I have been a proud member of the United Parish family for about 30 years now.

My strongest ties to the church have always been through the music, ever since I was a child. When I was growing up, every member of my family was in a choir at the First Presbyterian Church in La Grange, Illinois. In fact, my mother invited the music director over to dinner once a week to save herself a trip taking us to the youth choir practice.

From my first visit to the United Parish, I was drawn to the choir. I soon joined and sang for a year before I finally officially became a member of the church. This led to my involvement on the Board of Worship and the Committee for Social Responsibility (now the Stretching Ministry) which led me further to the wonderful organization of Saturday’s/Sunday’s Bread.

But I still find music, especially with Susan, our Minister of Music, to be my anchor at the UP. And each year, I pledge to the UP with a song in my heart. As the words of the old hymn say:

“Lord as thou has lived for others, So may we for others live;
Freely have thy gifts been granted, Freely may thy servants give.
Thine the gold and thine the silver, Thine the wealth of land and sea,
We but stewards of thy bounty, Held in solemn trust for thee.”