Re: Worship Blessings

Dear Choir Members,

Please let me chime in on thanking you for your beautiful music making and leading worship at First Presbyterian. I am fortunate to be your accompanist and will miss you once you leave the choir area in the summer. Today was great because the bells were there and sounded lovely. I miss having you surround me during the hymns and all throughout worship in the summer months.

We are fortunate to be able to sing and make music to glorify God and provide support for the congregation's song. Allan is a consummate choral director, and I appreciate his expertise in providing beautiful music to learn. Wasn't it marvelous to sing works from Messiah in May?

In case you didn't know about my upcoming trip to Germany, here is some info: Tim and I leave tonight for Frankfurt, Germany where we will eventually (Thursday) meet up with Minnesota Public Radio's Pipedreams Tour with Michael Barone. We will tour "Bach's Country" and see many organs and churches where J.S. lived and worked.(about 37 in all!) Our tour includes Erfurt, Eisenach, Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin and Naumberg. There are many other stops along the way including Buchenwald which is near Weimar. It will be an invigorating tour, I'm sure, and I look forward to playing many of the organs along with other "players" on the tour. Tim has opted not to play the organs! :)

This message contains many exclamation points because there is much to proclaim these days. I plan to enjoy every "note" of the tour to Germany!

Best wishes for a restful and joyful summer.

Laura E.

On May 16, 2019, at 4:27 PM, Linda and Allan Kellar <aandlkellar@comcast.net> wrote:

Dear Choir:

Here is a lovely message from Ken McCullen which he asked that I forward to you.

        Allan

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:	Worship Blessings
Date:	Mon, 13 May 2019 13:40:42 -0500
From:	H. Kenneth McCullen <hkmac32@gmail.com>
To:	Allan Kellar <aandlkellar@comcast.net>

Allan:

As we approach the end of the season and enter into the summer months I want to express how grateful I am for the consistent and enriching presence of the chancel choir throughout the year.

Yesterday was magnificent!  When you add instruments it enhances the beauty and depth of the music.  Although I greatly love Handel's Messiah, it was not only beautifully performed, but it reflected an entire year of awesome gifts the choir has shared with those of us who sit in the pews each Sunday.

Extend to the choir  my personal appreciation for the incredible commitment they make throughout the year to support and enrich our worship.  I know we say how much we enjoy the music each Sunday but I want to let you and them know that so many of us recognize the many hours of preparation that goes into adding depth and joy to our worship.  So thank you for your leadership.  Thanks to the choir for their commitment throughout the year.  And thanks to all the musicians who give support each week, especially Laura Edman.

How blessed we are!  Thank you.

Ken McCullen