What is worship and what happens in a service?  In worship, God gathers His people around His Word & Sacraments for praise and fellowship and gives us the passion to help others. Weekly worship is part of the way of life that God has prepared for us.  At St. Paul, we believe that worship is a public conversation between God and us.  Here is what is essential for us in worship:

1. Absolution (Confession and Forgiveness): a proclamation by God in a human voice.

2. The preached Word

3. where two or more are gathered…worship is corporate and public.

4. Baptism: the Word with water

5. The Lord’s Supper: the gift of God’s son to us

When the worship service is over, God moves us out to help our neighbor in need. 

Good sermons are a top priority for St. Paul.  We pray for our pastors and we expect them to do their best to preach faithful, authentic sermons. 

How do we select our hymns and songs?  When it comes to our selection of hymns, here are four (4) markers that guide us:

1. They say much about our Lord,

2. …and little about ourselves.

3. Our hymns tell the story of Jesus

4.  The congregation enjoys singing them.   

About our music ministry: The mission of St. Paul congregation’s music ministry is to enhance the proclamation of God’s Word.  By the grace of God, we seek to carry out this mission through the following:

Choirs:

1.  Adult choir – any dedicated person from 7th grade on is welcome in this traditional SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) ensemble which meets on Thursday nights at 6:30. 

Directed by Julie Wood. 

2.  Cherub choir is for children in Kindergarten through 2nd grade and meets Wednesday at 4:30.  Marty Cantleberry directs this choir.  Marty also teaches elementary music for Alpena Public Schools. 

3.  Children’s choir is for grades 3-6 and meets Wednesday evenings at 7:15, except during Lent and Advent when they rehearse earlier.  Director: Julie Wood. 

Praise Band: Praise Band is a more contemporary ensemble that enhances the proclamation of the Word through piano, guitar, flute, violin, saxophone, voice and an occasional rhythm instrument.

Coming soon – a youth praise band for children and young adults from 7th grade on.

There are many dedicated disciples who form our choirs, bands and provide special music for the services each weekend.  Our organist/accompanist is Marvis McNeil.  A very versatile musician, Marvis is also a member of the Allegro String Quartet, concert mistress of the Alpena Symphony Orchestra and has played with various music groups throughout the upper and lower peninsulas.  Julie Wood is the Director of Music Ministry at St. Paul. Julie earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Western Michigan University and a Master’s in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College.

She is also k-12 Choral Music teacher for Alcona Community Schools and is part of the band Norden Flight.  Both Marvis and Julie also give private music lessons.   

To see our 3 year plan for music ministry, click here.

To learn more or to get involved, please contact Julie by calling the office or at julie@stpaul.org . 

Worship Schedule:

(Please check the weekly bulletin announcements for any last minute schedule/location changes)

Saturday 5:30 p.m., informal service, Holy Communion on 1^st and 3^rd weekends 

Sunday Morning, 8:00a.m. formal service, Holy Communion every week  

Sunday School, ages 3 through adult - Sunday Morning, 9:15 a.m. – mid-Sept through mid-May

Sunday Morning, 10:30 a.m. informal service, Holy Communion on 1^st and 3^rd weekends.

From Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, this service begins at 10:00.

Background:  The above document is based on the following:

- the Worship Committee’s stated mission

- the teachings of the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions

- information gained in 2003 by the team (Shirley Houston, former Music Director Sandi Sims, and Pastor Paul) from St. Paul who attended a worship conference in Minnesota.  That info was then shared with worship team and council and the markers for our hymn selection and worship were established.

This updated posting was approved the Worship Committee on March 30, 2007.