First Church has two adult handbell choirs. The Praise Ringers is our advanced handbell choir. Their ministry includes ringing in worship, special concerts, participating in handbell festivals, and outreach ministries. If you have played bells before and/or have some background in music, this group is tailored just for you. The Promise Ringers is our beginning handbell choir. This group is for those who have little or no previous musical experience or have never rung handbells. It's an easy-going, but appropriately challenging, ensemble.

About the Handchime Ministry...

Handchimes provide a great way to teach children the basics of music, team work and self discipline. The instrument looks like a giant tuning fork, and the tone quality is pure and lovely. The chimes are different sizes depending on the pitch they produce: the smaller the chime, the higher the pitch. They are either silver (to correspond to the white keys of a piano) or black (to correspond to the black keys of a piano) and are rung by snapping the wrist, which sets in motion a clapper attached to the chime. Chimes are much more durable than handbells and provide a relatively inexpensive way to learn handbell technique and basic music reading skills.

Our handchime group, the Prime Chimers, consists of third, fourth and fifth graders. They rehearse on Wednesday nights at 5:00 p.m. as part of the church's midweek activities. Performance opportunities include adult worship services as well as children's church.

For more information about either of these ministries, please contact our Minister of Music, Terri Morton.