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Music in Worship

The point and purpose of worship is to lead us out of the ordinary and the everyday into the realm of the divine and to send us out refreshed and rededicated to the service of God’s kingdom.

Music plays a leading role in this. Suitably chosen, it speaks to the heart as well as the head and touches our body and soul.

Our choir

Each Sunday, our choir, small but perfectly formed and steadily growing, leads our congregation in singing five or more hymns or songs.

We sing an introit – a song before the service starts – each Sunday; a second piece for communion on the first Sunday of the month; and an anthem in the “music for reflection” slot on the last Sunday.

The Geneva ex-pat lifestyle means not all of us can sing every Sunday. That’s ok: it’s accepted that choristers come when they can, and there are almost always enough of us to make a joyful noise.

Geneva winters mean we are not wild about coming out at night during the week to rehearse.

So we adopt an easy-care approach to rehearsals. We run through each Sunday’s music at 10 AM before the service and preview the choir music for the coming month after the congregational lunch on the last Sunday.

In the last two years, we joined successfully with the choir of the Swiss-German Reformed Parish of Geneva, to lead Christmas carol services for both congregations.

In the Church of Scotland, twice is a tradition. If we do it again this year, it becomes a rule…

In our choir, all are welcome. It helps, of course, if you can sing in tune, but you don’t need to be a trained singer, still less a professional (few of us are). It helps if you can read music, but it’s not essential (not all of us do).

We take a six-week break in the summer, finishing on the first Sunday in July and starting again on the last Sunday in August.

“No stress” is our motto. The aim is not to overburden busy people but to have fun in praising God.

Why not give us a look?

Contact: Páraic Réamonn

Music in worship sermon - The Church of Scotland Geneva

Instrumentalists and soloists

On Sundays other than the first or last in the month, instrumentalists and soloists fill the “music for reflection” slot after the sermon.

Again, the point is not to show how brilliant we are but to glorify God.

If you feel you can contribute, why not let us know?

Contact: Vivien Liu