The Angel Choir is Back!

Last Sunday, enthusiastic high school and middle school Angel Choir members met at the home of Fearless Leader Joy Hire for the first rehearsal of the 2025-26 season.

Even though it was the first time this year’s choristers had sung with one another, the music was beautiful, and the mood was upbeat. Following rehearsal, the singers jumped into the pool or gathered under trees on a simply gorgeous afternoon, and the fun continued. Enjoy these images of their first day together!

ANGEL CHOIR BEGINS THIS SUNDAY

Calling all Angels, returning and brand new!

The Angel Choir, for singers in grades 7 through 12, will begin its program year with a song and a splash from 1 to 3 p.m. this Sunday, August 24! Meet at Director Joy Hire’s home (1568 Silver Street) for our inaugural rehearsal and pool party.

• Bring a towel and whatever you’d like to drink; there WILL be snacks.

• Come for the music, come for the sun — and come for the fun!

 Contact Joy with any questions!

Chancel Choir will begin rehearsing on August 28.

 This season, we will be taking on all of Handel’s Messiah throughout the year, with the Christmas portion being presented on December 21.

In conjunction with this sacred and timeless work, Wallace and I will lead a series of five classes throughout November and December that examine Handel’s masterpiece as a Bible study, considering it as both a musical and theological work. Each class will take place after worship on four Sunday mornings.

If you’d like to perform this work with the choir, we will be rehearsing at 7:45 pm on Thursday evenings beginning August 28. Please come and sing with us!

Thank you!

Photos and a video are included below.

Many thanks to all the folks who turned out to ring our steeple bell for the Pelotonia cyclists as they made their way through Granville. Huge shout-out to Greg Bossert, Linda and Steve Scott, Ruth Sawyer, Danny Hussey and friends, Eric Henry, and Michael Crum for ringing during the first hour! Wallace started off the 11 am hour and took a brief sojourn up into the steeple to see the bell up close! Check out his Facebook post for great videos that Sophie took. Laura Atchison, Jacob Palmer, and I finished out the 11 am hour.

It was a lot of fun ringing while the Granville High School band played across the street from us! A happy, jubilant cacophony.

August 31 at 3 pm in the Sanctuary.

What leads composers toward the sacred? What is their spiritual journey as they write their songs? What inspires them to write their timeless music? Come August 31st at 3 pm in the Sanctuary to find out the answers to these questions and hear the beautiful voices of two of OSU’s wonderful vocal faculty.

Soprano Helen Allen and tenor Andrew Blosser, along with pianist Philip Everingham, will perform songs inspired by sacred texts across the centuries. From the poetic texts of John Climacus in the 1st century to the spiritual writings of 21st-century author Annie Dillard, the Ohio State voice faculty will present songs that consider Christ’s birth, ministry, and suffering on the cross, as well as spiritual considerations through the French mystic/composer Olivier Messiaen. Composers you will hear include Benjamin Britten, Hugo Wolf, James Primosch, and Vaughan Williams.

Choir Rehearsals Resuming – 

• Angel Choir: Aug 24, pool party! Details coming soon!

• Festivo Bells: 7 p.m. Wednesday, August 27 in the Sanctuary

• Jubellee Ringers: 4 p.m. Wed., August 27 in the Sanctuary

• Chancel Choir: 7 p.m. Thursday, August 28 in the Sanctuary 

Music for Sacred Spaces – The Sacred in Song. 

• 3 p.m., Sunday, August 31 in the sanctuary. OSU faculty members, Helen Allen and Andy Blosser will perform songs inspired by sacred texts. 

I want to take this opportunity to express my sincerest thanks for the opportunity to attend this year’s Pinnacle Handbell Festival, which takes place every 5 years.

I flew out Wednesday morning and arrived in time for dinner and a concert that evening by the Columbia Brass Ensemble from Columbia, Missouri. The three days of classes, Thursday through Saturday, were phenomenal. I had two classes on beginning and advanced handbell quartet ringing. These classes involved everything from how to set your bells for a more efficient performance to all the techniques involved in handling more than four bells at any given time.

