occasion the keyboard is supplemented with other instruments, up to a full chamber orchestra. Richard Griffiths, Director of Choral Activities Emeritus at Monmouth College is the director and has stated that new members are always welcomed. Music remains a high priority during the summer, or at other times the choirs are not performing. Many distinguished, even nationally recongnized in our worship or concretized in our sanctuary. C h i l d r e n ' s C h o i r Our Children's Choir is made up of children in grades 1-6. Choir is one of the elements of our Wednesday Night Live mid-week program. The children rehearse for 30 minutes per week, and sing during worship at least once a month. We have also participated in some extra performances. In October 2003, we were asked to do a program for the Western Illinois Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. As a result, we were asked to participate in a performance of John Rutter's Mass for the Children in Macomb, Illinois, in November 2004. It included adult choirs, soloists, and children's choir. In March of 2004, we recorded a CD of many of the songs we have learned during the past two years. It was a very enlightening experience for all. We hope to do it again in a couple of years. The Children's Choir is directed by Judi Ditzler. We sing a variety of styles of music in a variety of languages. It's always a challenge, but also very rewarding. |
The Calling |
Silk Cords On October 7, 2000, Silk Cords formed their quartet almost by accident as a means of helping Hillary Hoffman, tenor, fulfill a promise she made to provide music for the wedding of a friend's daughter. Shortly after their wedding performance, the Music Director at Faith United Presbyterian Church in Monmouth, inquired if the quartet would be able to perform several sacred pieces for a Sunday morning worship service. On November 12, Silk Cords performed at Faith United Presbyterian Church - Silk Cords' first worship service. Silk Cords performs regularly for our congregation here at Faith United. If you are interested in learning more about their music ministry. Please visit there website at www.silk-cords.com |
