Holy Spirit does not have a choir. We have a Quire. The musical format of our worship is based on the ancient tradition of church musicking, and our ensembles are a community of voices, instruments, and generations of spirits joined in song. The Quire offers music that supports and enriches our worship while inviting the whole congregation into deeper participation.
We believe that music is not about performing—it is prayer, proclamation, and, most especially, presence. Which is why the Quire is open to people of all ages and musical backgrounds. Whether you’ve sung in choirs for decades or you’re just learning to follow a melody, our Quire holds a place for you. Rehearsals are warm, collaborative, and built around forming relationships that value music as praise and souls as sacred.
During the traditional portions of the festal church calendar year, the Quire sings most Sundays during the 10:30 AM service and leads music on feast days and special liturgies. We pause our rehearsal and leadership processes after Pentecost and resume in the first week of school in August. Repertoire might include hymns, anthems, Taizé chants, shape-note tunes, intercultural songs, and improvisation. All of our musical offerings are grounded in aural traditions that reflect the beauty and diversity of God’s people. As our guiding principle is not musical perfection, but spiritual engagement, our purpose in practice is to help congregants sing with confidence and joy.
In the early church, the “quire” was the space between the altar and the people: the physical space where prayer and praise were shaped for the whole assembly. At Holy Spirit, our Quire holds that same space in a joyful and embodied response to God’s grace.
Please come and join us. You are invited to shape worship with your voice, your gifts of mind and spirit, and your presence. The Quire always welcomes new members because worship is the religious practice of meaning by, with, and in God through human togetherness.
