MUSIC MINISTRY

The Music Ministry at Queen Anne Lutheran Church provides opportunity for children, youth, and adults to share their vocal or instrumental musical gifts in the worship life of the congregation. All the music is prepared to offer praise to God and to proclaim the Word, as well as support and strengthen the congregational song. All choirs welcome new members with joy and thanksgiving, and if you have other musical gifts to share, we look forward to hearing from you as well.

Cantor’s Message

Many of you know that I serve on the Board of Directors of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM), a pan-Lutheran organization. ALCM’s primary goal is expressed in its mission statement: “ALCM nurtures and equips musicians to serve and lead the church’s song.”

September brings with it my turn to write an e-Newsletter greeting to the membership of ALCM. These words aren’t meant to represent QALC or my experiences here specifically but do express some of what I bring to my role as Cantor, and so I want to share them here as well. Note that you’ll see references to ELW as well as “LSB,” which is the Lutheran Service Book of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and CW, which is Christian Worship (2021), the hymnal of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. –KH

The autumn months always bring change!

September can fill us with optimism and energy as we return to full music programming. But most of us also have had September moments in our music ministries best described by this question: Where did the summer go? And if resources are limited, or when the fall brings changes that aren’t especially welcome, what keeps us going—September after September, year after year?

For the church musician, music is never only music for music’s sake. Unlike music for entertainment or personal fulfilment (which can, in proper context, be worthy pursuits), the music of the church emblematizes the very presence of “God with us” in the means of grace (Word and Sacrament), connecting people to the gifts of font, altar, and pulpit. We find purpose and passion as stewards of the story of manger, cross, and empty tomb, making them tangible for our congregations through music. And through music we make Christ’s presence among us here and now more tangible as well—Sunday after Sunday, baptism after baptism, confirmation after confirmation, wedding after wedding, funeral after funeral, September after September.

God’s blessings on your music ministry this September as you steward the story of the greater Moses, the greater Elijah, the “greater Jonah, bounding from the grave, His three-day bed” (LSB 462)—the One who “changest not” yet through whom the greatest change of all has been accomplished in redeeming us—the One who promises to abide with us this autumn and always, Christ Jesus (ELW 629, LSB 878, CW 783).

Kyle Haugen, Cantor

cantor@queenannelutheran.org