Grace Church Children’s Choir CD Release

Sunday, March 16th will mark the second Grace Church Children’s Choir CD release. The non-auditioned group of first through sixth graders has been rehearsing Scripture songs written by Dave Burkum (Lead Pastor at Valley Christian Church in Lakeville) and Spencer Bernard (Pastor at Evergreen Community Church in Bloomington) since September of 2013, under the direction of the Grace Church Children’s Worship Director, Dara Mann. I work with this group of kids and had a chance to gain more insight to the program from Mann herself. While Dara leads rehearsals for the 4th through 6th grade choirs, including the auditioned Excelsis choir, it takes a village of volunteers to bring the group together, such as Ed Baldzicki, who leads the 1st through 3rd grade rehearsals while not attending to his responsibilities as Vice President of Sales at Xerox. Having moved away from the performance track this children’s choir formerly followed, the past two years have shifted the focus to learning Scripture and using it as part of the kids’ ministry. Though the choir isn’t as large as it once was when staged productions were taking place, church leadership has decided the focus needs to be on raising up the next generation of leaders. People are encouraged to come celebrate with the children and purchase a CD. According to Dara Mann:

“That is another important stated purpose of our shift in direction -- producing something for children to use as a tool to introduce people to Christ.”

This family-friendly event is free to the public and CD’s will be available for $5. Visit the church's website for more information.   Photos via: Grace Church Children's Choir