Faith United Presbyterian Church

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.

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