I talked with Daniela about her church. Check it out!
The church I volunteer at “Anthem Church” started back in 80’s with the name “New Beginnings Christian Center,”in 2013 the senior pastor and the leaders decided that it was time to rebrand the church and name it “Anthem Church” since the church moved from a location in NE Portland to a location east in Gresham where it is a more culturally diverse community.
The name change was a big step because no one knew about our church so it was an opportunity to outreach to those in the neighborhood and invite them over. A typical weekend at Anthem has 5 ‘adult’ services, 3 in English, 1 Russian, 1 in Spanish.
There is also a “Fresh” service for middle schoolers, and one of the English services in in the evening and is a bit more laid back than the others. There is also a mid week adult service in English and a youth service on Wednesdays. It takes a lot of planning and effort to be able to do all 5 services since as soon as one is done the other service starts with a different worship team with different stage arrangements and instruments so we all have to work with each other to make them happen. I am one of the keyboardists for the English services and the music director for the youth service “iLive youth church.”
I love serving in the worship ministry because it is one of the only chances I get to see people react to God’s glory first hand. Being the music director for the youth service is one of the funnest jobs, I get to arrange and make the service flow and work with the worship leader. It is very uplifting to see what God is doing through our Russian and Spanish services. The majority of the population in Gresham is from different countries. I love to hear the same songs and hymns we sing in English be sung in Russian and Spanish, I believe this is how heaven will look like everyone singing in their own language to the same God. The worship ministries for each service is very very different.
I can break it down like this:
- English service (9am and 10:30am): 1 keyboardist using VST sounds (mainstage and omnisphere), drummer, 2 guitar players, 1 acoustic, bass, 4 vocalists
- Russian Service: 2 keyboardists both using stock sounds from Nord Stage, 2 guitars, 1 acoustic, 2 violins, bass, 8 vocalist
- Spanish service: 1 keyboardist (piano mostly), 1 guitar, 1 acoustic, bass, drummer, 3 vocalists
- English evening service: 3 keyboardists (all using VST sounds), drummer, 2 guitars, acoustic, percussion/glock, 2 violins, bass, 3 vocalists
Every one has a different style even though we all essentially play the same songs
Every 2 months or so we have an ‘everyone service’ where we all get to play together and it always sounds magically and it is the best worship because we can interchange sounds/ideas/songs.
People can find out more about Anthem church through the website http://anthemfamily.org/ and through facebook. The youth church is called “ilive youth church: and they as well have a website “iliveculture.com” and a facebook and instagram page.
Currently Anthem Church is facing a financial struggle to maintain the building we currently have. Please keep Anthem in your prayers.
