Music Ministry

The River of Life UMC music ministry is divided into a number of different areas. All areas share a set of common goals, the most basic of which is worship. Our view of worship is to celebrate and magnify God. Through worship, we celebrate God's presence and magnify God's worth, personally and corporately. We do that through the following teams.

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Praise Team

Our praise team leads the congregation in worship for two contemporary services each Sunday morning. Worship through music is something we value very much. Our team of musicians and vocalists encourage our congregation to experience the awesome presence of God through passionate worship. We are committed to our calling and love to praise and worship God in and outside of church.

Our musical style is contemporary praise and worship songs. Our music includes artists such as Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, Newsboys, Matt Redman, David Crowder, Michael W. Smith, Third Day, Charlie Hall, and many more. We also have been know to dip into the secular music on occasion with some Beatles, U2, and Faith Hill. We look specifically for songs that will move and motivate you. We know that music is something God can use to bring us closer.

Our praise team is made up of a core group of members. These members play pretty much every week. We have a few extra places that we use to fill with members that prefer not to participate every week. We also have some members that share skills and tend to rotated in and out regularly. Our praise team is always open to accept new members. There is no formal audition. We do ask that you begin by talking to our worship leader about your interest. The next step is to attend one or more rehearsals with the praise team. We will determine from that when would be the best time to place you in the Sunday morning rotation.

Liquid Music Team

Our liquid music team provides music for our Wednesday evening emerging worship gatherings. This is a much smaller group that plays more cutting edge music. We feel that music can touch your heart and soul very deeply. Everything in the world is not always happy and upbeat. We reflect this sometimes in our musical selections. Presenting God's truth in an emotional music way through music is very important to us. Music can move us to many responses such as singing, yelling, dancing, reflecting, crying, and to action.

We are constantly exploring new areas of Christian and sometimes secular music to support the message God has placed on our hearts each week. We play music by Skillet, Kutless, Starfield, Storyside:B, Delirious, Pillar, and Jeremy Camp. We also delve into the Praise Team contemporary songs when they fit our purpose.

Our team is pretty much a 4 piece Christian rock band at it's core. A rockin' drummer driving an electric bass guitar, one or two electric guitars, and sometimes adding in an acoustic guitar, keyboard, and backing vocalists. Membership is open to anyone that would like to participate. Talk to our church worship leader about your interest.

Tech Team

Our tech team is responsible for dealing with all the technology needed to provide the right setting for worship. This includes the sound system, lighting, and multi-media tools. We tend to use a mixture of all these mediums to create an atmosphere for worship to take place. We have audio mixer boards, amps, speaker systems, picture, video, and lyrics projection systems and use MediaShout software to drive our multimedia content. If you have skills in these areas or would like to be trained to help out please talk to our worship leader. We can always use more tech assistance.

Traditional Service Music Team

This team is responsible for providing music and vocal leadership for hymns in our traditional service. This usually involved a piano player and one or more vocalists to lead the singing of hymns. If you love to sing hymns or play piano please talk to our worship leader. We would love to have you.