Music
Submitted By: Nichole DiVietro
This year posed many changes in the music ministry, however, we keep the music playing in various ways for God’s glory and for the edification of the saints. What changes have come about this last year?
Musicians Moving Around
This year, we had a lot of changes in the makeup of our music team.
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- Matt Jandak, our former drummer, moved to Buffalo, NY June of 2019. We miss him greatly! He was a great player and asset to our team, guiding us rhythmically in our playing and contributing his musical theory and skills for our learning.
- Erik DiVietro had to step away from playing bass to focus on his work as teaching pastor and elder.
- Ashley Farrar stepped down as vocalist in the band temporarily to focus on her school and workload but will still contribute her voice and music in other ways.
- Nichole DiVietro also stepped down from the band to focus on other aspects of the music ministry but more importantly, to focus on her family.
The Plan Right Now
Our current program is a rotating schedule led by Erik, Nichole, Greg Jones, Bob Bragdon and an ensemble led by Janet & Erik Wittenberg and Jed Ayers.
David Taku was able to contribute to the music ministry by playing piano and keys for our Christmas service with the choir back in December of 2019. He had also joined Nichole in playing his organ for a worship service back in March. We look forward to hearing more of his piano playing in the near future.
Ray Barry has been a wonderful encouragement to our church family and music team as well by contributing his vocals and singing his solos with the choir and instrumentalists.
We are always looking for people to contribute their music talent and skills whether it be with the band, as an instrumental player, or as a vocalist. Please see the DiVietro’s and Wittenberg’s to explore ways you can contribute to the music ministry.
Worship Overall
Submitted by: Erik DiVietro
Our worship gatherings continue to be one of our strengths as a body. This past year, we instituted the weekly observance of the Lord's Table. This meaningful element of worship is the centerpiece of our gatherings, and Ray Pouliot has done an extraordinary job of pulling together teams who have provided service and devotional thoughts. This change has required some adaptation - shortening the musical portion of the gatherings and forcing me to be more conscious of the time I spend in the Scriptures.
Of course, as we all know we have spent the last couple of months worshiping via Zoom Video Conferencing. This has been surprising in a number of ways. We have not only been able to engage with members of our family who have moved away but also had a much more participatory worship, sharing prayer requests and discussing the Scriptures. We look forward to the day when we can again worship together in person; but for now it a passable way to connect.
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