Music

Music is a gift from God that lights up the soul.  We use music to celebrate and praise the goodness of God and to express the deepest longings of our hearts.  We wish to use music that is meaningful to the people of this church as well as music that our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world use in their praise and petitions to God.

Music for Worship

We seek to use music that touches the breadth of Christian experience, spanning the spectrum between classical and contemporary styles and also music that is local and familiar as well as global and outside our experience.  Through using this breadth of music, we seek to unite our souls in worship with our brothers and sisters around the world and down through the ages.

Senior Choir

Our Senior Choir practices Thursday evenings at 7:00 and Sunday mornings at 9:30.

Bell Choir

We have a three-octave set of bells that was purchased in memory of Mrs. Sherwood.  Our Bell Choir plays periodically in worship and regularly at our Community Christmas Concert.  The choir practices on Wednesday nights at 8:00.

Pipe Organ

The organ was originally built by M.P. Moeller of Hagerstown, MD, in 1928. It was purchased from a home in Grand Rapids, MI. The money was raised for the organ by a youth group called "Christian Endeavors" in 1942. It was previously installed in the old church located in downtown Newaygo before being moved to the current church building in 1965 by George Price. Most of the original four ranks of pipes were replaced by new at that time. Extra chamber space was provided for the future completion of the instrument.

In early 1983, an offer was made and accepted to complete the organ. Fowler Pipe Organs of Lansing, MI provided new pipes, major components, and refurbished the console. Richard Swanson, Tonal Director of Fowler Pipe Organs, did the installation, voiced the existing pipes, and voiced the new pipes. The completed instrument is ten ranks consisting of 653 pipes. Richard Swanson is the son of Keith Swanson and Reva Swanson. He donated his services in honor of his parents who were members of the church. The contemporary American Style of the instrument embodies the best of several European schools of organ building, making it possible for a wide range of organ literature to be played on it. Because of the innovative design of the organ and skillful execution of that design, a degree of versatility is achieved which is unusual for an organ of only ten ranks.