At Grace Church, young people are encouraged to serve the liturgy with regularity, committing to the development of strong ensembles and establishing the bedrock for Christian formation. This morning at the 10:30am service, the Treble Choir joins us in worship for the first time since March of 2020.
I am proud to report that our merry band stayed in touch and kept right on singing over the past year. Back when we shut down, I sent the choristers a video message saying how much I missed them and how I looked forward to singing again at services. Surely we would be apart no more than a few weeks!
In that video, I introduced one of my favorite pieces written for treble voices, A Chorister’s Prayer, by my friend and mentor, Gary Davison. The text, drawn from a sweet source known as the Chorister’s Pocketbook (1934) begins,
Bless, O Lord, us thy servants,
who minister in thy temple.
Little did we know how long it would be before we would again gather in the temple for worship. Over the course of the last year, our choristers dutifully attended my (deadly boring) Zoom rehearsals. We learned this piece and many others, and they bravely recorded their little lone voices, sending the audio files along for digital mixing.
When we rehearsed in person for the first time a few weeks ago, I was stunned by our choristers’ resilience and good nature, snapping to grid as though we had never taken a yearlong hiatus. We had even gained a few new members! And my weary heart was warmed when I found that most of them could sing Mr. Davison’s Chorister’s Prayer by heart.
God is so good. As we settle back into our busy routines, may we never again take for granted the invitation to minister in His temple.
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing!
Heather Adelsberger
Director of Music Ministries