Music
Music is an integral part of our worship service. Familiar hymns, rocking spirituals, contemporary songs and classical pieces lift our spirits, speak to our souls, and give deeper meaning to the message of the service. "All God's children have a place in the choir!" We invite you to add your musical talents to our music ministry.
Throughout the summer, special music is provided by friends and families of First Congregational. Our summer congregants have enjoyed the music of strings, harp, and recorder; the voices of returning family members and summer guests; and the movement of interpretive dance.
Choir is postponed until further notice
Laura Raedeke, Organist
Laura grew up on a farm between Jackson and Lakefield, Minnesota and began studying pipe organ at ages 12-18 with a Lakefield graduate of the MacPhail School of Music. She began serving as a Sunday organist at age 14, playing at her home church of Immanuel Lutheran, which had a find pipe organ built by the Reuter Company out of Kansas City.
Laura majored in biology, with a pre-med degree, and after moving to Worthington in 1976, completed a Masters Degree in Selected Studies with concentrations in music theory and composition at Augustana College in 1993. During this time, she studied piano with Augustana's Dr. J. Earl Lee from 1981-1992, served as organist at St. Matthew Lutheran, First Lutheran, and First United Methodist in Worthington. She also taught piano lessons, co-founded the Worthington Area Piano Teachers Association in 1990, and founded the Worthington Area Music Boosters Organization in 1994.
Since moving to Nisswa in 2001, Laura has served as an organist at Lutheran Church of the Cross, and in 2004 began playing at First Congregational UCC in Brainerd.
Other pursuits include accompanying the Legacy Chorale of Minnesota, chairing the Creation Care Team at Lutheran Church of the Cross, serving on the board of the Rosenmeier Center for State and Local Government, and with her husband Jerry, owning the Raedeke Art Gallery in Nisswa.
Grace Forbord (left) and Laura Raedeke (right)