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Welcome to the music ministry of Hope Presbyterian Church! A huge percentage of our Hope Church family is actively and enthusiastically engaged in the music program here. Not musical yourself, you say? Not true if you attend our services! The most important singing group in the church is the congregation. We believe that all God’s people are to be fully involved in the acts of corporate worship, responding out of full hearts to God’s gracious work in their lives through Jesus Christ.The focus of all we do in our music ministry is to bring honor and glory to God himself. We also seek to follow the Psalmist’s admonition to "sing to the Lord a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy" - Psalm 33:3
Every member of every musical group at HPC is required to agree to a list of guidelines that sets out requirements and expectations as we work together to reflect the unity within diversity, which is the beauty of Christ’s body here on earth, blending "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" (Ephesians 5:19) in one harmonious symphony of praise.
The music offered in our worship of God is often a blend of traditional, classical and contemporary styles. It is our desire to provide an environment that allows everyone to come into His presence with joy. Through God-centered lyrics, powerful music and audio-visual media, we celebrate the greatness of God and prepare our hearts to receive His Word.
Chancel Choir
The Chancel Choir rehearses Sundays at 11:00am after the Worship Service September through June.
Anthems are chosen to support
the lectionary readings for the day and/or the sermon emphasis. The choir's repertoire reflects a
variety of musical styles including Gospel, Contemporary, Classical and Traditional.
It is not required that choir members be members of Hope Church. The Chancel
Choir is not a private club, it's open to all who love the Lord, attend our
worship services regularly, enjoy singing and will commit to being a faithful,
hard-working choir colleague. If you fit that category, why not join us? You
don't even have to read music - we'll teach you. Choir members take their
ministry in music seriously, but have a lot of fun along the way. For more
information about choir activities or joining the choir, contact our Music
Director, Carl Fritsche, at the church office: 732-542-0706
or just click here to email us.
Praise Team
Bell Choir
The Hand bells of Hope are made up of eleven regular ringers and three alternates.
Each bell ringer is responsible to ring three or four bells. The members of the bell
choir have learned a variety of different ways to ring the bells, with each different
ringing technique imparting a different sound.
Bell ringing does not require a high level of music reading ability, although
the members of the choir have developed a wonderful ability to sight-read. Many
of our ringers use highlighters to mark their notes, which makes the reading
process just a bit easier. Bell choir music is graded according to difficulty on
a scale of 1 to 6 with 1 being beginner level and 6 being highly technical and
requiring nearly professional musicians to play. Our choir is comfortable playing
level 3+ music and we have rehearsed some level 4 music but have yet to perform
those pieces. The Hand bells of Hope are always interested in new members or
alternates and we encourage anyone who is interested to come to our rehearsals
at the church on Monday nights at 7:00 P.M. from September through May.
Small Group Ensembles
Our Woodwind Ensemble made their debut in a Worship Service this year (2006).
Although all three flutists are members of our Praise Team, their flute trios are very special
offerings of praise and worship to God.
Concerts
The committed singers in our chancel choir are worship leaders, not a performing ensemble. Of
course, they are always there to lend their expertise to the singing of special anthems when called
upon to do so; but, more importantly, they fulfill their role (sometimes from the pew) to prompt
and support congregational singing. Occasionally they join forces with the Bell Choir and/or Praise
Team to introduce a new hymn or praise song to the congregation.
Our Praise Team reflects the makeup of our church. It includes married folks and singles,
men and women, elders and deacons, and ranges in age from early teens to late sixties.
All are volunteers - committed members of the team. Each one knows the commitment level required.
In our rehearsal times, we seek not only to become skilled musicians, we also seek to become
spiritually mature worship leaders, who, by our lives and attitudes, reflect the glory of God.
Our musical style is contemporary and sometimes ‘cutting edge’. Along with fresh new music,
we often include classic praise standards, encouraging a blend of music acceptable for all
generations. But the #1 criterion for our music is that it is scripturally based and
relevant to human needs.
The Hope Presbyterian Church bell choir has been in existence since 1998, thanks
to an extremely gracious anonymous donation of a three octave set of hand bells
along with tables, pads, and assorted accessories that are necessary to equip a
bell choir to play.
Our Men’s Ensemble specializes in, but is not limited to, a Southern Gospel sound.
Their musical offerings are always enthusiastically received whenever they sing.
Throughout the year our musicians put on special programs that can be classified
more as worship experiences rather than concerts. These events are always advertised
on our Special Events page.