St Luke’s Church Parish Profile

Music at St. Luke’s
(continued)
in the Episcopal Church as well as those
that are new to the church. Furthermore,
the music program has a mission outside
of our church. We reach people throughout
the community through our music.
Our new Rector needs to be
appreciative of music and eager to “The music program teaches children not only music, but
support this part of our church’s
tradition. He or she needs to understand Christianity, our Episcopal faith, church traditions, life
the importance of music and how it is lessons, socialization, and outreach, while bringing joy.”
not only deeply intertwined with our
liturgy and worship, but also brings
celebration and a sense of community to the church. Indeed, many new families have come here
because of our outstanding music program. And it is the music program that keeps many of our
families and parishioners at St. Luke’s.
It is critical for our new Rector to understand that our current Music Director will be retiring soon
and therefore will have to be replaced. In addition, the operating budget has never been large enough
to pay her to work full time, but her dedication and passion have led her to expand the number of
activities and keep a full-time pace.
As one would expect in a church where music is such an integral part of the culture and tradition,
most of our parishioners embrace music. There are also those who feel there is a disproportionate
amount of attention given to music, at the expense of other programs such as Christian Education.
Our new Rector needs to be cognizant of these diverging views. He or she will have a challenge as well
as a unique opportunity: to recruit a new Music Director and foster coordination among all programs
involving children. We hope our new Rector will welcome this challenge.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church: P a r i s h P r o f i l e 2 0 1 1 11