Music is a very important part of the life of Sierra Vista. We have a variety of musical groups of various sorts made up of all ages. These include our Sanctuary Choir, Youth Choir, two children's choirs (elementary and preschool), 3 adult handbell choirs, youth handbell choirs, and 2 children's handbell choirs. There are also seasonal groups, which meet only during special seasons. We will soon offer music classes for those who want to learn more about music and how to use your talents in worship. These groups are open to you. 

We have music opportunities for all ages.

“Now there are varieties of gifts and ministries, but they all originate in the same Spirit.
Each person is given something to do that shows who God is, and it is God who activates all of them in everyone for the common good.”                 
--1 Corinthians 12: 4-7

Gifts. What a magical word! It makes us think of the excitement of Christmas and birthdays, with brightly colored packages we open to get to the ‘secret’ inside.

Remember all the wonderful things made by children at school, like special ‘hand prints,’ brought home and given to family members?  At an early age, we discover the joy of giving to others, and thus, the wisdom of the words, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

God has given us such a simple avenue to happiness: the gift of being able to give! Not merely ‘hand prints’ and such, but the gifts of our personalities and talents: the skills we have and the things we love to do.

Sometimes we fail to give our gifts for one reason or another. We may feel we are too busy with work or family obligations. We may think that spending time on something we enjoy is selfish. God’s creative imagination placed a special talent within each of us. When we discover our personal ‘hand print’ in terms of what we love to do, we are also discovering the unique self God imagined us to be.

Perhaps you love to sing or hum favorite hymns or praise songs in the shower or car. You may have found that listening to a great piece of music brings you closer to God. Maybe you love to play a musical instrument.  Music may be your gift,  given to you to draw you in to God’s holiness. You can share with others something you love-- your hand print of music– and add your gift to others in the music ministry in order to enhance the worship of the entire church family. I have found it to be a great blessing in my life! If you would like to know more about opportunities to serve your church through music, I would love to visit with you. 

Yours in Christ, 
Jan

  ADULT MUSIC

SANCTUARY CHOIR ... 
leads music in worship each Sunday at 8:30 & 11 a.m. We have a special need for altos. Rehearsals are Wednesdays at 7:00 pm in the Sanctuary. Childcare is provided.  

CIRCUIT SINGERS ...
meet the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 9:45 a.m. and travel to sing old-time favorite hymns and spread the love of God to shut-ins. Contact Gary Booth for more info. (Specific details for the upcoming month can be found on the "Senior Ministries" page.)

PRAISE BANDS ...   
rehearse Saturdays at 4:00 pm and then lead the music for the Saturday Worship Service at 5:30 p.m.  Contact Sam Allen for more info.

CELEBRATION RINGERS (HANDBELLS)...
meet Tuesdays at 5:45 pm in S-3. Childcare is provided. They play in worship every 4-6 weeks. 

YOUTH MUSIC

Sunday:             

                 4:00 p.m.   Praise Band...Life Center
                 4:30 p.m.   Handbells.......S-3
                 5:00 p.m.   Choir..............Sanctuary

                 We’re preparing for Youth Led Worship February 4th & 5th.
                 

 CHILDREN'S  MUSIC  
     
Children’s Music is “kickin’” on Wednesday afternoons:

Beginner Bells 

Wednesday 3:30 p.m. in S-3

Intermediate Bells

Wednesday 4:00 p.m. in S-3

K to 2nd Grade

 Choir -- Wednesday -- 5:15 - 6:00 in S-4

3rd to 5th Grades

 Choir -- Wednesday -- 4:30-5:15 in S-4

  CONTACT JAN CALL TO GET INVOLVED!
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PIANO UPDATE
Due to the help of generous music lovers at Sierra Vista, we’ve received over $7,000 this month towards the acquisition of our new Sanctuary piano. Thank you so much! 

AS THE CHURCH GROWS, SO GROWS THE PIANO...
I am so thankful that my parents chose Angelo Heights UMC for our church home when I was a young girl. I have such happy memories, such as singing favorite songs in June Stanford’s Sunday school room, playing volleyball in the backyard of the youth ‘house’,  Bible Study at DeAlva Rader’s house,  Butch Baker and Joe Lee reciting “Who’s on First” in the Fellowship Hall,  the ladies’ (WSCS) Mexican supper, and Sunday night Cokesbury hymn request time. When I was in 10th grade, I started playing prelude music on the piano before worship. The choir director then started asking me to accompany his solos on the piano, and when I was a senior I became the church organist. I vividly remember playing the piano in December of 1974 for my 1st Christmas cantata, “Night of Miracles” by John Peterson. The sanctuary piano at the time (and for many years) was an upright Hamilton. That piano can now be found in the choir room. To this day I adore that piano, although it probably has little to do with the action and sound of the piano.

A good piano has always been important, but the role of the piano has grown dramatically over the past 30 years. In the past, the organ alone was used for all service music and hymns, and the piano was mainly used to accompany the choir anthem and special solos. While the organ is still vital to our worship, the organ and piano share much of the musical support. Today we, along with many other Methodist churches, use piano and organ more equally for hymns for several reasons.

1) We find that congregational singing is enhanced with the use of both instruments together.

2) Hymnody in the Methodist Church has expanded globally and stylistically thus requiring more varied instrumentation.

3) Sierra Vista has followed the trend in making our music more relevant in today’s world, by go- ing with primarily a ‘blended’ worship style instead of the strictly ‘traditional’ worship of 30 years ago. Example: We love to bring glory to God singing “Holy, Holy, Holy” with full organ and pi- ano, with sometimes brass, bells, and timpani. However, we are inspired to action when singing “We Are Called” with piano and guitar.

    As our church multiplies, our music department continues to grow in participation and musicianship. This has led us to outgrow our instrument. With the size and acoustics of our sanctuary and the range of voices and instruments that we use (sometimes full choir and orchestra or 5 octaves of bells), an optimum piano for that space would be a semi concert grand piano in the range of 7 ½ feet in length.  This would not be significantly louder, but would get a fuller, more resonant sound with greater depth. A good quality piano of that size would serve this church well over 50 years.

Presently we have a 6'1'’ Young Chang baby grand piano in our sanctuary. It is a lovely piano, and would be a perfect ‘fit’ for our newly renovated Chapel Hall. This room is such a great new home for our Saturday night worship, and we have enjoyed numerous other worship services, and fellowship events such as dinner theaters and piano and harp recitals there. Many of these events would have been greatly enhanced by a more professional piano. Sometimes we opt for the sanctuary primarily because of the piano, as was the case last spring with Linda’s beautiful Lenten Musical Meditations.

Last fall, the worship committee gave approval to begin a new piano fund. Through memorials and our “On Broadway” dinner theater we have a great start. We currently need $25,000 to make our dream a reality. Any contribution that you can make will be greatly appreciated. Together we can make a difference by providing an instrument that  will help us give our musical best to God and inspire generations to come.

Yours in Christ, Jan