Music

Adult Choir

From classics to jazz, shaped note to contemporary gospel, the Music Ministry embraces many styles and ages.  Ministering through music in worship and striving to be a metropolitan presence in our community through concerts, traditional and alternative worship opportunities, our participants are eager to share what they experience as the spiritual power of music.

Chancel Choir

The Chancel Choir meets on Wednesdays from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
(no rehearsals in July).

Under the direction of Dr. Janice McNair, Director of Music, the choir provides worship leadership at the 10:45 Sanctuary Service, as well as seasonal services and concerts throughout the year.  

Children & Youth Choir

Music is one of the most important ways we engage in worship. In our children’s music program we teach our youngsters a variety of ways to participate. First-Centenary children and their friends are invited to be part of one of our musical groups. The kids will be singing and also learning fundamental music skills, along with drumming and Orff instruments. Our musicians will participate in the Sanctuary and The Vine worship services throughout the school year.

Rehearsal

Grades 2-5 –Choir Room
Music from 6:00 - 6:40 p.m., then kids go to the gym to play.
*Pick up by 7pm in the gym 

Handbells

The Chancel Ringers

 Advanced to intermediate ringers.  Directed by Jonathan McNair, they rehearse on
Wednesdays from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. in the Handbell Room (September – May)

The Aldersgate Vibrations

Thursdays from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. This group occasionally participates in worship and also prepares programs to present at retirement homes.

The Vine Band

This group provides worship for The Vine contemporary worship service.
If you're interested in learning more, contact our Director of Contemporary Worship Jeff Blake.

Schantz Organ

Originally installed in 1966 as a 3-manual, 41-rank Schantz pipe organ (Op. 770) in the old Centenary Methodist sanctuary, the congregation merged with First Methodist in 1967 and relocated the instrument into a new Harold Wagoner-designed sanctuary as the First-Centenary United Methodist Church in 1973. 
In 1999, the Schantz Organ Company of Orrville, Ohio added a new 3-manual console (Op. 2187) and four years later, 17 additional ranks of pipes were added along with three digital 32’ stops. The traditional style console with roll top is movable and contains a computerized/digital combination action. The three manual keyboards each have 61 notes and the pedalboard compass is 32 notes.
The current instrument consists of 4 divisions, 71 stops, and 59 ranks of pipes. The 3,514 pipes of this organ are made of wood, tin, brass, and lead, and range in size from 16 feet tall to a fraction of an inch in length. The pipes are placed on electro-pneumatic pitman chests which are located in chambers in the front of the sanctuary. 

Specifications

Great

16' Gemshorn
8' Principal
8' Bordun
8' Harmonic Flute
8' Gemshorn
4' Octave
4' Quintade
2 2/3' Twelfth
2' Super Octave
1 3/5' Seventeenth
IV Mixture
16' Dulzian
8' Trumpet
8' Dulzian
8' Festival Trumpet
Tremulant
Sub
Unison Off
Super
Chimes
Zimbelstern
MIDI

61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
244 pipes
12 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
CH

Choir

16' Erzähler
8' Diapason
8' Holzgedeckt
8' Viola Pomposa
8' Viola Celeste
8' Erzähler
8' Erzähler Celeste
4' Fugara
4' Hohlflöte
2' Prinzipal
1 1/3' Quinte
IV Scharf
8' Krummhorn
8' English Horn
8' Festival Trumpet
Tremulant
Sub
Unison Off    
Super
MIDI

61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
54 pipes
61 pipes
49 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
244 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes

Swell

8' Diapason
8' Rohrflöte  
8' Viole de Gambe
8' Viole Celeste
4' Geigen Principal
4' Koppelflöte
2 2/3' Nasat
2' Waldflöte
1 3/5' Tierce
IV Plein Jeu
16' Basson
8' Trompette
8' Hautbois
8' Voix Humaine
4' Chalumeau
Tremulant
Sub
Unison Off
Super
8' Festival Trumpet
MIDI

61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
54 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
244 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes
61 pipes




CH

Pedal

32' Contre Bourdon
16' Principal
16' Bordun
16' Gemshorn
16' Erzähler
10 2/3' Quinte
8' Octav
8' Bordun
8' Gemshorn
8' Erzähler
4' Choralbass
4' Nachthorn
2' Nachthorn
IV Mixture
32' Contre Bombarde
32' Contre Basson
16' Posaune
16' Basson
16' Dulzian
8' Posaune
8' Basson
4' Klarine
4' Hautbois
8' Festival Trumpet
MIDI

Digital
32 pipes
32 pipes
GT
CH
-----
32 pipes
12 pipes
GT
CH
32 pipes
32 pipes
12 pipes
128 pipes
Digital
Digital
32 pipes
SW
GT
12 pipes
SW
12 pipes
SW
CH

Meet The Team

Dr. Jan McNair

Director of Music Ministries

Jeff Blake

Director of Contemporary Worship

Dr. Jan McNair

Worship & Music Ministry Director

Janice McNair joined the First-Centenary staff as Director of Music Ministries in August 1995. She is responsible for the administration of the music ministry and plans the worship services that take place in the Sanctuary. A graduate of DePauw University with a degree in Violin Performance, she went on to study at Southern Methodist University and Perkins School of Theology, graduating with master’s degrees in Violin Performance and Sacred Music. Following graduation, she and her husband, Jonathan, moved to Cleveland, Ohio where Jonathan earned his D.M.A. in Music Composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music. While in Cleveland, Jan enjoyed serving as the Director of Music at Church of the Saviour United Methodist.

After growing a part-time music program into a full-time ministry, the McNairs along with sons, Ben and Andrew, moved to Chattanooga. Highlights in ministry include the opportunity to study with Alice Parker in 2000 and 2001. In 2003, she was awarded a Sabbatical Grant for Pastoral Leaders funded by the Lilly Endowment and administered through the Louisville Institute. Under her planning and direction, First-Centenary has enjoyed various collaborations with community choirs presenting Rutter’s Mass of the Children, Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts, and other worship and concert events. In 2012, Jan earned her doctorate from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies, and in 2021 completed the Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation through Upper Room Ministries. Through the University of Vermont, she was certified as an End of Life Doula in summer of 2021. Currently, Jan serves the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts as Chair of the Worship Area on the Design Team for Music Week at Lake Junaluska.

Jeff Blake

Director of Contemporary Worship

Jeff is the Director of Contemporary Worship. Having been involved in church leadership for almost 25 years, he has spent the last decade here at First-Centenary. This is actually Jeff's second time through the church, as his father, Wayne Blake, was the youth director in the mid 80's. Jeff shares that, having participated in the children's choirs and ministries all those years ago, it is very special to come back and be a part of the leadership team here.

Jeff has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies and was born and raised in Chattanooga where he attended Red Bank High School, Chattanooga State, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He and his wife, Christy, have two sons, Brycen and Drew, and in addition to a new baby girl, Katie. "I've lived here my entire life." Jeff says. "This city has seen the best and worst of me. I can't imagine trying to share the gospel anywhere else but Chattanooga."