Music Ministries

Tom Brantigan, John Pusateri, Eileen Gathman

Traditional: Tom Brantigan

The "Tradition" moves forward, supporting the mission of Central, as it has done for many years and for centuries in the greater community of Christ. As always, it is all about worship and all about people. Everything this ministry does is geared to Central's mission of bringing people closer to Christ.

The Chancel Choir continues to provide wonderful music for the traditional 10 o'clock service. Everything this group does, from rehearsals, to participation in worship, to performing concerts, is done in the spirit of worship of God our Creator. As always, we invite anyone from the congregation to join us Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings. You will be welcomed warmly!

Sundays at Central has taken on a life of its own and has experienced great success and growth. We encourage all of you not only to come to the concerts but also to bring friends to get them into our church and to experience the spirit that flourishes here. It is evangelism to us and a good outreach into the community. If we can encourage people to attend a concert, we can make it easier for them to come on Sunday morning to begin their journey with us.

The people involved continue to drive the effort and inspire those around them. Though I can't name everyone who has contributed, a few need special mention.

• Carol Corey is a force to be reckoned with! There isn't much that the traditional music program does that Carol is not pushing, encouraging, praying for, and just plain making it work. Thank you, Carol!
• Jay Biddison continues to reign supreme at the organ for most Sunday mornings. Without him, I would be lost! His talent, his humor, his dedication all contributes to our efforts. Thank you, Jay!
• Amy Killian is another unsung heroine whose help makes the program work. When I was out for surgery, Amy stepped in to take over the choir and program until I could return. Thank you, Amy!
• Steve and Betsy Nelson are long-time supporters and singers in the Chancel Choir. What many don't know is the level of their scholarship in hymnody and the music of the church. Each week Steve researches the best hymns to fit the message and recommends them to the senior pastor. Thank you, Betsy and Steve!
• Carolyn Smoes continues to help with the choir library and faithfully works behind the scenes to distribute music and then to re-file that music after we are finished with it. Thank you, Carolyn!
• Chrissy Hoffner is our bell choir director and has continued to apply her dedication and talent to the effort. Thank you, Chrissy! - and congratulations on the birth of your daughter. She's cute!
• Phil Munds continues to make the Sundays at Central Concert Series a success and continues to lend his talent on the French horn to many of our Sunday services. Thank you, Phil!
• Gene Ball can't be left out! He provides the zing and humor to every rehearsal and fulfills his role as "Elder Ball" by praying with us on Thursday nights and Sunday mornings. Thank you, Gene!

Finally, the choir is about family and we share our ups and down together as a family. We pray for each other when we are ill or when there are special circumstances that need our family support. We also thank the many people in our congregation for their support through the past year and we welcome your continued support and prayers.

-- Soli Deo Gloria

First Light Worship: John Pusateri

"the Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made
let us rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 118:23-24

The First Light service continues to be a place where families, singles, young adults, empty nesters and older couples can worship in a contemporary setting. It offers a diversity of music and service elements that speak to the needs of all worshippers and assists them in not only growing their relationship with the Lord, but also growing their sense of fellowship and community within the service. The service has grown and changed immensely in this last year. It has been restructured to minister to a more modern and transient generation. We have made the flow of worship less choppy and the elements within more thematic to tie together all that goes on with the message being preached.

In early January we introduced new music to the team and had a special all-day rehearsal to explore the new worship songs and learn them so that they could be introduced to the congregation. We have integrated these songs into the repertoire and the congregation has responded very positively to them. We have also removed many of the old and outdated songs from the week-to-week worship service and archived those files to be saved. We continue to introduce new songs on a periodic basis. The worship team and congregation have been very enthusiastic and receptive to them.

We have also streamlined the service by no longer having an elder lead the Call to Worship and Confession elements, but rather we have delegated that responsibility to the worship leader to incorporate within the worship set. This alleviates the abruptness of personnel transitions and gives the congregation a more consistent group to lead them in these elements of the service.

The First Light Worship Team has also begun to integrate dramas, additional power point presentations, videos, testimonies and special music as a way to enhance thematic ties in the worship. All of these additions continue to point us towards our ministry to the congregation by providing these elements that are common and effective in today's world.

Several members of the worship team were able to attend a national worship conference in Nashville, Tennessee. This conference, organized by Worship Together, was a wonderfully enriching experience for all involved. It included examples of live worship and teaching by internationally known worship leaders, teachers and preachers as well as smaller group sessions on a wide variety of topics from sound engineering to composing music to management and communication issues. The members of the team were also able to fellowship with each other and members of the EPIC team. It brought the two groups very close together and provided a great model and many ideas on how this ministry can grow and improve.

Finally, in the short time that I have been directing First Light Worship there have been many volunteers who have made incredible contributions to continue the work of this team. I want to acknowledge them and a host of others for their leadership and visioning. They have been an integral part of the change and growth of this ministry and have done it all with incredible servant hearts. They have brought new members to the team, encouraged fellow members by having real fellowship outside of the rehearsals and services and have also sent several members out to serve in other capacities, some to other parts of the country. God has truly been using this ministry to reach many for His glory and I thank Him for the privilege to be a part of it.

EPIC Service: Eileen Gathman

2003 has been a year of training, growth, hardship, and blessing. The EPIC service has had its own spiritual journey that looks very much like our individual journeys. At times, obedient. Other times, confused and frustrated. Many times, overflowing with praise. But in all things, there is a call to do ministry that brings people into the presence of the living God who is beyond all of us. God continues to stretch us outside of our current head & heart knowledge of who He is so that we can plant seeds of worship into the people gathered each week.

Several members of our team spent a week in San Diego, CA at the "Emergent Convention," which engaged us in conversation about the church's need to be relevant to the emerging culture. Another group spent a weekend in Nashville, TN at a "Worship Together" event aimed at equipping musicians, sound technicians, visual artists, and others who work creatively in Sunday morning worship. We hope to bring an even larger group to the event when they bring it to D.C. in 2004.

To say that EPIC is growing is an understatement. Attendance has been averaging 350 with some weeks over 400. We are running out of room and this has caused us to open the choir loft for congregational seating during the service. (In fact, if you have not tried sitting up there, you should!) Many of these people are getting into small groups or connecting in other ways to the larger community of Central. We have also been trying some new things to help create the atmosphere of worship, such as a more intentional focus on the flow of songs, prayer, scripture & teaching, and using stories as a way to introduce the theme, just to name a few.

There was a season of hardship as we lost one of our beloved team members. I frequently think back to three years ago when we began rehearsing for the new EPIC service and thinking how amazingly blessed we were to have Kevin Bertaux as our drummer. He set a standard of worship that continues to inspire us, even as he worships in the direct presence of the Almighty. As we rehearsed for his funeral service, one of our team members said that he felt that Kevin's death was almost a rebirth of his own spirit to devote his musicianship to the glory of God. It also brought the return of several of our team members who had been taking time off. God surely does use all things to glorify his Holy name!

There is a new song out by Matt & Beth Redman called "Blessed Be Your Name" that is taken out of the Old Testament book of Job. When we first heard that song as a team, we all caught on and realized that it has been the cry of the heart of the EPIC team this year. "In a land that is plentiful... where streams of abundance flow... when I'm found in the desert place... though I walk through the wilderness... when the sun's shining down on me... when the world is as it should be... on the road marked with suffering... when there's pain in the offering... my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your name." As we strive to worship God in a way that is relevant to our culture, we first choose to say, "Lord, blessed be Your name."