Choirs

Valley Gospel Singers

The Valley Gospel Singers sing at the church worship service the first Sunday of each month with an hour practice the Wednesday evening before at 7 PM. Everyone is welcome to sing with them to the Glory of God. It’s only a 2 hour a month commitment. Come ALL!

The Cherub Choir and Praise Team fill our worship services with music each Sunday. Each choir offers the opportunity for people of all ages to share their musical gifts during worship.

 

The Praise Team

Upon arrival at work each morning, I usually follow the same path: turn on the lights, start a pot of coffee, turn on the grill, turn on the worship music. I don’t know how it came to be, but usually when I’m frying up the bacon, I pray for the Praise Team. Maybe it’s cause they’re awesome, like bacon. I don’t know.

As we began the new school year, I spent some time reflecting on everything that happened with PT last year…and boy, did it just bless my heart! I listened through all the songs we had done (that I could find), and just sat back and smiled. The kids, who I am thrilled to say all came back this year, have grown so much- in size, in talent, and in spirit! They are willing to tackle challenges, such as the mega-medley we did with the Chancel Choir for Pastor Roger’s last day. They are willing to go new places to spread joy with their songs. One of my favorite moments of last year was when we were the opening act for the Winona Brass Band. Here we were, seven kids from RLC on a great big stage in front of a great big audience, with professional musicians looking on…and they were such an amazing witness to the power and beauty of the Lord!! Every song they sang rang out not like the jingling bells on Santa’s sleigh, but like the proclamation of the Good News that they were! So many people were touched by the performance that night, and the songs have been viewed over a thousand times online. The only criticism I got from anyone was that it was “too churchy”, which to me was a compliment. The plan is for them to perform again this year on December 2^nd, so mark your calendars.

There is a folder on my phone that I refer to all year long- the ‘songs that Praise Team would rock’ folder. Whenever I hear a great song, I type it in on this list. And then try to figure out where and how to make it all happen. The songs we’re doing for October had their start on that list. I like the kids to have an up-tempo praise song that’s fun to perform, and also a song that is more reflective and worshipful. When we were painting pumpkins as a gift for the Chellews, the kids started singing our new song, and I knew we had a winner.

I’ve said before that songs, like Scripture, should be learned and tucked away inside of one’s heart. That way when you need strength from above, as we all do every day, you’ll have words and melodies to help weave the fabric.

This year we have eight fantastic young people, ranging from 3^rd grade to 12^th, and we are always willing to welcome latecomers, if you know someone. I thank God every day for this amazing opportunity to work with this phenomenal bunch of kids, and I ask that you would all pray for the whole lot of us and our families regularly. These kids are gonna change the world.

In Praise Team we share our prayer requests, our stories of how great God is, and our love of music, with each other and our brothers and sisters in Christ at RLC. Here’s to another great year of sharing God’s love through the gift of music!

Blessings, Kristin Burdey