First Congregational Church
165 Main St, Amherst, MA
has always been an important facet of the life of First Church. The worship service is where this is most in evidence, and where the contribution to the role of the ministry is experienced as well as recognized. Through the inspired direction and energy of our music staff and talents of our congregation, at the First Congregational Church in Amherst you’ll find a service full of rich and varied music
First Church has a state-of-the-art 3-manual Allen digital organ, a recently restored 1897 Steinway Model A Drawing Room grand piano and another fine vintage Steinway grand piano in the sanctuary, as well as a 3-octave set of English handbells. We continue to oversee and preserve our musical instruments so that they will be providing beautiful music for generations to come.
Worship services at the church are enhanced and highlighted by the talented voices of our choir, which generally sings twice a month. The men and women of the choir bring their vocal talents to a wide range of inspiring musical selections. Under the leadership of our Minister of Music and Organist, the offerings of hymns and anthems – both traditional and contemporary – inspire us and are an integral part of the richness of our services. Choir generally rehearses on the Thursday evening 7:15-8:30 pm and Sunday morning at 9:30 on the weeks it sings in the worship service.
Children and youth participate in the musical life of the church through seasonal choirs and singing activities. There are opportunities to learn to play the handbells, sing with the adult choir and participate in special music projects. All music programs for young people offer their gifts in Sunday worship on occasion.
The church is fortunate to benefit from the melodious sound and synchronized precision of our adult and youth bellringers periodically during the year, adding a unique and beautiful sound with the memorial set of brass English handbells.
At every service, the congregation is invited to sing hymns from our hymnals that accent and help weave the story on a particular Sunday. The Church uses the New Century Hymnal, a modern book of classic and recently composed hymns as well as hymns old and contemporary from a variety of other sources.
In addition to organ and piano music, our church members regularly offer their musical gifts by providing special instrumental music for worship services. The First Congregational Church is fortunate to have members and friends who enthusiastically share their instrumental abilities including flute, guitar, drums, brass and strings.
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In addition to the church’s own concert series, Music on Main, a number of community groups regularly perform in First Church’s acoustically pleasing sanctuary which adds to the musical richness of the congregation. These have included the Hampshire Young People’s Chorus, New England Voices, several University of Massachusetts choral groups, shape note singers, individual recitals, readings, concerts and many others.
The Merry Musical, our annual all-church variety show, was founded in 1966 by Dorothy Wright, a woman with a joyful heart who thought that we tended to take ourselves too seriously and that we needed more music and laughter to brighten our lives. How right she was! Forty-two years later, the show is still going strong. There are no auditions, no rehearsals (well, almost none!), but a wide range of talent and an enormous amount of fun and music for all ages.
Music on Main is First Church’s concert series offering 3-4 concerts throughout the year in the church sanctuary, generally on Sunday afternoons at 3 pm. Tickets are priced reasonably and available as a season subscription or individually.
Created and developed in 2003, Music on Main has two goals: to bring interesting artists and groups to area audiences and to make our acoustically pleasing sanctuary available to musicians as an Amherst venue. We are using Music on Main as a way of raising funds to support the music program at First Church and the first priority has been the restoration of our fine 1897 Steinway grand piano.
Past performances have included solo recitals by organists, pianists and vocalists, chamber ensembles and choral groups.
The announcement and brochure for the 2008-09 concert series will be available in late summer 2008. To receive a copy please e-mail the church office with your name, mailing and e-mail addresses firstchurch_amherst@comcast.net. or telephone 413 253-3456.
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