At St John’s, all the music in our liturgies is offered to the glory of God and through God’s gift of music, we seek to contribute to the worship experience. It is our goal to provide opportunities for all to participate in and experience the transcendent power of liturgically appropriate offerings of many periods and styles.
We believe that liturgy is truly the work of the people, and as such our congregation is our essential and largest musical ensemble. We also believe that as St. Augustine is credited with saying,” He who sings prays twice.” Because of this we encourage all to make a joyful noise, singing hymns, psalms and service music. The hymns we sing are often familiar and sometimes new and challenging. They are chosen to commemorate the season or feast and/or reflect upon or illuminate a text from the lectionary of the day. We sing the psalms and service music together each week, varying the settings on a seasonal basis to help punctuate the rhythm of the church year.
In addition to our congregational singing, St. John’s has an active multi-generational choir which sings at the 10 am Sunday service each week, as well as Holy Days, and occasional Evensong. We believe that working together to bring sacred texts to life through musical performance is one viable means of Christian Formation.
The Chamber Orchestra of Barrington at St. John’s, a thirty member chamber group, makes its home at St. John’s. They perform the works of the great Masters, as well as standards of the chamber orchestra repertoire three to four times a year.
Information regarding St. John’s music programs, including how to participate is available from Jacob Stott who can be reached at 401-245-4065 X19.