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AN INSIDE LOOK AT OUR CHILDREN’S CHOIR: Sharing Young Voices with God and Our Parish
“To sing is to pray twice” is a quote often attributed to St. Augustine. And in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14). So if we put singing together with children coming to Jesus, we end up with a children’s choir, just as we have at St. Paul’s and Our Lady of the Angels. What could be more beautiful than children singing to the Lord? About once per month at Our Lady of the Angels or St. Paul’s, you can hear the Children’s Choir singing beautiful music to praise the Lord. Melanie Borgerding directs the choir with Shari Saltmarsh as a helper, and Emma Kittelson has been playing the piano for the choir. Melanie, a mother of five boys, had the desire in her heart to start a children’s choir, but she hadn’t taken the next step. Music Director Nancy Schleicher called her one day to ask her if she’d like to start the choir.
“It was God’s plan for sure,” Melanie says. “I just love hearing their voices and seeing the excitement. I’m always so amazed at how quickly they catch on. They are amazing.”
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“When I heard that Melanie was starting a Children’s Choir in the parishes, I immediately reached out to her with much excitement and pure joy, thanking her and asking what I could do to help get it going,” Shari says.
The Children’s Choir started around Christmas 2021, and Melanie says there are still opportunities for more children to join at any time. All ages from 6 to 18 are welcome — instrumentalists are also welcome. The choir usually practices once or twice before singing at a Mass. For holidays, they put in a few more practices.
“People love hearing the kids singing,” Melanie says. “There really is nothing better.”
“Singing connects us emotionally and enables the children to participate in the singing, even if they are too young to understand what the lyrics mean,” Shari says. “The rich lyrics help our children to praise and worship God from their hearts when perhaps they wouldn’t have had the words to do so otherwise.”
Of course, all music at Mass is beautiful, but there is something special about hearing children sing. Melanie and Shari have appreciated all the nice comments from parishioners. Parents of choir members have commented that the children enjoy singing at Mass and are enthusiastic about practicing the music at home.
“The children have said they feel belonging in the Mass and have had many sweet and polite compliments from adult parishioners, which is healthy in parish life for growth into the future of the Church,” Shari says.
All ages from 6 to 18 are welcome — instrumentalists are also welcome.
The Children’s Choir performs during Christmas 2021.
The Children’s Choir performs during Mass, spring 2022.
