From the Organist & Choirmaster

While I believe many anticipate a post that reviews the Parish Choir’s residency in London, I have decided to wait until the choir can come together with all of Saint Andrew’s to share their experience with you, rather than myself speaking on behalf of them. As always, I am most available and happy to talk about our amazing trip, so ask me any questions whenever you see me, I am more than glad to talk about it! I am beyond proud of them.

I have come to realize that some at Saint Andrew’s might not know more about myself personally, so I’ll use this week’s post to tell you more about me.

My family comes from a town in north-central Indiana called Wabash, whose claim to fame is that it is the first electrically lit city in the world, where a light was hung from the top of the beautiful 19th century courthouse in the middle of the city. My parents moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where I grew up in a more urban environment from my extended family, though I really enjoyed going to Indiana for long summers at my grandparents’ farmhouse surrounded by cornfields. You may find it hard to believe but I have driven tractors, played in mud, tended chickens, rolled hay bails, and other sundry farm activities.

When I was in elementary school, my music teacher noticed my love for music, I played in the orchestra (thanks be to God I don’t play violin anymore), sang in the choir, and excelled in music better than my other subjects. She advised my parents to have me audition for the Chattanooga Boys’ Choir, which I promptly did and my fondness for music developed rapidly from that point on. Through the boys’ choir I was able to travel on many tours of the US as well as a Canadian tour. I’ve been wearing cassocks and surplices for a long time, one time I had a nosebleed at our “singing Christmas tree” (yes, it’s what it sounds like, a giant metal structure decorated with garlands filled with choir boys, completed with one choir boy as the angel on the top of the tree), I ruined my cotta and had to climb into the bowels of the metal tree for rescue.

I attended Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts, an arts magnet school similar to ASFA in Birmingham from sixth to twelfth grade. There, I took on rigorous music classes, started piano, and in my last few years became the assistant choir director and go-to student accompanist. I received the National School Choral award of excellence three times in Chattanooga and won some piano competitions here and there. I also began taking organ lessons at this time at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church not knowing that my career path would lend me right back in the church. I thought I’d be a dentist of all things! While I was taking organ lessons, I also came to the Roman Catholic Church at the minor Basilica in Chattanooga where I sang in the Schola and filled in for the organist some. My organ teacher recommended that I pursue organ on the collegiate level, so fast forward a bit and I was in Birmingham at Samford where I studied with Dr. Jim Dorroh and later Dr. Fred Teardo. After Samford I was at Saint Luke’s for a while as their assisting organist and then came to Saint Andrew’s in 2022 to be your Organist and Choirmaster, which has been the true gem of my life! Currently I am finishing up a Masters in Theology through Indiana Wesleyan University which springs from a profound love of theology and church history.

In my free time, I’m often with my cats Penny and Patsy, spending time outside, and of course listening and playing music. I love to kayak and bike, challenge myself with difficult music, and I’m usually always thinking about what’s next for the Parish Choir.

Faithfully yours,

Cody Lawyer

Nametag Ministry

Altar Guild