Rare handbell concert

Apparently it's all my fault!

We were having lunch with friends awhile back when Karen, who coordinates music at her church, mentioned something about the NFC handbell choir doing a Christmas concert. I guess I said it sounded like a good idea, because she ran with it - and actually made it happen!

Our group has been a part of several off-site events over the years, but always just a small part of something bigger. This time, it was just us... for an hour of music! We decided that was a little too much for us to handle on our own and invited the Newberg Brass to share the hour. To our relief, they agreed!

So we pulled out a bunch of Christmas music, along with a standard NFC handbell favorite that we can almost play with our eyes closed, and went to work. With just three weeks to rehearse - and three subs! - we polished as best we could, held our breath and went for it.

What we ended up with was a great, really fun evening of bells and brass!

People packed the small sanctuary and seemed to genuinely enjoy our offering. And it was fun to get applause recognition for our hard work - something we don't often get at our home church since we're not a clapping kind of congregation.

I think we all felt a bit under prepared going into the evening, but in the end, it was a great time! I'm so glad we were able to be a part of the good cause of collecting food for those less fortunate and offering some Christmas music to the community :)