Calvary Church Choir cultivates community through music
Performance of Hallelujah Chorus planned for Easter
A choir of over seventy local voices and instrumentalists will be singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus on Easter Sunday, April 5 at Calvary Church in Roseville.
You may recognize the song from these lines:
"Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"
And yes, both choir and congregation will stand and sing together.
At the debut of Handel’s Messiah in 1743, King George III was so inspired by the words and music from the book of Revelation that he stood up in the middle of the performance. When the king stood, the people were required to follow. That’s where the tradition for both performers and audience to stand during this song comes from.
Calvary Church, founded in 1947, has a long history of providing quality worship music in their Sunday morning services. The church founders included a music professor from Bethel College that helped foster a church culture that still values music and worship today.
“We are so blessed to be located in the Twin Cities, an area that loves the arts. We’re near various universities with wonderful music programs,” said Director Tammie Junkans.
Many of the members trained in music during college and found Calvary to be a natural place to share their talents.
All ages are involved in the choir ranging from high school students to senior adults. They are church attendees, residents from Roseville, and also talented musicians from around the metro area who are attracted to a choir that performs on a weekly basis. Beyond the choir, there are opportunities for instrumentalists to perform at Calvary with a handbell choir, flute ensemble, and brass ensemble.
“There’s a lot of people who want to bring excellence to God. Some participants read music and some don’t, and everything in-between,” Junkans said.
Calvary’s 9:00 a.m. traditional worship service includes music featuring well known hymns and newly written worship songs led by choir and worship teams. All accompanied by organ, piano, and musicians.
Roseville Roots
Many of the singers are from Roseville including Junkans, the Worship Arts Pastor and Choir Director since 2007. Junkans grew up in Roseville Schools and attended Roseville Area High School (back then it was called Ramsey). During high school, she played an active role in the Band and Choir programs which she describes as “foundational to her love of music” She then went on to receive a degree from Bethel College in Music Education and a Masters of Music Education from St Thomas.
“Tammie knows everyone in the choir by name,” said Sam Gardeen, a Roseville resident who sings bass. “She is the perfect balance of light and easy, but also pushes the choir to get better while never losing focus that singing is also worship.”
Gardeen, age 23, is currently the youngest member of the choir. Gardeen is originally from Olivia, MN. He graduated from nearby Bethel University with a degree in business analytics. When Gardeen and his wife settled in Roseville, they wanted to find a church with a traditional service. They attended Calvary a few times and were excited to find not only a choir, but also a community.
“Most of the people have been here for years upon years [in the choir]... The level of talent is fantastic. You’re surrounded by people who really know what they are doing. Makes it fun,” said Gardeen.
“I’ve been here forever,” said Pasha Moyer, a Roseville resident dressed as Santa in the photo above.
He also joined Calvary Church after college, because at the time they had free meals after church. Forty-seven years later, Moyer is still singing bass with the choir and enjoying the comradery.
The choir is accompanied by Dr. Charles Kemper who has served as Calvary’s organist and piano accompanist since 2005. Each service concludes with a processional song played on the organ. Many congregants stay seated until Kemper has finished playing the song followed by their round of applause. Kemper’s abilities and musical expertise are not only appreciated at Calvary. He is a frequent performer around the Twin Cities playing at venues featuring a variety of musical styles.
"The Best Night of the Week"
“The Best Night of the Week” is what members of the Calvary Church choir call their Wednesday evening practice. Or “TBNOTW” for short. Practices entail two hours of music preparation, community and excellence. They also support one another spiritually through prayer.
The choir is unique among other church choirs as they perform almost every week on Sunday mornings during the 9:00 a.m. traditional service. This rigorous performance schedule requires a member’s strong commitment to weekly practices. They also perform at yearly special events which allows other interested members to be involved with shorter time commitments.
Each practice begins with a warm up covering notes from low to high vocal ranges. Junkans will then share a few minutes of a devotion or short meditation focused on the lyrics of a song. Attention turns to practicing music as a weekly performance schedule requires coverage of many songs in one practice.
The choir warms up by singing, "I love to sing." | credit: Kelly Lynn Graf/The Roseville Reader
The choir’s repertoire includes a variety of music styles including gospel, traditional hymns, and contemporary worship songs.
“We always strive to do the very best of any genre we choose. I want members to be challenged as they sing words that are not only beautiful, but also truthful,” Junkans said.
A time of prayer concludes each weekly practice.
“Choir is like a family. It’s a community,” Junkans said. “We pray specifically for each other and share joys too. Our choir goes beyond singing together. We walk beside each other like visiting one another while sick, bringing meals, celebrating milestones and encouraging one another.”
Alice Stock, a long time member who lives in Shoreview has been involved in the choir since 2002. Not only does Stock sing as a soprano, she also has directed the handbell choir. Stock especially appreciates the opportunities to perform in the community.
Calvary has been a featured choir with Shoreview’s Northern Lights Community Band, and performed with Northwestern University’s Womens’ choir and the Festival of Christmas concerts at Bethel University. They’ve even performed at Orchestra Hall in the past with the Getty Choir.
“There’s something about working together that takes music to another level,” Stock said.
Suresh Salam is a tenor from Manipur, India. He’s a current Masters of Divinity student at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul. Growing up Baptist is very different in his country compared to the United States, he said.
“Churches don’t normally have a choir. Usually we have small congregations of ten to twenty people. There are twenty-nine different languages in my state. We have bands and music, but not choirs,” Salam said.
“Whenever I’m with the choir, the Holy Spirit presence is there. When I’m excited, I praise God through singing. When I’m very down, I still sing,” Salam said.
Easter is this Sunday
“You are invited to come on Easter!” Junkans said. “We’ll have our amazing choir accompanied by brass instruments and bells along with congregational singing. A good message too! Provided by Calvary’s new Pastor, Ken Hensley, who started this past fall.”
And yes, this year’s Traditional Easter services at 7:45 and 9:00 a.m. will conclude with the Hallelujah Chorus—with standing!
Calvary Church’s Roseville campus is located at 2120 Lexington Ave. This is the location that hosts the 9:00 a.m. Traditional Service on Sunday mornings and a contemporary service at 10:30 a.m.
Learn more:
Learn more about the choir on the Calvary Church website.
Watch previous Calvary Church Choir concerts:
Joy To The World Choir Concert | December 14, 2025
Jubilate Deo Concert | March 30, 2025 ‘
Hymn sing on May 2:
