For the first time in 29 years, Emily Kirk will be standing next to her friends in the annual Christmas cantata instead of in front of them. Retiring in September 2002 as music director of Carrollton Baptist Church in Pickens County, Kirk considers the transition as a door to new opportunities for service.
Kirk’s dedication to her church and her community is evident in the various positions she has held through the years. Along with her choir and church positions, Kirk has been a choral director and band director at Northside and Aliceville High Schools and Pickens Academy. She is also fondly revered as composer of the alma mater of Pickens Academy. Kirk is active in patriotic musicals, historic preservation and tourism promotion in Pickens County.
The energetic music director has previously worked in Vacation Bible School and children’s music where she would drive a bus to pick up the children, teach them music, provide refreshments and deliver them back home.
Kirk has served under the leadership of six pastors and the current pastor, Mike Trull, said he has been impressed with the diversity of the worship music. “Not only did she select a variety of blended music, but it was also very easy to preach following such an inspirational music service,” Trull said.
New choir members find it hard to believe that Kirk was shy in her first year as choir director. “I was so timid that I could barely announce the song numbers to the congregation, but the Lord strengthened me to do His work,” Kirk said.
Kirk is known for directing outstanding cantatas. The 20-member choir has performed difficult musicals and dramas such as “The Day He Wore My Crown,” which is a personal favorite of Kirk’s. “We have used the cantatas as an evangelistic tool, sometimes performing three times in one weekend,” Kirk said.
For each cantata, she would assign a prayer chairman, and the choir members would draw names and pray for each other during the practice of the cantata. The cantatas would not be successful if they were not prayed-up, Kirk added.
Kirk also envisioned a banner ministry to complement the cantatas and enlisted the help of Lisa McDaniel and Patricia McCafferty to make the decorative banners. The banner for “The Utmost for His Highest” cantata is made with purple velvet and gold trim with intricate details in gold and crimson. The banners have become the church’s trademark Christian message in cloth. Pauline Hill has been the pianist at Carrollton Baptist for 16 years and sites Kirk’s consistency as her greatest asset. “There was never a time our church did not have exactly the music we needed. Emily always has a smile and a good attitude,” Hill said.
The director has not only been faithful to Carrollton Baptist, but has previously served as music director for Pickens Baptist Association for eight years and has directed the only Associational Woman’s Missionary Union Choir in the state of Alabama. The group has performed at revivals throughout Pickens County.
While well qualified professionally with a degree in music education from the University of Alabama, Kirk has declined a salary during her tenure at Carrollton Baptist. “The Lord has blessed me far more than any salary that the church could have given me,” Kirk said. She will continue to worship at Carrollton, where she is assistant adult Sunday School teacher. “My husband, Buddy, is chairman of the board of deacons, and our two daughters grew up here. This is home,” Kirk said.
Kirk feels her departure from one type of service will lead to a new freedom to work on the mission field. The Kirks have participated in two missions trips with the church, and they feel that God is calling them to pursue missions work more actively.
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