There was also an amazing class on Saturday with Nikki Evans, who is a phenomenal solo ringer. Her class on 6 in hand (three bells in each hand) was especially timely as we now have the extra upper half octave, making three bells in the right or left hand of the upper bells a more common occurrence.

Other classes included how to make Google Workspace work for your ensemble, making communication and sharing videos and articles even easier. There was also a ringing track. I didn’t get registered for the advanced track as it filled quickly, but I had a great time ringing the intermediate track with director Clauda Chen from Hong Kong. Her rehearsal techniques were wonderful for rethinking many of the techniques I use in my rehearsals.

The concerts were AMAZING! From Twin Cities Bronze, which plays without a conductor, to Arsis Handbell Ensemble, which is an Estonian Handbell Choir made up of professional adults who love to play and have been through the Estonian Handbell program. This concert by Arsis was breathtaking with colors and techniques and fast tempos on pieces like The Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov,

I am thrilled to start this year sharing all the things I learned while at this festival. Next year, the National Festival will be taking place in Cincinnati, and I’m hoping our bell ringers will be able to attend with me. It is promising to be another great opportunity to learn a lot and hear great handbell ensembles play.

You can see the concerts before August 13 on the following website. I would suggest, if you don’t have a lot of time, look at the Arsis concert first. You won’t be disappointed. Musician Showcases - HMA Pinnacle 2025.

Thanks again,
Philip

To our First Presbyterian Family and Granville Community,

Who would have thought that black pavement, orange safety cones, yellow caution tape, and red, white, and blue balloons could translate into a colorful and successful church youth money-maker? If you drove by — or into — FPC’s parking lot last week, you would know that a brand-new fundraiser for our youth mission and music programs did just that!

The idea of reserving a spot in our lot—the only private parking available on the busy four corners of Main and Broadway—turned into a rewarding venture during our village’s Fourth of July festivities. Many members of our congregation jumped at the chance to reserve a convenient parking spot for the fireworks, parade, and street fair. Daily crews of teens, parents, and staff greeted drivers with beautiful smiles and sweet welcomes or, depending on the shift, enthusiastic applause and exuberant cheers.

Whether you reserved one space or many (you know who you are … and WOW!), relinquished your regular, convenient staff parking place for a few days, provided the loan of a cone, or shared your time during the holiday weekend to stand in the hot sun and await customers, we are grateful. There may be a few minor kinks to work out, but based on the positive comments we’ve received, this promises to become an annual event supporting our youth mission trips and Angel Choir tours that are so worthwhile and beneficial.

With gratitude,
Joy and Kristin

The money raised benefits Senior High Youth Trips and The Angel Choir Trips.

Many of you know that the church is under major construction with the HVAC system. This has affected our entire building, including our parking lot! The parking lot will be closed July 2 and 3 during the day for construction vehicles. The lot will open at 5 PM on those days; and you can SECURE A SPOT for just $25. On July 4th the lot will open for reserved spots ($25) at 9 AM; and on July 5th at 10 AM. The money raised from the parking spots will go to benefit Senior High Youth Trips and The Angel Choir Trips. Snag your spot- and peace of mind, by scanning the QR code on the image above!

David Rinehart has been with the choir for 53 years, moving from Willard, Ohio, to Granville in the 60s and then back from Toledo, Ohio, in 1973.

Sandy and David have been singing alto and bass with the Chancel Choir ever since.

David has sung for over 70 years in vocal ensembles and quartets. He began singing in the high school choir with a quartet and also an octet. Their quartet had professional gigs while they were singing in high school. Not only did he sing, but he also played baritone horn and trombone in the high school band.

He went on to Case Western Reserve University, where he sang in the Glee Club. He majored in engineering and worked at Owens Corning for a summer job while he was in college. He began singing with First Presbyterian Church of Granville, joining the choir in the 60s. One of David’s favorite memories is traveling to Europe for work as the choir was singing the Rutter Requiem back in Granville. We’re glad to have David with the Chancel Choir and look forward to many more Sunday mornings and special services with his deep bass in the back row.

High Lonesome Bluegrass Mass by Tim Sharp and Wes Ramsey

June 8, 2025, at the 10am service
Pentecost Sunday

Dear friends, please come and hear the Chancel Choir as we present songs from the Southern Harmony and Gospel hymnody!  Each song is arranged as a part of the liturgical mass, with well-beloved songs woven throughout the mass.   

Accompanied by the Denison Bluegrass Ensemble.

It will be a fun celebration of the church's birthday! Be sure to wear your red that morning, and stay for the fun reception afterwards, presented by the Worship and Music committee!

Philip

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Our first anthem, “I Will Give Thanks,” is new to this church. Craig Courtney has crafted another beautiful composition that draws inspiration from the texts of several Psalms, expressing praise and gratitude for all that God has given us.

Our second choral piece is Elaine Hagenberg’s “You Do Not Walk Alone.” An immediate favorite of every choir that begins rehearsing it, this Irish blessing’s simple but evocative lyrics are hopeful and encouraging. The melody is delicate and lilting, building from a unison beginning to six-part crescendos.

It will be sung as our choral benediction and serve as a fitting farewell to our nine exceptional choir graduating seniors who have shared their time, talent, and fabulous personalities with fellow choir members at our rehearsals and with our congregation during Sunday worship.

To commemorate our seniors’ dedication to First Presbyterian Church, their names have been added to the long list of Angel Choir alumni names engraved on a series of wood and bronze plaques displayed in the youth choir room. Oh, how we will miss them ...

 With appreciation and love,
Joy Hire, Fearless Leader

You Do Not Walk Alone

 May you see God’s light on the path ahead
When the road you walk is dark.
May you always hear, even in your hour of sorrow,
The gentle singing of the lark.
When times are hard, may hardness never turn your heart to stone,
May you always remember when the shadows fall,
You do not walk alone.

This Sunday, our children’s choir will share a special anthem in honor of Mother’s Day, titled The Blessings of a Mother’s Love.

Through joyful voices and heartfelt lyrics, the children will celebrate the care, strength, and unconditional love that mothers and mother figures bring into our lives. We hope this musical offering blesses all who hear it and reminds us of the profound impact of a mother’s love, both in our families and in our faith community.

Music, particularly choral music, has been a significant presence in Sandy’s life beginning in the second grade in her mother’s children’s choir in Willard, Ohio, where she was a fellow chorister with Sandy Jump. It continued on through high school choirs and a girls’ sextet. Somewhere along the line, 5+ years of piano lessons provided an extra foundation. She and her husband, J. David, moved from Willard to Granville in the early 60s and joined First Presbyterian and sang in the choir before Owens Corning whisked them away, first to Texas, then Toledo, Ohio, and finally back to Granville in 1973, where they joined the choir once again. Together they have been singing with the Chancel Choir for 53 years!

A teaching position allowed Sandy to share her music with 3rd graders for 18 years. She bought an old upright and painted it red (with apologies to Elton John)! 

Choirs have been a source of family for Sandy. There is a connection and a sense of belonging in every choir, truly embodying the phrase in the hymn, “the tie that binds.”

Please join us for worship on Sunday, May 18, for one of our favorite traditions, the blessing of our high school seniors.

The Angel Choir will sing for the last time this program year, and following their anthem, we’ll honor the seniors from the choir and our congregation. 

Seniors: Please send a picture of your choice and a short description of your future plans to Kristin at kream@granpres.org.

*Are you or is someone in your family graduating post-high school? Please let Kristin know, because we want to celebrate you, too!*

Area V Handbell Conference April 25 and 26th, 2025

The Festivos had a wonderful time this past weekend playing with almost 700 of our closest bell-ringing friends!   We packed up SUVs and cars and made our way to the Columbus Convention Center.   Classes began at 3:30, and day one concluded with a wonderful concert by a High School Handbell Choir out of Michigan. We attended classes reading new music that’s being released through Hope Publishing, as well as attended a meet and greet of the main attraction, our clinician, Fred Gramann.   Here is his bio:

