Music

& David Poon

Music and liturgy had a year of transition in 2022, with many elements returning from hibernation.

We celebrated our first year back with exclusively live music (goodbye, virtual choir!), including Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, and Ascension Day liturgies that had been online-only since the start of pandemic restrictions. We were blessed by the dedication of our volunteer musicians as they supplied countless hours of service in band and choir. We witnessed our collective need and desire for worship through record numbers at our December carol services.

But the goal was never to recover some sort of pre-pandemic level of worship; it was to praise God—better and wider, joyfully and prayerfully. We equipped our young musicians to lead a ‘Youth Takeover’ service and started a youth choir in the fall to bridge the generational gap in our talented volunteers. We cross-pollinated our music resources, sharing traditional, contemporary, and youth-oriented idioms across our services.

Despite the growth, we had setbacks. We forwent our Remembrance Day concert for yet another year. We lost several longtime choir members due to chronic illness, moving away, family care, and death. Yet even then, it was an improvement over the previous year: at least we could sing for funerals and fellowship in-person with those in mourning.

Change and growth continues through 2023. We look forward to welcoming new musicians into our bands and choirs. (Do you know anyone?) Plans are set to record original music written for our evening service. More ‘Youth Takeover’ services are being prepared. Our special services are being revisited to ensure we maximise our outreach while maintaining sacredness and beauty in liturgy and song.

Music ministry at St John’s has ample room for growth, and there is no limit to our joy in singing praises together to God.