HOLY FAMILY MUSIC MINISTRIES
Welcome to the Holy Family Parish Music Web Page. My name is Jeannine Stilger Newcomb (better known as Miss Jeannine) and I have been employed here at Holy Family since July of 2002 as the music and liturgy coordinator. Since 2002 we have had a lot of fun and have had a lot of singing going on here at Holy Family.
I have been asked by several people, “What do you do here besides play on the weekends?” Well, lets take a walk through the music and liturgy department here at Holy Family and you will begin to see what it is that I, and a lot of other people do for the parish of Holy Family. Like so many of the other staff members here at Holy Family I consider my job a joy and a pleasure. This is a wonderful school and parish to belong to….and a blessing to be employed here.
If you are interested in any of the music groups below please e-mail or call me here at Holy Family. Go ahead and browse through each of the music groups and pick the one that is right for you. See you in church.
Miss Jeannine
812-941-8051 ext. 4
Adult Choir
The adult choir is a group of parish individuals who choose to praise God through their music……coming together to make one voice….leading the congregation in sung prayer and praise. We sing a combination of traditional and contemporary music but mostly traditional. Members range from high school youth to senior parishioners. Should you be able to sing to join a choir? Well, actually it would be nice if you could at least stay on pitch….but there is limited training during our choral rehearsals. The parish choir/adult choir right now sings for Midnight mass on Christmas and Holy Saturday. We are currently not singing any other times because of lack of members. If you think this is the group for you, please call or email me to set up a time for an audition. Rehearsal times will be announced for the christmas season.
Guitar Group
This is a group of wonderful musicians sharing their time and talents to bring sung prayer to our parish. We offer a more contemporary style of music mixed in with the traditional. Our mission is to expand the congregation’s awareness of different styles of sung prayer. Do you need to sing to join this group. Yes, I am afraid that you do. This group does have advanced musicians that either know how to read music or learn very quickly. Some of the liturgies we will be singing for are: Christ the King, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve at the 4pm mass, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Pentecost Sunday plus once a month at our regular wknd. masses. If you want to join this group, call or email me to set up a time for an audition. Rehearsals are on Thursday evenings from 7-9, generally from August through Pentecost Sunday.
Youth and Young Adults Choir
As a teen or young adult, you are full of life, ideas, and energy. The main goal of our youth choir is to let them express themselves through their music and to lead the congregation in sung prayer. The youth choir leads the singing at a monthly “Youth Mass” (with a 30 minute rehearsal before mass begins.) which is during the regular school months, and at several of the all-school masses during the school year. There is always a problem getting teenagers to a weekly rehearsal in the evenings because of school work, jobs, or just not having transportation so we are currently having rehearsals on Tuesday afternoons from 3-4. The youth choir right now (unfortunately) only consist of the children that are students of the Holy Family School grades 6-8 and not a parish wide choir.
Children’s Choir
The children’s choir is a group of children from the 3rd grade through the 5th grade. Our goal is to lead the congregation in sung prayer through the angelic voices of our children. Our mission is to awaken the child in all of us through music. Why do we sing? Because we can’t help but lift our voices up to God through song. As of right now the children’s choir consists of the children that are students of the Holy Family School grades 3-5……but if you want to get your child/children to our rehearsal on Thursdays after school you are more than welcome to do so. Rehearsal: Thursday afternoons from 2:55 to 4:00.
Resurrection Choir
The resurrection choir is a group of musicians who lead the funeral congregation in sung prayer. We sing at most of the funerals here at Holy Family meeting 20-30 minutes before each funeral to go over the music for that mass. All are welcome to attend….if you are interested in singing with this group contact Pauline Glotzbach to get on the phone list.
Cantors
What is a Cantor anyway? The cantor is a member of the assembly who serves the assembly in its worship. The charisma of the cantor is to act as a catalyst for the sung expression of faith within the assembly. The role of cantor has come to include a number of things. It is generally considered the ministry of the cantor to: Lead moments of worship with solo song; Share in proclaiming the word of God, particularly as psalmist in the liturgy of the word; Teach the assembly its songs, refrains and acclamations and animate the sung worship of the assembly. This ministry requires a great deal of competence, but is not the same competence as that of the entertainer or showperson. The cantor must be a singer, proclaimer, liturgical minister and spiritual leader, a singer of lullabyes and victory songs, a true storyteller and a person of prayer, highly attuned to the meaning of a moment and to the meanings of things and gestures. Wow….that sounds like a lot and you are right, it is. But the grace and love poured out from God when you are cantoring is something that you will just have to experience for yourself. There are no regular meetings for our cantor program but we do meet around six times a year. There is no age limit on being a cantor so…… If you are interested in becoming a cantor for our parish please contact me and we will set up a time for an interview.
Instrumentalists
This is a group of dedicated individuals who add music to our masses with their instrumental gift. We want to enhance the music ministry and to draw the congregation into a deeper level of prayer. Our mission is to heighten the ministry of music for all. If you are an instrumentalist and want to give your gift back to God, please contact me for an interview.
Jerry Ernstberger/organist/pianist/vocalist
Saundra Albers/organist/pianist/vocalist
Jeannine Stilger Newcomb/choral director/organist/pianist/bassist/violinist/vocalist
Other musicians here at Holy Family
Emily Lobeck/piano/violin/vocalist
Eric Oakley/cello
Past musicians/liturgists here at Holy Family
Sarah Zoll/coordinator of music
Laura Meyer/coordinator of music/choral director/pianist
Janet Hamilton/coordinator of music/choral director/organist/pianist
Bill Grantz/choral director
Jerry Ernstberger/choral director