Music and Fine Arts Ministry

Music and the fine arts are at the core of Community Church’s celebration of God and its spiritual life. Both reflect the order, beauty and diversity of God’s creation. Praising God through music and art is one of our most popular and celebrated forms of ministry at Community Church.

Different voices, instruments, musical styles and arrangements are blended by our staff, volunteer and professional choirs, musicians into a vital, living, and unified reflection of God’s work.

Music and art confirms that the gospel is as relevant today as it was centuries ago. Old and new Hymns tell the biblical story and teach the nature of God from other cultures, languages and eras.

Choirs and Ensembles

Community Church Chancel Choir sings a wide variety of traditional and modern sacred music as well as performs major choral works with orchestra several times a year. Members of the choir may choose which service they would like to participate in or may sing at all the services, including our chapel and sanctuary worship. There is no audition to join the Chancel Choir. All are welcome to sing!

Since 2018, guided by God's call to nurture and educate every child in our care, we've held the C3 Music & Fine Arts Camp annually for K-5 students in the last week of July, with registration opening in May. The camp merges daily Bible-themed stories and lessons with fine arts workshops like ceramics, painting, mixed media, singing, tone chimes, and dance. In 2021, a mission element was integrated, urging campers to embody the values learned from our daily Bible teachings. A week of intensive learning from professional instructors and volunteers culminates in a family presentation, with a gallery show and Sunday worship participation by the campers. For more reach out to camp director, Rachel Carter Murphy at 772-469-2320.

Tapestry Brass, a five-piece brass chamber ensemble, is committed to delivering top-notch performances with unique stewardship. Aiming to glorify God, the quintet focuses on worship through energetic spirit, excellent tone, and a diverse repertoire. They showcase spiritual inspiration in sacred music by providing premier brass performances at worship services, weddings, concerts, community events, and conventions.

Section leaders foster community, professionalism, and congeniality within the music ministry and congregation. They attend all Chancel Choir rehearsals, worship services, and special performances. Often, they sing solos or perform in small ensembles.

Applicants should have a Music Degree or be pursuing one, with strong musical ability and vocal training.

To apply, submit a resume to the Music and Fine Arts Ministry for an interview and audition.

Friends of the Music and Fine Arts Ministry

Here we lift up the fact that we are community collaborators in music and the arts with a number of community organizations. We thank them for joining together in a common commitment to support all endeavors in music and the arts throughout Indian River County.

2024/5 Music and Fine Arts Booklet

In 2020 the Community Church of Vero Beach established the Viner Series for the Visual Arts to showcase the work of area artists. The series is named for Teryl Townsend Viner who served Community Church as a Deacon and as a member of its Board of Music and Fine Arts. A gifted painter, Teryl is listed in” Who’s Who of American Art”. In 2012 she was commissioned to create a painting for the church’s newly renovated chapel. You can view her work, Reflection, in the Narthex of Grace Chapel.

Mary Jane Miller
October 2024–January 2025

Mary Jane Miller is an internationally recognized iconographer and author living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Mary Jane Miller sits among a group of artists who are preserving the ancient technique of iconography painting. She continues to create, teach, and expand this sacred art as a spiritual visual language that leads to enlightenment.

Her love of spiritual art and modern iconography captivates viewers and engages them in exploring the idea of using art and meditation to express spiritual language. She especially focuses on women in iconography and through her hand, calls on their unheard voices to voice their wisdom and love.

As an icon painter, her wealth of insight is shared through what has been a male-dominated tradition.

“I have come to see the world as a metaphor, nearly everything which happens to us is screaming to be understood through the eye of the spirit, we just need to reflect long enough to hear the message.”

Miller’s collection of Contemporary Icons are visual meditations whose root is in traditional Icon Painting. Mary Jane Miller pushes the edge of traditions where female saints and catholic saints have not been fully recognized. Today, women iconographers around the world create gorgeous work. Their iconography painting preserves this sacred art form. Byzantine-style icons are created through meditation and prayer to develop the spirit of living well.

As a modern Byzantine-style icon painter, “I join my voice to other contemporary iconographers who speak and create. Women icon painters, mystics, and healers were seldom heard of in the days of the early church and were often silenced. Today they are speaking again.”

Contact: millericons@gmail.com

Pictured Above: Mary Jane Miller, artist Icon: “Murrth Bearing Women”