Zion's Church Cantor

I am pleased to announce that Mr. Mark Trapp has accepted our offer to be our new Cantor/Organist (see description below) to replace Mrs. Dellar who is retiring. He will also serve as one of our upper grade teachers. Cantor Trapp will take the reigns beginning Sunday, August 4th. He will be formally installed Sunday August 18th at our 9:00 AM service. Please join me in welcoming Mark his wife Mary and all their dogs. Mark and Mary our breeders and trainers of the comfort dogs who have visited us each year at our picnic and will be a regular fixture around here beginning in August.

What is a Cantor?

“Next to the Word of God, the noble art of Music is the greatest treasure in the world.” - Martin Luther

Cantor comes from the Latin word cantare, which means to sing. Thus, the term Cantor refers to the chief singer or musician – the person who plans, guides and leads the people in singing and offering musical worship for the entire parish.

Christians derive the title Cantor from the Jewish synagogue. In the early centuries of Lutheranism the Cantor was responsible for the people’s singing of the liturgy and hymns. The Cantor also directed the Kantorei (the choir) and deployed its vocal and instrumental forces as needed in church and school. One name were all familiar with, Johann Sebastian Bach is the most well known Lutheran Cantor of the church.

For us here at Zion the Cantor will be responsible for coordinating the entire musical and liturgical life of the church and its school. This includes: choral groups, solo singers and instrumentalists, instruments that lead and undergird the singing of the congregation (here, the organ is especially important) small and large instrumental ensembles (including hand bells), and the singing life of entire congregation.

This would place Zion among the growing number of Lutheran congregations in North America and around the world that have restored this historic title to those who are called to care for and nurture the musical life of the congregation.