Music Notes

Nov. 14th, 2018
From the Podium
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I spent the weekend in Cincinnati attending a certification training. I'm hoping to be a Music Theory I instructor for the Handbell Musicians of America organization. As many of you know, I've been a music theory nerd for a long time so this should have been easy. And in fact the material that is to be taught is easy. What turned out not to be so easy was the teaching of the course material. All of the trainees went through the curriculum four times, with each of us teaching various units of it. By the end of the weekend each of us had taught every unit. We taught each other, so the "class" was made up of our peers who were music theory experts who pretended to be people who understood very little about the material. As the "class", we were allowed to ask any question that might throw the presenter off-guard, or point out anything that was unclear. The whole point of this (very intimidating) method was to point out that those of us who want to teach have to think in a completely different way. We have been so steeped in the concepts and language of music theory that we no longer think of the shortcuts that we use and the language that we take for granted. It was very hard to think again at the most basic level. The closest comparison I have is teaching a young person how to drive a car. Those of us who have driven for a long time often try to immediately dump all of our experience into a young mind that is still unsure of which one is the gas and which is the brake, let alone how to work a turn signal.

Even if I don't become officially certified to be an instructor, the experience was valuable because it reminded me of other things that I take for granted that everyone knows, and how many times I fail to communicate well. I suspect you might have the same issue if you think about it. For example, how would you explain the meaning of Communion to someone who had no Christian upbringing or experience? It might be something like this: "Well, the bread and juice represents the physical body and blood of Jesus, who was beaten, broken, and who gave himself over to death as a means to redeem us of our sin. It is a reminder of Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering servant, but also a reminder of the Old Testament story of Passover, which was the means by which God rescued the Hebrews from slavery, which was a foreshadowing of our own rescue from the slavery of sin." At what point did your eyes begin to glaze over? I imagine that the person not used to our Christian language gave up before you did. How about this instead: "Communion is something that we do to remind us that Jesus loved us more than we can understand."

I'm going to repeat a theme that I bring up regularly. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are the representatives of Christ and the Church to everyone around us. But if we can't simply communicate what we believe, and they can't understand us, how can we expect them to feel welcome into our community? All of us should take some time to make sure we can communicate that basics. Why do we need Jesus? Why is church important? Why is sin a problem when you constantly say that God loves me unconditionally? Why do I need Christ to have a fulfilling life?

If we approach people with the idea that they may not know nearly as much as we do, it makes us work on ourselves to make sure we can answer questions that perhaps we haven't thought of in years. We may find that we have to take the time to learn the answers ourselves in order to share them with others. There's no shame in that. The process makes us all better disciples.






Chancel and Worship Choirs

Chancel Choir - Thank you for an excellent worship experience yesterday. Next Sunday we will be in the choir loft but the Choristers will be singing the anthem.

Worship Choir - Wonderful job yesterday. Thank you for helping to put together an arrangement "on the fly".


Chancel Choir - I have more CDs ready for you if you want them. They will be available on Wednesday night.

Chancel Choir (and others who want to join us for the Christmas cantata) - I will continue to leave the link in the newsletter that will let you hear (and maybe practice with) our Christmas cantata.

https://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/media-player.jsp?&type=audio&productID=10907356


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Youth Choir
  • Thanks to everyone who participated in our concert for CADES last week. I continue to receive gratitude from the CADES people for your time and talent.
  • This Saturday, Nov. 17th is the 2nd Annual Artisan's Craft Festival at Concord. They have asked if the Youth Choir can come in and offer a set of music. It would be very much like the CADES concert. We'll sing what we know and would be there for a half-hour at most. We'll be singing at 11:30. Please let me know as soon as possible if you're available to be there. I will have more details later in the week about exact times and what to wear.
Other Musical Ensembles

Thursday Night Ringers - We are back in action this Thursday night. I'll see you at 6:00.


Concord Men's Ensemble - We will be rehearsing this Sunday afternoon at our regular time. We have some new Christmas music to start on. It will be fun. I'll see you at 6:00 in the choir room.
  Looking Ahead

Wednesday, Nov. 14th

7:00 - Chancel Choir Rehearsal

Thursday, Nov. 15th

6:00 - Thursday Night Ringers

Saturday, Nov. 17th

11:30 - Youth Choir sings for Concord Craft Fair

Sunday, Nov. 18th

8:45 - Worship Choir - TBD

11:00 - Choristers Choir (Chancel Choir in the choir loft)

4:00 - Youth Choir rehearsal

6:00 - Concord Men's Ensemble rehearsal

7:00 - Concord Bells rehearsal


Wednesday, Nov. 21st

7:00 - No Chancel Choir rehearsal (Happy Thanksgiving!)


Thursday, Nov. 22nd

6:00 - No Thursday Night Bells Rehearsal (Happy Thanksgiving!)


Sunday, Nov. 25th

8:45 - Worship Choir - TBD

11:00 - Chancel Choir with Concord Brass - "To the Lamb on the Throne"

4:00 - Youth Choir rehearsal

6:00 - Concord Men's Ensemble rehearsal

7:00 - Concord Bells rehearsal

Wednesday, Nov. 28th

7:00 - Chancel Choir rehearsal in the sanctuary (this could be a longer-than-normal rehearsal)

Thursday, Nov. 29th

6:00 - Thursday Night Bells rehearsal

Saturday, Dec. 1st

10:00 a.m. - Cantata dress rehearsal

Sunday, Dec. 2nd

8:45 - Worship Choir - TBD

11:00 - TBD

4:00 - No Youth Choir rehearsal

4:00 - Chancel Choir reports to choir room for warm-ups

5:00 - "Sing Christmas!", round 1

6:00 - snacks and fellowship in the choir room

7:00 - "Sing Christmas!", round 2












Prayer Concerns and Celebrations



  • Norma Smith is recovering from an appendectomy, and Dalton is making steady progress following knee surgery.
  • Nancy Ridenour is recovering from back surgery.


  • Laura McNeil's birthday is today, Nov. 12th.
  • Joan De Tar's birthday is Tuesday, Nov. 13th.
  • Laurie Booker's birthday is Saturday, Nov. 17th.
  • Paul Garrison's birthday is Monday, Nov. 19th.




Mike Stallings
mike@concordumc.com
mikestallings@charter.net
(865) 966-6728 (o.)
(865) 719-3469 (c.)