serving jesus christ and portsmouth, oh since 1875
praising god through music
A Passion for Music is in the DNA of Second Pres.
Besides at home and at church, you are most likely to find Second Pres members hanging out the many musical performances at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts at Shawnee State University, including the Musical Theatre student productions.
Our favorite event is our yearly Festival of Nine Lesson & Carols where we gather with our friends from the community, some SSU choir students, and a full orchestra to celebrate Jesus, the newborn King. We regularly fill up our sanctuary that can fit about 500 people and delight in sharing the joy of the Christmas season with our community.
Videos of individuals songs from previous Lessons & Carols services can be found by searching YouTube.
A view from the congregation at a Lessons & Carols service
FRANCKATHON: A dream come true!
On the final night of our Franckathon concert series celebrating the 200th birth anniversary of composer Cesar Franck, Dr. Stan Workman (our Director of Music) shared that a concert like this had been a dream of his for 40 years. And now, in his 30th year of being our Master of All Things Musical at Second Pres, we helped to make his dream come true.
We are incredibly grateful to the three other talented organists with Portsmouth ties who helped to make this dream come true by sharing their musical gifts with us: Dr. Douglas Leightenheimer; Dr. Jeremiah Martin; and Mr. Matt Bickett. We are also deeply grateful for the $1800+ that was donated over the course of these concerts to support our magnificent 1935 Kilgen organ through our Organ Preservation Fund.
Here are the links to the concerts:
Fri, July 29 Concert I https://youtu.be/KDhxU4Nsy80
Sat, July 30 Concert II https://youtu.be/PqnQDX4gD1M
Sun, July 31 Concert III https://youtu.be/5-jituNa-ig
serving our community
Bone & Fiddle Arts Collective
Who knew an old choir room could be re-purposed into a dance studio?!
Second Pres is pleased to be home to the Bone & Fiddle ARTS Collective - who became our upstairs neighbors in September 2018, using space in our unused second floor choir room. (They also occasionally use our Sunday School rooms for photo shoots!)
Founder and artistic director Summer Logan is a friend of the church through our relationship with Shawnee State University. She is a performer, choreographer, and educating artist from Portsmouth, Ohio. She holds a BFA from Ohio University and an MFA in Dance and Choreography from Saint Mary’s College of California.
She is full time dance faculty at SSU serving as the education coordinator of the dance minor and resident choreographer. As an educator Ms. Logan holds certifications from American Ballet Theatre and has extensive knowledge of Somatic movement techniques. As a performer Logan has exhibited her work in Ohio, Kentucky, Utah, West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan, and California.
Collective members are young adult students from the tri-state area, some of whom are also part of our choral scholars program.
From their website: It’s not a moment. It’s a MOVEMENT.
Bone & Fiddle Dance Collective is a group of professional dancers based in Portsmouth, Ohio. The Collective believes in enhancing and promoting culture through movement and dance. Founder Summer Logan delves into the experiential, social, political, and historic views of Appalachia. Bone & Fiddle Dance Collective explores gender roles, social engagement and issues of poverty through the lens of contemporary movement.
second pres musical shenanigans
