About the music ministry of Lakeside Presbyterian Church…

The music ministries of Lakeside Presbyterian Church have a long and creative history. Since the church’s inception in the summer of 1941 by the Rev. Dr. Harry Clayton Rogers, preaching and enthusiastic hymn and Psalm singing were immediately a part of the worship service. With the church’s second pastor, the Rev. Dr. Clark Neale Edwards, the music ministry was formalized and the church enlisted the help of San Francisco State University’s choral director, Dr. Roy Freeburg, alongside voice teacher, Harold Hollingsworth. Every telling of the church’s history states that this congregation likes to sing. Today, the music ministry is a strong, vibrant program of the church which allows members and guests, alike, to sing, ring, and act praise to Almighty God. The church has established numerous musical groups to support the outreach of the congregation. Children's and youth choirs, both singing and handbell ringing, the Chancel Choir (as it is now known), the Lakeside Handbell Choir, and the Lakeside Drama Troupe all make up a ministry poised to serve the Ingleside and Stonestown communities. Our ministry at Lakeside has seen annual services of Nine Lessons and Carols (Advent and Christmas); Christmas Pageants; Evensong services, Liturgical Dance; regional and national Handbell festivals, and tours to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Idaho, Nevada, and Festivals in Hawaii; special performances of Magnificat (Vaughn Williams), Messiah (Handel), Amahl and the Night Visitor (Menotti), Requiem (Fauré), Requiem (Rutter), Messe Solennelle (Vierne); world premieres of anthems composed for the church; and a handbell outreach project at Chinese Grace Church in Chinatown. It has presented the Broadway musical Godspell; and a review titled “Broadway: Then and Now”. The program has also hosted a competition for young composers, summer music camps for members and the community, and in 2016 it established the annual community Handbell Festival. In 2018, the Chancel Choir made its Carnegie Hall debut. The Lakeside organ was built by Robert Pearson in 2003; the original sanctuary organ was built in Germany in 1965. The sanctuary houses a 7’ Nordiska grand piano with many smaller instruments throughout the church supporting its mission and outreach efforts. The church also has five octaves of English handbells, cast at the Whitechapel Foundry in London, England; and a three octave set of Malmark tone chimes.