A native of Washington State, Fred began his early organ studies with Dr. Edward Hansen of Seattle, winning the student organ competition sponsored by the Seattle Chapter of the American Guild of Organists while still in high school. While earning a bachelor's degree in organ performance at Syracuse University, he won first prize in the 1972 Ft. Wayne National Organ Competition and was awarded the Arthur Poister Prize for outstanding organist in the Syracuse University School of Music for four consecutive years. From 1972–75, Fred studied organ in Paris, France, with Marie-Claire Alain, also spending one year working with organist and composer Maurice Durufle. Fred earned a master's degree in organ performance at the University of Michigan during the 1975–76 school year. He returned to Paris in 1976 as Director of Music at the American Church in Paris, the oldest non-governmental American institution abroad, recently celebrating his thirtieth year of music ministry. Mr. Gramann started a handbell program at the American Church in 1981, thanks to a gift of two octaves of handbells. The program has since grown to include three handbell choirs performing on five octaves of Schulmerich handbells, four-and-a-half octaves of Malmark handbells, four octaves of Petit and Fritsen handbells, five octaves of Choirchimes, and a growing set of Whitechapel handbells. Fred has had numerous choral anthems and handbell works published in the US and is an Honorary Associate Director of the Raleigh Ringers.

 We took the 6 compositions that they wanted us to perform as a mass choir and rehearsed for several hours over our two-day conference.  We made new friends and got to know each other even better throughout the conference.  A particularly fun class we attended was a Battle of the Bands.   All in all, it was a great weekend.  Enjoy the pictures.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the people who made Holy Week so meaningful during this Lenten and Easter season.

Many thanks to Aaron Wilburn for his leadership of the Children's Choir as they processed and sang the opening hymns and led in the Call to Worship, and then sang such a joyful song as we began Holy Week.

A very deeply heartfelt thank you to the Chancel Choir, who provided music all week from Palm Sunday, an Anthem on Maundy Thursday, to Good Friday's wonderful Faure Requiem and then turned around and sang both services on Easter morning!   First Presbyterian is VERY blessed to have such a group of dedicated musicians!  THANK YOU!

Handbells provided music starting us off with an exaltant prelude at the Palm Sunday Service to a deeply felt, "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" at the Good Friday service. Thank you for sharing your musical gifts with all of us!

To all the readers who gave of their time and brought so much meaning to the Passion story and Easter morning, thank you!

To the Angel Choir who came and sang with Chancel at the 10am service!  Thank you!  Having the combined forces of both choirs was so incredibly moving!  Thank you to Joy Hire and the Angel Choir for all their hard work!

Thank you all!  It's truly a blessing working together to share the gift of music through worship!

Philip Everingham

Director of Music

This Sunday, our Children's Choir will help lead us into Holy Week with a joyful anthem of praise! During the Palm Sunday service, they will sing “Blessed Is He” as we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Their voices, full of energy and faith, are sure to lift our hearts and set the tone for the sacred days ahead. We are so proud of their hard work and invite everyone to join us in worship as they share this special song!

This Sunday, our Children's Choir will help lead us into Holy Week with a joyful anthem of praise!

During the Palm Sunday service, they will sing “Blessed Is He” as we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Their voices, full of energy and faith, are sure to lift our hearts and set the tone for the sacred days ahead. We are so proud of their hard work and invite everyone to join us in worship as they share this special song!

Larry Miller came to singing at the youthful age of 57. 

He had always wanted to sing but was always reluctant to jump in. When he got to Granville, OSU Newark sent out a course schedule, and there was a class called “Singing for Non-Music Majors”.

The course began with about 20 singers, and by the last week of class, it was whittled down to Larry and two sopranos. Three songs had to be performed for the final exam. For his final exam, he sang Ombra m'ai fu by Handel, Somewhere by Leonard Bernstein and Tony Bennett's The Best is Yet to Come!   

Tom Martin corralled Larry into the Chancel Choir about the same time he was learning to sing, and from there, the Denison Concert Choir soon followed. While with Denison Concert Choir, Larry was instrumental in getting the Newark-Granville Symphony to play and the chorus to sing Beethoven's last symphony, which includes the famous Ode to Joy that was heard everywhere when the Berlin wall came down in 1989.  

I know many of us still remember his and Hugh Price's Blues Brothers Skit at the first cabaret. Other choral highlights include the Bluegrass Mass and singing at Iona Abby during the 2015 Scotland tour. "Some of my closest friends are the people I sing with." Making music together is a truly bonding and special experience. Larry, we're glad you're still singing!

-Philip