For Shelley May Hutchison, making music at Our Saviour's has been a decades-long pursuit. The daughter of Les and Laurie May, who themselves have been leaders in various OSLC missions and ministries since joining the church in the mid-1980s, Shelley started singing with the Our Saviour's Children's Choir when she was 5 years old and has been involved in music ministry at the church in some capacity ever since.

Today, Shelley directs Our Saviour's Children's Choir and the Bach Ringers handbells choir, both of which resume rehearsals in early September after summer break. Her "day job" is serving as an elementary music teacher in Indian Prairie School District 204, where she will be based at Owen Elementary for the 2025-'26 school year.

It's the special connection that occurs at the intersection of music-making and a shared faith that fuels Shelley's love for her roles at Our Saviour's.

I think music is extremely powerful for creating community," she says. "When we're in an ensemble and we're all focused on the same piece and interpreting with the lyrics or thinking about how it makes us feel, it's kind of like meditating or praying together. Even in rehearsals, there's a special state of being with the Holy Spirit when we're creating together."

A percussionist since 5th grade, Shelley graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor's degree in percussion performance and music education. After graduation, she returned to OSLC, where she had been ringing in the handbell choir since she was a teenager.

In 2006, Shelley began leading middle school instrumental ensembles at Our Saviour’s; she continued directing those groups until taking over as director of the Bach Ringers in 2019 following Lynn Panosh's retirement. Last fall, she was named to lead the Children's Choir - a role that she relishes as an OSLC kids choir alum.

With the launch last year of Midweek Meetups, which feature a communal meal followed by Children's Choir rehearsal for younger students, Surge Confirmation for junior high youths and small groups for adults, "that feeling of community, that spark I think came back" on Wednesday nights, Shelley says. "Community and intergenerational activity is something I so valued growing up - I remember being very comfortable around lots of different-aged people, and that's what I see coming back again."

For kids, she says, Children's Choir is a chance to exercise their brains in a different way and be part of something that's about collaboration and producing something beautiful together, rather than competing against one another.

"This is a chance to say, 'You all can contribute in your own way, and it's unique, and it's beautiful, and it's accepted,'" she says. "It's a break from anxiety, too, because you're fully there. You are fully present with what you're creating; all of the distractions fall away."

That latter element holds true also for adults, who can find a respite from their own anxieties and distractions as part of a music ensemble, Shelley says.

“I think music helps a lot of people speak to God in a different way, and oftentimes even without words,” she says. “It’s a way to connect to the Holy Spirit.”

Children’s Choir and the Bach Ringers share their music in worship around once a month. Register for Children’s Choir HERE; contact Shelley at shelley_mayhutchison@ipsd.org.