10 Reasons to Serve in the Adult Choir

Ahh. The choir.  There’s no ministry in the church quite like it.  From social gatherings to praising God together on Sundays, there are many reasons to join the Calvary Baptist Church adult choir. Here’s ten of them.
 
  1. Choir is a great stress reliever.  I can vouch for many if not all of our current choir members that singing in the choir is a major tension releaser.  Sitting up straight and breathing deeply is a great way to relax yourself.  Our choir members agree that they consistently leave choir rehearsal with a better attitude than the one with which they entered.
  2. You’ll meet new people.  At CBC, we have two morning services.  Both are almost equally attended.  Because of this, many people at our church don’t know each other personally. However, when you join the choir you will develop close relationships with other worshipers who you’ll see on a consistent basis.  I know many instances where deep friendships began at choir rehearsal.
  3. The choir is a great picture of the body of Christ.  Consider 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.  We are all individual members of the body of Christ.  While we all individually have a purpose, we also have the purpose of living together in unity with other believers.  This is the body of Christ. The same is true of the choir and its members.  Each section of the choir has its own purpose in the beautiful picture of musical unity. When you sing in the choir you’ll show that many members working together in Christ can create something beautiful.  This is how the body of Christ works. Christ’s body and the choir are both individual units with many members working together. What a great picture!
  4. You CAN sing!  I talk to so many people who say they simply aren’t good enough to serve in the choir.  You are!  Without even hearing you sing I know you are.  I’ve heard it said that the most beautiful thing about choir is how God takes many voices – some strong and others not as strong – and blends them together to create music that honors him. Sounds like the body of Christ again (point #3)!
  5. You don’t have to be a musical genius to serve in the choir.  The common misconception about serving in the choir is that you must know how to read music.  Let me refute that statement right now.  Out of our thirty-five choir members, only seven or eight of them read music.  Let that sink in!  Many are learning to read music through their experiences in choir. What’s stopping you from singing with us?
  6. Choir doesn’t interfere with other active ministries in the church.  We sing on Sunday mornings and rehearse on Wednesday nights from 7:30-8:30. Nothing else is generally going on in the church during our times together.
  7. You’ll get to lead worship, not just experience it!  From my perspective, there’s simply no greater joy than leading God’s people in worship.  When you sing in the choir, you also gain the privilege of leading others to encounter the greatness of God.  Don’t you want to join us in fulfilling that great honor?
  8. You’ll get to learn many songs, old and new.  In choir rehearsal we work on many songs.  You’ll learn songs you’ve never heard before and others that you may have known for years.  We also introduce congregational songs in rehearsal that you’ll learn before the rest of the church hears them for the first time.
  9. Because summer is the perfect time to join!  With Easter being last week, we are now beginning to work on brand new songs that we’ll rehearse over the course of the summer.  By joining now you’ll enter the choir on the same level as everyone else.  You won’t be behind musically.  Everyone will be learning new songs together!
  10. Three words: CHOIR. IS. FUN.   Whether you believe it or not, I encourage you to come to one of our rehearsals and see just how enjoyable it really is.  We laugh, pray, and fellowship together each time we gather. Many of our choir members describe Wednesday night rehearsals as their midweek pick-me-up.

There’s no denying that singing is one of the best vehicles we have to worship the risen Christ.  Singing in the choir is one of the greatest things you’ll ever experience. 

So what are you waiting for?! See you tomorrow (4-24-19) at 7:30 in the choir room!

Until then, blessings!


Read more...

Your “Guitar” Can Wait

I learned a valuable lesson a few years ago while in school.  One of my beloved professors (we’ll call him Dr. Smith) had recently submitted a blog entry to the school’s website and encouraged me to read it. The blog referred to a young worship leader who was outstanding at everything he did.  It went something like this:

Johnny was the ideal worship leader.  He was a gifted singer, knowledgable in the realm of sound and media, punctual, loving, kind, and more.  Johnny was a guy any church would be blessed to have as her worship leader. However, over the course of many Sundays I witnessed Johnny make a crucial mistake in being a worship leader.

After a service one Sunday morning I ran in to Johnny.  I was excited to see him.

“Hey Dr. Smith! Wasn’t that a great service? God moved and three people passed from death to life!” Johnny exclaimed.

“Yes it was! You did a fantastic job leading us to experience God,” I replied.

Humble as he was, Johnny responded, “Thank you. I give God all the glory for what He has done!  Do you think there is anything I can do better as a leader?”

I took a deep breath. “Yes, as a matter of fact, there is.”

Shocked, Johnny’s face turned as red as the carpet on the church floor. I suppose he expected me to say the opposite.

“When the service ends, I notice that you typically begin to put your guitar back in its case, wrap up your many cords, and put away microphones. When you finish all that, virtually everyone has left the building.”

“You’re right,” Johnny replied, “but when the service is over I like to put everything up quickly so I can get home and rest.”

I paused for a moment and responded, “Your guitar is not your calling. People are. Go and greet people. Your guitar can wait.”

This story is not simply for church leaders.  This is a reminder to all church members that loving others and helping them to feel welcome is vitally important.  Do you ever find yourself acting like Johnny? Are you too busy to greet others? If you are like Johnny, I encourage you to examine your heart and remember that being the hands and feet of Jesus is all about loving people.

I challenge you to forget about your “guitar” and greet five NEW people this coming Sunday.

Until then, blessings!


Read more...

Website Overhaul

Welcome to the NEW Calvary Baptist Church website.  We have a brand new website host and hope to bring our website up to speed.  Our plans are to have information for our members and guests available in an easy access formate.  This website will give us the ability to create a Smartphone App that will have updated information each week.  If you have suggestions on how to improve our site, please email us at info@uccalvary.com and share them with us.  Thank you.

Read more...