First Presbyterian Church of Yorktown builds on music’s integral role

For generations, the First Presbyterian Church of Yorktown has been more than a place of worship.

At 2880 Crompond Rd. in Yorktown Heights, the church has long been a place where the wider community comes together — from its food pantry, which has operated for three decades, to the choirs and groups that use its space.

Music, too, has long played an integral role at the church.

Now, it is building on that tradition with the Agape Music Center, a community music ministry and performance initiative designed to bring people together through sound.

“I really, truly believe that music is a ministry,” Director of Music Ministry Garrett Artmann said. “I think it's fundamentally what makes us human.”

Agape will offer concerts, music lessons, workshops, open mic nights and rehearsal space for community groups. The goal, leaders on the music ministry team said, is not to draw people into Sunday worship, according to co-pastor Chip Low, but to create another way for people of different backgrounds and beliefs to connect with one another.

The center is part of the church’s “Love Unbound” capital campaign. As the church approaches its 300th anniversary in 2030, it is looking ahead to how it can continue to grow and build community.

The idea grew naturally from the church’s existing relationship with music and its broader community outreach initiatives. Its food pantry operates through a client-choice model, allowing visitors to select the food they need, and many of its volunteers come from outside the congregation.

Those relationships have shown church leaders that the community already views the church as a resource, regardless of whether people attend services.

“For us to stretch that artistic bone and community bone, especially post-COVID, is invaluable,” Artmann said, calling the opening of the center a way for the church to “become a larger, harmonious community.”

Amy Wallace, chairperson of the Music Ministry Team and assistant capital campaign director, likened the church’s vision to the concept of a “third space” — places outside the home and workplace where people can gather regularly, build relationships and connect with others.

“Those places are disappearing and we have space,” Wallace said. “We want to use the space that we have to make one of those places in this community — and we decided to do it around music.”

Music was a natural fit. Several choirs, such as the Taghkanic Chorale, already rehearse in the building, and the church has maintained a longstanding commitment to music, including its pipe organ, which is currently undergoing a major refurbishment and is expected to return in December.

As of mid-August, the capital campaign had raised $486,000. The Agape Music Center will feature programming intended for people of all ages and experience levels, whether they want to listen, learn or perform.

“Music expands the entire lifetime and you don't have to be good at it to love it, or to do it,” said Christie Virtue-Herman, a member of the Music Ministry Team.

That philosophy is reflected in the center’s name. “Agape” is a Greek word associated with selfless or unconditional love, which those involved said represents the welcome and sense of belonging they hope people experience.

The name was suggested by co-pastor Tami Seidel, the wife of Low. When she proposed it, the group said it immediately made sense. The Music Ministry Team is developing branding and logo, along with a website and other materials ahead of a broader community launch this fall.

The team said they hope the center will grow over time as they learn what the community wants and needs.

But above all else, Low said the center is an extension of the church’s mission, with the goal of bringing people together through a shared love of music.

“Whether people have faith or not, [the center’s] value is going to mean a mother and child can come in and feel like they belong in this space. I think it means that somebody in a justice choir can come sing something about justice and I think it means that a youth can stand up and sing a song and feel confident that it's a space for them to feel welcomed in doing that,” Low said. “Those are all kinds of end results of what the space becomes and feels like.”