Chairperson
Mary Tyler-Wall

Description
The vision of the handbell choir is to provide an opportunity to create music in an open, friendly and non-threatening environment. Many ringers begin in the choir with no prior musical experience. The handbell choir is a volunteer group of handbell enthusiasts who strive to contribute musically and spiritually to worship services.

Activities
Rehearsals are usually on Wednesday nights at the Church from 6-7:00 pm. (Setp to May) Performances, if possible, are once a month at the 10:30 am Worship Service. The Handbell Choir also performs at special events and concerts such as the Craft Fair and the Christmas Concert.

Fundraisers

Current Needs

Volunteer opportunities & job descriptions
Each ringer in the handbell choir is assigned a set of bells. The experience of the ringer and the difficulty of the music dictate the number of bells assigned. A brand-new beginner may start with just one bell in one hand. An experienced ringer is usually responsible for three or four bells. In the past, some ringers have gone beyond the standard handbell choir and performed as small ensembles. In this case, each ringer handles five to eight bells. Five ringers can ring three octaves of bells which normally takes ten ringers in a choir. A few ringers go even farther and perform solo ringing. The solo ringer is responsible for each and every note in the melody line and sometimes can even create harmony by playing four-in-hand - that's two bells in each hand.

On occasion, multiple instruments are used - handbells, trumpets, choir and organ are an impressive sight and sound for the audience.

New members are taught the techniques of handbell ringing. As the ringer becomes more experienced, the number of bells under control of the ringer increases and so do the number of techniques the ringer is able to perform.