Greetings, friends!

Among the wide diversity of Christian denominations and traditions, Lutherans have been commonly called the “singing Christians.” This is because, throughout history, we often placed music at the center of our Sunday morning liturgy and worship services. From the regular hymns, to the “Kyrie,” and the “Great Thanksgiving” during communion, music and singing were and are still the common thread that brings everything together. When music is absent, we certainly notice!

Even Martin Luther loved music within the context of worship. Writing in his Preface to Georg Rhau’s Symphonie lucandae, Luther said, “next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise.” Some of the most well-known and influential composers throughout history identified as Lutherans. Think of people like Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel (composer of the “Messiah”). Both originating from Germany in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation, they helped put a stamp on our Lutheran identity as they formed us into a people who loved and had a passion for music.

At St. Paul, music has always been a cornerstone of all that we do, and we are blessed with so many talented musicians among our membership. Now, with a newly formed choir, we are excited to bring choral music back to Sunday morning worship. Over the course of this past summer, we worked hard to hire a new choir director, and we welcomed Tara Larson to that role this past month. Tara will begin meeting and rehearsing with our church choir on Wednesday, October 2nd at 6pm. Our goal is to have the choir back in worship for its first service on Reformation Sunday at the end of October.

The Choir is still looking for new members and we encourage you to join them! Regardless of your skill level or experience, this is a fun way to share fellowship with other members of our congregation and al are welcome to join. We hope that you wil consider being a part of this new ministry that will be a blessing for all who come to worship with us! Good things are happening at St. Paul and, as always, God Spirit is leading us!

God’s peace be with you
Pastor Heath Queen