Easter Choir @ CTCC

I figured I should write about this before Easter becomes too much of a distant memory and the post just seems completely random. This past Easter something pretty cool happened at my church, we had an Easter choir. To my knowledge this is the first time there has been a choir there. So being the music loving, recently over my fear of singing in public guy that I am, I signed up to be a part of it. I am not new to being in a choir, but the last time I was in one I looked a lot more like this

Than this

As far as I could tell the requirements for participation were not overly stringent, commit to being there at practice & for all 4 Easter services & (I’m assuming) not be noticeably terrible at signing. Winner , winner chicken dinner, I check both of those boxes 🙂

It was a really enjoyable experience being part of a choir again, I recall enjoying it when I was a young boy and there was a nice sense of reclaiming some of my heritage in being involved again. It was also a really great privilege to play a small part in the worship team that has had such a big impact on my life the past 7 years that I have been attending CTCC.

To try and explain that, music is a big part of my make up, a big part of my passion, God knows this, obviously, so he uses it with me. There are times in worship when I can feel His presence, there are times when He uses music, worship or not, to deliver a message to me that for whatever reason has not sunk in any other way. The members of the worship team change over time but the one consistent is their amazingly high level of talent and dedication. To see them up close in action and also to see behind the scenes a little as to what it takes to put together a service every week was really cool. For me it’s not just the actual music but everything around it that geeks me out, that’s the reason Dave Grohl’s Sound City is one of my all time favorite movies.

Back to the choir, first practice seemed to go well, I missed the 2^nd practice due to vacation but was all set having learnt my parts (and the whole songs) for Easter.  I had even incorporated the 2 songs into my worship set at Solomon’s Porch the week before Easter thinking that would help. Well, it turned out that caused some memory confusion when it came time to sing the harmonies instead of the melody, I got there but it was a struggle at first. That and the key was changed as one of the worship leaders had laryngitis, the doctor recommended that she not use her voice, God recommended that she did and miraculously provided enough voice for her to use her amazing talents to lead the congregation in worship.

There were four services, two on Saturday evening and two on Sunday morning. There were to be three songs performed by the band before the choir joined them on stage for the final two songs. The two songs we sang were “When Love Was Slain” and “The Cross Stands”. For the first service I waited backstage with everyone and frankly it drove me nuts. I love being in the sanctuary during worship and I was getting itchy feet so for the other three services I hung out and worshiped before making a dash around the building to be in place in time, that made for a much more enjoyable experience for me personally.

The performances seemed to go really well, they were very well received, I heard many compliments being thrown about. Much more importantly they seemed to perfectly set the atmosphere for the incredibly powerful message that was delivered by our Pastor. I don’t know the numbers but I do know that many people made a decision for Christ that weekend. To get to be one tiny part of what God used to get each one of those individuals to that place was such an incredible privilege. It was a long and busy weekend, but it was so worth it. I don’t know what the future holds for the CTCCT choir or even if there are plans to use us again, but I sincerely hope they do and that I get to be a part of it.

Here are a couple of short clips my wife took with her phone. God bless you my friends, keep your dreams alive and let your light shine