Church Choir Group
O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. -Psalms 95 : 1-3
The SGIOC Choir is a group of talented, eclectic and versatile singers from our parish who lead the hymns and provide a musical framework to the sacraments and ceremonies associated with our liturgical traditions. The choir group helps the harmony and encourages worship in all the services held within the church mainly the Holy Qurbana.
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is proud of its worshiping heritage. From the earliest days of the Church, musical worship has been a vital aspect of glorifying God. The church is choir should have a clear understanding of the purpose of each hymn, be it a dogmatic hymn, song of praise, processional, or whatever. The hymns should be sung with attention to the purpose, never carelessly or devoid of feeling. The ideal is found by singing from the heart! Malankara Orthodox Church is blessed with a treasury of hymns textually rich, poetically and musically unequalled. With musical preparation and spiritual understanding the choir can present the songs of the Church as the treasure they are.
The mission of SGIOC choir is to glorify Jesus Christ by allowing Him to use the choir as a tool to lead the congregation in singing and in turn serve God by delivering songs in worship and praise, endeavour to develop a sense of spiritual wellbeing among the parishioners. When the church sings together, we experience the presence of God.
SGIOC choir conducts in a mix of Malayalam, English and Syriac languages and participates in all the formal events of the parish including the annual convention, formation day (perunnal) and special services. Choir practices are arranged in the church and other private venues. Special practices are organised for major events and programs.
Activities
The activities of the choir are co-ordinated by Mr George Mathews with the assistance of our keyboardist Mr Rinu Raju under the spiritual and musical guidance of our Vicar, Rev. Fr. Josen John through a common group named BethGazo for the whole parish and Maneeso solely for the church choir. SGIOC choir currently consists of around ten members in total and is ever-growing.
Holy Eucharist (Qurbana) Choir Service
“I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations” (Psalm 89:1).
The primary aim of the choir is to create an atmosphere in the church so as the entire congregation sing along as per the same rhythm, pitch, style as of the choir and to bring about a systematic and ordered enhancement of liturgical music along with the integration of indigenous music with the existing liturgical music in order to bring the melancholy of orthodox authentic celestial and divine worship environment in our church and to provide opportunities to the youth to participate in the Holy Qurbana service in a meaningful way.
Holy Week Convention Choir Service
The parish arranges for a Convention during the Holy week every year to help people engage & reflect on their religious involvement during the Holy Week.
The choir group has been instrumental in attracting parish members and non members to the event.
