Family Music Ministries

Make a Joyful Noise to God!

The Family Music Ministries at First Presbyterian engages the entire congregation in making a joyful noise to God. Children of all ages are encouraged to explore and befriend their voices as they gain the skills to be worship leaders in the congregation. Emphasis is placed on music making as an act of praise and worship that extends from our gratitude for all of God’s gifts. Singers learn theologically rich pieces from around the world that reinforce their skills, as well as familiarizing themselves with hymnody.

Click here for the Spring 2012 Singing schedule

Click on “Sing at Home” in the menu on the left to listen to the music we’re singing.

Children’s Music Ministry

The Children’s Music Ministry (second through sixth grade) rehearses each Sunday following church school (from 12:00-12:45 p.m.) in the Assembly Hall and sings in worship about every other month. On days when we sing in worship, children arrive for warm up and rehearsal at 10:00 am.

Music for Youth

Youth (seventh through twelfth grade) participate in monthly Ecclesia Events, which include singing and music making. “Ecclesia” means “church” in Greek, and Ecclesia Events are a time for First Presbyterian’s Youth to come together, serve the church and the world, and be with one another. Each event includes worship, service, scripture, music and fellowship. The Sunday following the Ecclesia Event, youth are invited to sing in worship together with the Children’s Music Ministry.

Music with Preschoolers through First Graders

Three to four-year-olds and Kindergartener and First Graders participate in a fifteen minute long music time that takes place during Church School. Younger children sing about four times a year in worship.

Singing for the Whole Family

The first Sunday of every month at 10:00 am, families are invited to participate in a time of singing for all ages. Family Hymn Sings allow parents and children to familiarize themselves with the hymns we’ll be singing in worship that morning. Your family will gain confidence reading music, and better familiarize themselves with the rich canon of hymns in our hymnal. Singing at Home Workshops are geared for families with younger children, and feature songs for mealtime, bedtime, and liturgical seasons such as Advent, Christmas and Easter.

A liturgist and musician, Emily is committed to encouraging congregationalsong.  After training as a trombonist at Sarah Lawrence College with performers such as Jim Markey and David Taylor, Emily earned her Masters of Divinity at Yale Divinity School and the Institute of Sacred Music.  Emily’s studies focused on liturgy and the relationship between worship and the arts.

Emily is the New Music Project Coordinator at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco.  Founded in 2005, the New Music Project is an association of church musicians and clergy from around the country dedicated to promoting “paperless” music—music that can be taught and sung by rote—in a congregational setting.

From 2007-2009, Emily served as the Director of Worship at The Riverside Church in the City of New York, where she continued to work to bring diverse groups of people together to pray and praise God.  Emily is also the founder and Pastoral Minister of St. Lydia’s, a new congregation in Manhattan that gathers each week for “dinner church,” a Eucharistic meal patterned after worship in the early church.

Contact Emily at escott@fpcnyc.org for more information.