Paula Mayfield

Music Director

 

Hi, my name is Paula Mayfield; and I'm the music director here at Saltwater Church. (Thanks, Mom and Dad, for all the piano lessons.) 

 

I started playing the piano at a young age, and when I reached high school, I was fortunate enough be able to take private lessons in music theory and conducting. I started my church music career around that time, playing the piano for St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic Church in Renton.  It was there that I realized that music is the primary way for me to worship. There is something paradoxical, therefore something sacred, about musical expression that renders it an essential part of human life.  Through music, one can experience the divine, and equally so, that which makes us fully human.  Beethoven said it best: "Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life."

 

After leaving St. Stephen's, I moved to Olympia to attend The Evergreen State College, where I met my soon-to-be-husband, Jeff. We left school, got jobs, and over the course of the next seven years, made two beautiful girls.

 

I happened upon Unitarian Universalism by chance after taking a religion quiz online, and was thrilled to find that a vibrant, thriving congregation of Unitarian Universalists existed just minutes from my home. And what a great choir!  It was a thrill to be playing the piano in church once again.

 

Upon becoming the music director, I've found the rewards to be innumerable, and the support from the congregation a precious gift.   I feel deeply privileged to be a member of Saltwater Church.

 

Please feel welcome to contact me if you want to talk about music at our church. E-mail me at paula@saltwaterchurch.org or call me at the church.

 

The choir is always open to new members.   To borrow from the Shaker song, do you ever find yourself thinking, "How Can I Keep From Singing?"  We can't stop, either.  Rehearsals take place on Thursday evenings at 7:15 p.m.