The St. Paul’s, Ivy Youth Choir is open to all children ages eight and up (grades 3-12). High school students are very welcome and will have leadership opportunites within the choir.  Children must be able to read text well on their own and sit still for 20-30 minutes. Singers must be able to attend most rehearsals and most performances.  The Youth Choir is directed by Debbie Weaver, assisted by Cary Kast.

Rehearsals are on Sundays, immediately following the 10:30 a.m. service in the downstairs choir room. Children will be expected in the downstairs choir room as soon as possible after the service ends (they may pick up a snack at Coffee Hour and bring it to eat after choir practice). Rehearsals will last about 30 minutes. Some Sunday rehearsals will be for section leaders only. Extra practices may be scheduled occasionally.

Generally, the Youth Choir performs in church on the fourth Sunday of each month. They also sing on special occasions, such as the Festival of Lights, Palm Sunday, Easter and at the Christmas Pageant and early Christmas Eve services. A calendar with rehearsal dates, performance dates and music is provided to all choir members.

Every Sunday, youth choir members may put on choir vestments and process with the adult choir if desired.  Older singers may sit in the choir loft throughout the service while younger singers will return to the choir room to remove vestments, then return to the church to sit with their parents. On Sundays and other occasions when the Youth Choir is scheduled to sing, choir members will vest, process and stay in the choir loft throughout the full service.  Occasionally our youth singers will sit in a reserved pew in the rear of the church during a service.  Youth Choir members should not be scheduled as acolytes, ushers, nursery helpers or treasure kid helpers when the Youth Choir performs, although they may act as lay readers.

Not only does the Youth Choir have fun making music, we have fun in other ways. Pizza lunches, a Palm Sunday egg-dyeing party and other get-togethers are a regular part of the Youth Choir calendar. We will participate in a special service project for our Outreach families too. Choir members also receive special recognitions as part of their service to the St. Paul’s, Ivy family, including rings at high school graduation and special gifts at confirmation.

If your child is interested in participating in the Youth Choir, contact the church office at spivyva@aol.com or Debbie Weaver, Youth Choir Director. Registration forms for all new and returning choir members will be mailed to church families in later July.  Registration forms are also available here.

We will have a meeting of section leaders on August 17 following the 10:30 a.m. service with a full choir rehearsal the following Sunday, August 24.