SUMMER 2024
CENTENARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
A Firm Foundation
I
f you've followed this publication regularly, you've undoubtedly noticed the tremendous energy and momentum that Music & Arts at Centenary has generated during these recent years. In a time when engagement and vitality in civic organizations is flagging, we are growing and evolving. Now, as we reach the end of program year 2023-24, we celebrate the ways we have responded to the needs and patterns of a post-COVID world and established a foundation on which we will build as Centenary marches faithfully toward its second century of ministry and service to Winston-Salem and beyond. As the needs and patterns of our children and young families shift, we have built a flexible, dynamic Creative Arts Experience (CAE) that has infused worship with new vibrancy; as the need for childcare and early childhood education is increasingly acute, our Community Kindermusik Collaborative (CKC) has served over 100 families in its first two years of existence and will soon expand to serve our Love Thy Neighbor ministry; as music and arts opportunities for youth decline in our public schools and other community organizations, our newly-formed Youth Choir Collective (YCC) is balanced and growing; as the Stevens Center undergoes extensive multi-year renovations, we are now positioned and scheduled to host the Winston-Salem Symphony, Piedmont Opera, and Piedmont Wind Symphony next year and likely for years to come; as people of all ages search for new ways to express their faith, our Chancel Choir has grown substantially, and we have established a beginner handbell experience and entry-level faith-based art classes for adults. Our doors are increasingly open, our circle of inclusion is growing, our welcome is wide, and we are intentionally expanding our embrace. We know that the arts empower and equip. In so doing, may they propel us out to transform the world. - Jonathan Emmons, Director of Music Ministries