Choirs and Instrumental Ensembles
Our first and largest ensemble is our congregation, which gathers for worship each week. Our congregation loves to sing God’s praises and enjoys a splendid heritage of hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs in their regular worship of the Lord. Although our Sunday morning choirs are not auditioned, membership within a choir requires the ability to match pitch consistently, a commitment to regular attendance, and a desire to improve one’s own musical ability. We have a variety of volunteer ensembles that rehearse weekly.
Please contact our Parish Musician, Mark Williams, if you are interested in serving.
The Parish Choir
The Parish Choir, a choir for adults and students as young as high school, leads worship each Sunday at the 10:30am Holy Eucharist. They lead the hymns and service music as well as offering a short anthem during the service. Each year the choir gives three major performances: the Advent Festival of Lessons & Carols, the Annual Spring Concert, as well as a major work with orchestra. Past works performed include Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Schubert’s Mass in G, and Alice Parker’s Sacred Symphonies.
The choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings 7-9pm in the Choir Room during the school year, and meets for 30 minutes immediately before 10:30am Holy Eucharist on Sundays to prepare for worship. The choir meets 6-7pm on Wednesday, before rehearsal, for dinner and fellowship time.
The Choristers
The Choristers, a choir for students in 2nd-12th grades, lead worship each Sunday at the 10:30am Holy Eucharist. They lead the hymns and service as well as offering a short anthem during the service. Each year the choir participates in the Advent Festival of Lessons & Carols and the Annual Spring Concert. The choristers are privileged to have a vocal mentor who guides them in proper vocal technique as they learn the basics of singing and begin to work through voice changes as they mature.
The choir rehearses on Wednesday afternoons 4:30-6pm in the Choir Room during the school year, and meets for 30 minutes immediately before the 10:30am Holy Eucharist on Sundays to prepare for worship.
The Compline Choir
The Compline Choir is an auditioned, ecumenical choir which sings the Compline by candlelight each Sunday evening. Made up of adults and students as young as high school, they rehearse at 6:30pm on Sunday evenings and then go straight into the 8:00pm service, ending the evening around 8:30pm. They sing a wide variety of music, but are grounded in Compline’s set order of worship, chanting the prayers and psalms.
Compline, or Night Prayer, is a Christian service of worship dating back to the monastic life in the Middle Ages. Compline, from the word completion, is sung in its entirety by the members of the Compline Choir as their offering to the Lord to commemorate the day’s end. In this light, the participation of the congregation is not outward, but inward. It is not vocal, but spiritual. In keeping with the earliest practices of the monastic communities, Compline is offered when the work of the day is completed, and the quietness of evening settles over the hearts and minds of those who have come together in thankfulness for the blessings of the day which has passed and in anticipation of God’s gift of new day. This service has its own Facebook page and has been written about in the Savannah Morning News.
The Bells of Christ Church
The Bells of Christ Church, a handbell choir made up of teenagers and young adults, is one of the finest youth youth ensembles of its kind in the Southeastern Unites States. They offer a piece during worship approximately once each month and participate in major musical events in the church such as the Advent Festival of Lessons & Carols and the Annual Spring Concert. They also go on tour each summer giving concerts around the Eastern United States.
The ensemble rehearses on Monday evenings 7:00-8:30pm in the balcony of the church during the school year.
The Folk Group
This ensemble leads congregational singing while the congregation partake in the Eucharist during the 10:30am service. An ensemble of adults and students as young as high school, they bring with them a wide variety of instruments including: violin, lute, cello, flute, bass, guitar, djembe, and piano. They also participates in the Advent Festival of Lessons & Carols and the Annual Spring Concert.
The ensemble rehearses every other Sunday 12:30-1:45pm and briefly before the 10:30am Holy Eucharist service to prepare for worship.