Reflecting on this past year, it shouldn’t come as a surprise how deeply involved I’ve become in the music ministry at Northbrook. After all, it’s the very reason God called my family to this church.

We attended our first service at Northbrook on December 24th, 2023, and after hearing the beautiful choir, I thought to myself, now that’s a church choir. We came back on Easter Sunday, and once again I was moved by the incredible music. I left that day determined to be part of it. I emailed Chad to ask if I could join, and the rest is history.

Now, a little more than a year later, I’m serving as Director of Children’s Music—leading our amazing children’s choir, still singing with the Chancel Choir, and preparing for my newest role as the music and movement teacher in the Preschool.

I asked God to lead me where I was meant to serve musically. It never occurred to me it might be my church, and never did I think he'd lead me to teaching at a preschool, but here I am. While sometimes His answers are subtle, this one feels like a very clear message.

So, here’s what I know: God led me here to be part of the music ministry on the Northbrook campus, and now I’m asking you to be part of it, too.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this is it.

If your child has been thinking about joining the children’s choir or is just curious about what we do—bring them to a rehearsal! The choir is called Joyful Noise because that’s exactly what it is: joyful and noisy. It’s not called Peaceful Perfection—that choir only exists in heaven.

We meet on Wednesday nights from 5:45–6:25 p.m., and I never know exactly what rehearsal will look like. Sometimes we spend ten minutes just talking about our days. Sometimes we start with a cardio warm-up. We almost always end rehearsal with a dance party. It’s a bit chaotic, but that’s because we all have the “zoomies” by the end of the day. And guess what? I love it.

We’ll be starting Christmas rehearsals soon. I know what you’re thinking, it's too soon—but the choral world operates a lot like retail: it takes time to prepare all that Christmas magic. And trust me, you won’t want to miss what we have planned for the children’s performance on December 7th. Between now and the time of holly jolly, the children's choir will perform on the second Sunday of the month for our traditional services at 11am.

I know, I know—leave it to me to bring up Christmas when the kids have just gone back to school (they’re never going to ask me to write the log again… heheh). 
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So, on that note, Happy Back to School! But while I'm on a roll... Merry Christmas, too. 

Hope I see you soon!
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In singing,

Chelsea Spits
Director of Children's Music

One of my first years at Northbrook, in worship one day, I was sitting in the back pew and my attention kept being drawn to whispering. Someone was talking constantly. My eyes began searching for the whisperer and landed pretty quickly on a man and wife that I knew. It’s important to note that Spanish was their first and main language. And there they sat with the husband translating every word of the service into Spanish for his precious wife – creeds, announcements, prayers, scripture, and the sermon in its entirety. They were lovingly leaning into one another and he whispered the whole service to her in Spanish. 

It was one of the more beautiful things I’ve ever seen happen in our Sanctuary. He took what was literally a foreign language and translated it so she could understand it. He did it with love and patience, making sure that this person he cared for so deeply was able to understand God and our worship of Him.

It got me thinking that THAT is the crux of what we are called to do as Christians. We are supposed to take this Word of God that is complicated and so difficult to understand and translate it to those God cares for so deeply. We are to take this language that is foreign to so many and lovingly lean into one another and help them understand. We are to tell them through words, example, actions, and our treatment of others that they are valued by God, they are loved beyond their imagination, and there is so much power and wonder to be found in our Lord. WE are called to translate God to those who find God foreign and difficult to understand.

And as parents, we are called to do this same work for our children. We are to take the lessons of God that seem complicated or hard and show them daily life lived with God’s love, joy, understanding, compassion, forgiveness, and service. We are to show them the love of the Father through OUR love as their parents. We are to be the translators of God into the hearts of our children, our Mom friends, our work friends, random people in the park who are struggling, and even the person in your life who you do NOT “get” as a person (haha). 

It won’t be done by yelling the “right way” at them. It won’t be done by enumerating all the ways we think they are wrong, using this difficult Word as our proof. It won’t be done by sharing the things we already know with people who already know them.  

It will be done by lovingly leaning into people and remembering that they are the ones God cares for so deeply – even if they are different, even if they find God to be ridiculously difficult to understand, even if they are difficult to understand. Lean in lovingly and translate His love.

May it be so,

Leslie Bowers
​Director of Worship Arts