We have three Children’s Choirs here at SPC.  The choirs sing at Sunday morning worship services.  From time to time the children also sing out in the community.

 

We meet on Wednesday afternoons/evenings.  Here are our three choirs’ schedules:

1) Cherub Choir:  for ages 4-5.  4:50 to 5:20.

2) Joy Singers:  for grades 1-2.  5:25 to 6:05.

3) Crusaders: for grades 3-4-5.  6:10 to 6:55.

 

We meet in the choir room upstairs (room M3).  There is no audition.  A child may join at any time during the school year.  (We take summers off.)

 

 

This year, we are planning on producing a musical in the spring of 2008, tentatively titled, ‘Scenes From A Hymnbook: The Sequel.’  (We did a similar show called ‘Scenes From A Hymnbook’ in 2005.)  This musical will involve children in grades 1-5.  Speaking parts and solo singing roles will be available.  Normally, the older children get ‘first dibs’ on the speaking/ solo singing roles.  

 

The choirs sing a variety of music.  The styles range from traditional to contemporary.  Some of the music is composed by the director, John Stebbe.  Sometimes John will take a traditional hymn and arrange it for the kids to sing.  John recently did arrangements of “Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing,” and “Crown Him With Many Crowns.”  Sometimes John will create a song from scratch for the kids to sing, especially the two younger choirs.  John likes to create songs for the younger kids which have lots of repetition and memorable melodic hooks, to aid in memorization.  (The kids always sing from memory, when they perform on Sunday mornings.)  Twice each year, John provides the choir members with rehearsal CDs, which contain most of the music they will be singing during those months.  No copyright laws are broken when duplicating CDs, because the songs on the CDs are either public domain hymns for which John has created his own arrangements, or songs John has written from scratch.

 

 

John says, “Singing in the  church choir is a great way for children to learn about music, to develop poise in public, to become better singers, to make new friends, and to follow Christ more closely.  I am so thankful for this job, because in addition to providing musical leadership, I have the opportunity to help children grow in their Christian faith.  When I choose music for the children to sing, I always look for (or compose) lyrics which are Biblically sound, and which will give me opportunities to briefly discuss important aspects of the Christian faith, such as the Resurrection, the Atonement, and the Trinity.  I especially like to create fresh arrangements of old hymns, not only because they are full of rich Biblical imagery and doctrine, but because so few children today are comfortable singing from a hymnal.  I would like children to be able to attend a traditional worship service with their parents, open up a hymnal, see a hymn which they sang in the Children’s Choirs, and think, ‘Hey, this hymnal can’t be all bad, since there’s a few songs I know in here.’  Hymnals are such a rich resource for our churches.  It’s regrettable that they are falling out of use in some places.  However, I also have a deep appreciation for contemporary Christian music.  I played piano and guitar full-time in a nationally touring Christian band, for two years back in the 1980s.  During those years, I learned a whole lot of tunes by Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Sandy Patti, and their kin.  Some of those songs from that time are still favorites of mine.  I am happy that SPC offers worshipers a choice of traditional and contemporary services.  And our Children’s Choirs also perform a wide variety of music, some appropriate for our Contemporary Service, and some music more suited for the Traditional Service.

 

“I am convinced that our Children’s Choirs offer children a rich experience of music making and Christian fellowship.  I thank the Lord for the opportunity He has given me to serve Him in this way.”