People—Our Music Program

One of the highlights of our services is music by the choir or by our music director, Joe Patchen.  Joe graduated Summa Cum Laude from Augusta College in piano performance and was chosen the top student pianist in Georgia. He studied performance, arranging and music theory at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and has been a featured soloist with the Augusta Symphony and Augusta Ballet, the Rome Symphony.  He is well-known in the Augusta area for his jazz arrangements and performances. 

 

 

The music on Sunday mornings is as varied as our services. On any given week we might be treated to a performance by our all-volunteer choir, or a soloist or taped music. Most services include hymns sung by the congregation from Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook with hymns, songs and readings from around the world. Joe’s music is so inspiring that we sit through the Postlude instead of leaving.

Our choir is currently about 12 volunteers led by our music director, Joe Patchen. We sing a wide variety of material, based around UU-inspired choral anthems but also includes music from many other religious traditions. Anyone who loves to sing is welcome to join us.

Joe and the choir put out their very first CD last year containing original Patchen compositions and songs from our hymnal.  Copies are available at the church.
Text Box: Key Events Don Hostetler—selected, taped, played music for Sunday a.m. worship Purchased new hymnals—Singing the Living Tradition Purchased Kawai Baby Grand—Memorial fund—Marcus Clayton’s suggestion Joe Patchen—Music Director, benefit concerts, worship services Choir produces first CD

Spirit of Life is our Congregational Anthem

 

Spirit of Life, come unto me.
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea; move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold me close; wings set me free; Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.

 

When Carolyn McDade penned the lyrics roots hold me close, wings set me free, she meant that the legacy of our past nurtures us, hence our roots, and as human beings we need to be able to dream of a future that is open to possibility and to our striving. Roots and wings are about both our stability and about our possibility. We need both.

8/1997

7/1999

Marcus Clayton was instrumental in the decision to purchase a Kawai grand piano when we decided to upgrade ours.

 

The purchase of both the piano and the new hymnals was partially financed through memorial fund donations in the early 1990s.