Conserve: to use or manage (natural resources) wisely; preserve; save.* “Conserving” the God-given musical talents, or resources, of its students by developing them wisely for use in His worship and service is the business of St. John’s Community Music Conservatory. Since 1986 the Conservatory has offered year-round musical instruction for students of all ages to both St. John’s members and others in the community. Director of Conservatory Kathy Hayes notes that outreach was part of the original vision of the Conservatory, which provides “a ‘safe’ entrance into a Christian community” and draws at least half its students from outside St. John’s. Private instruction in most classical instruments, including guitar and voice, is offered for both adults and children and is provided by instructors who have a love for the Lord, as well as for music, and who are typically professionals in their fields. A Musikgarten program is offered which introduces basic musical elements in a group setting to children aged four through first grade. Second and third graders may take recorder classes. Students are invited to play in recitals three times per year, and more advanced students are given the chance to play for worship services.

Kathy praises God for the people who have connected with St. John’s through the ministry of the Conservatory. Some have enrolled their children in St. John’s school or begun attending services at St. John’s. One family with a son being treated for leukemia was ministered to by a St. John’s pastor. Another connection resulted in the hiring of a preschool teacher at St. John’s. The ministry effects of the Conservatory itself have also been far-reaching; one young piano student went on to become a music director at Lutheran High School. Elisa Schaffer, one of the Conservatory’s piano instructors, points to 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 as an expression of the gifts she feels God has given her to help her teach effectively and to hold her students’ interest. She sees her teaching as a way of blessing her students, and she finds that God returns those blessings to her in unexpected ways. A student who had been given piano lessons as a gift was reluctant and trying at first. Then Elisa discovered that the girl’s home was in turmoil, and she observed as the weekly lesson transformed into a place of normalcy and achievement where the girl was able to escape her troubled home life and develop her special gift for musical composition. This student surprised Elisa by writing a touching song based on the melody of “Amazing Grace” which God used to lift Elisa’s flagging confidence in her own composition skills and inspire her to successfully return to writing music. Such rewarding experiences are why Elisa says, “I love teaching . . . piano and it is the paychecks of the heart that make it all . . . worthwhile.”

The ministry of St. John’s Conservatory strives to “conserve” the talents of instructors and students alike for the praise and worship of God. As Kathy Hayes observes, “Worshiping God is the one thing we do on earth that we will do in heaven. Now's the time to practice!”

*Definition of “conserve” from Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.