Our next TGI Friday Night Praise Service will be July 30 at 7:00 pm! Our first “experiment” was a wonderful success, so we are going to continue this service each quarter.

If you like praise and worship and want more music, this service is for you! We’ll sing a wide range of old and new favorites.

Our worship theme for the evening is Faith Without Borders. We’ll be blessed with a homily from Michael Drain. You may remember him from the Black History Month service as “the Preacher.” He’ll share some insights about faith and how that impacts us as a church that draws from diverse traditions.

We will have some soloists from our church, and one from our local community, Anthony Rodriguez. Our prayer is that God will speak to you through the music and strengthen you on life’s journey!

It’s new! TGIF: Friday Night Praise and Worship gathers for the first time Friday, April 30, at 7:00 pm.

All four praise teams will be there, with your favorite singers from the Music Ministry.

We will be singing some of your favorite songs: How Great Is Our God, Praise Adonai, Use Me, Shout Your Fame and Revelation Song, plus some new songs like You Are Welcome and Expectation. This will be a time to let yourself go in worship of our wonderful Savior and Lord! The service will include a brief homily, but the focus will be on praise and worship through music!

We’re very pleased to announce that Richard Ramsey has been selected as our new accompanist! April 25 will be his first Sunday to accompany us during worship.

His responsibilities will include serving as piano accompanist during our morning worship services each Sunday, rehearsals with the Choirs and Instrumental Ensemble during the week, and occasionally performing special music. He will also fill in for Mark Brown as Worship Leader when Mark is not here.

Richard brings impeccable qualifications and loads of experience with him to this position. He has a B.A. in Piano Performance. He has held staff positions as both Accompanist and Music Minister at two large local churches, including one church with weekly attendance of 6,500. He served as an accompanist for Sandi Patty for two years. He currently works for Lawrence North High School as their Choral Department’s Accompanist and Instructional Assistant. Richard has experience with a broad range of musical genres.

He has a deep calling to use the arts to help people connect to God, and looks forward to growing with the Music Ministry and Jesus MCC. Be sure to make him feel welcome!

Jesus MCC is looking for a part-time Piano Accompanist who has excellent accompanist skills and is able to sight-read classical and contemporary music. The accompanist will work 10 to 12 hours per week, at our worship services and rehearsals. It’s important that this person be on a meaningful Christian journey and understand the responsibilities of a spiritual leader and role model. You can download the full job description.

Historically, Jesus MCC has had a part-time accompanist to supplement and support the work of our Worship Arts Minister. The position has been vacant for the past two years due to the deep economic recession and associated budget shortfalls. In recent months, however, giving has begun to return to pre-recession levels. So, at our January 31 Congregational Meeting, a budget was approved that restores funding for the accompanist position.

If you know someone who might be interested, please download the Position Posting. The deadline for application is March 14, 2010. Let’s pray that God will bring us the right person!

Our Sanctuary Choir and Instrumental Ensemble are ready to kick off the spring season. Please join us!

• The Sanctuary Choir rehearses every Wednesday at 7:00 pm. We sing every other Sunday in both morning services, and in the evening service on opposite weeks.
• The Instrumental Ensemble rehearses on Thursday evenings at 7:00 pm and/or Saturday mornings at 9:30 am. They also perform every other Sunday in the morning services, and in the evening service on opposite Sundays.
• We have one major presentation during Holy Week. This year the choir will perform a three-part musical to chronicle the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection of Jesus. We’ll work with the Theater Arts Ministry.
• If you’re a soloist, the Music Ministry invites you to audition for Mark Brown, our Minister of Worship Arts.

The Sanctuary Choir and Instrumental Ensemble are not “official” Oasis gatherings, but many of our members find this is a meaningful part of their spiritual development and service. It is a time that those called to serve as church musicians can be of one spirit and offer their talents to God and allow the Spirit to touch lives through the music that is presented.

For more information please email Mark C. Brown, Minister of Worship Arts, or call (317) 722-0000 × 104.

This is the exciting time of year when the Jesus MCC Gospel Choir kicks off their 2009-2010 season.

We recently sang inspirational songs as part of the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner. The audience was also invited to share their testimony. Several youth and adults from Indiana Youth Group joined us. They and others graciously shared their stories and what they were thankful for. Upon closing, everyone sang Nobody Can Do Me Like Jesus, filling the room with the Spirit.

On Christmas Eve, the Gospel Choir will help bring Christmas cheer as we delight in song along with Deacon Robert Ferguson, who will deliver the sermon. Please join us and partake in a wondrous, God-loving event.

On January 9, we will begin rehearsing for our annual Black History Month Celebration. We invite anyone who is interested in being a part of the gospel choir to join us in this exciting new year! Please contact Mark Brown for more information, or fill out the form in Sunday’s Weekly News.