We are pleased to announce that our music ministry is headed in a new direction. Over the past years Gregg and Natalie Codelli have done an extraordinary job leading our worship music in their volunteer and part-time capacities. However, we are now in the position to hire
a full-time Director of Music. Jake Mappes, director of the 5:30pm Sunday Life Teen Band, will begin as our new Director of Music, on Tuesday, September 6.
Jake looks forward to working with our current choir members and also expanding the ministry. He will continue the contemporary feel at the 5:30pm Mass, but also include classic Catholic hymns using the Gather Hymnal.
Please welcome Jake to this new position - and thank the Codellis for their ministry to OLA!
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Thank You, Natalie and Gregg!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Gregg and Natalie Codelli for their devoted service to OLA, especially with their leadership of our Music Ministry.
Over the last 26 years their efforts have enhanced the quality of our worship greatly through the many choirs at OLA – the Adult Choir, the Children and Youth Choirs, the Women’s Schola, the Bell Choir (Hand Chimes/Adult and Children’s) – and special celebrations on Holy Days, Christmas, Holy Week, Easter, and the yearly St. Cecilia concert. Natalie and Gregg have also served on the Liturgy Committee.
While at OLA they led our theater program, the OLA Players, which put on some great productions including Once Upon a Mattress and The Song of Mark. They have also lent their talents to the Environment and Art Ministry, RCIA, the Parish Life Group, Mercy Care Ministry, and the Care For Creation Ministry.
Your service has been a blessing and we are grateful.
Yours in Mary, Our Mother,
Fr. Jim
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A Message from Jake
Dear OLA community,
For those of you who do not know me, my name is Jake Mappes, and I am your new Director of Music, officially starting on September 6th. You may have seen me around during the past year, usually leading music at the Sunday 5:30pm Mass. I am excited to now be taking on a full-time position at this wonderful parish.
I have lived in Georgia my whole life. Iwas baptized at St. Oliver Plunkett in Snellville, where I spent my formative years. My family was heavily involved in parish life there, especially in the music ministry, with my parents playing at Saturday night Masses and my mom serving as the children’s choir director. I was a part of her children’s choir and that is where my own interest in church music first began!
Having played piano since the age of 4, I began to take off with the instrument as I approached high school. I joined St. Oliver’s Life Teen Band as a freshman and played there the next four years. This led to my first real job as the parish’s children’s choir accompanist. Following that endeavor, I have continued to serve and hold various music positions at different parishes around the Archdiocese since 2014, most notably at St. Anna’s in Monroe, Holy Family in Marietta, and, most recently, St. Pius X in Conyers.
I graduated from the University of Georgia in 2019 with a degree in music composition and certificate in music business. When not at church, you can find me watching sports, playing chess, going to concerts, and performing in my own local rock band.
It is a true honor to be taking on this new role here at OLA, and please know I am here for you in any way. This is YOUR ministry! I encourage you to reach out to me at jmappes@olachurch.org or stop by the choir area before or after Mass and see how you can get involved.
We are always looking for new singers and instrumentalists, regardless of experience level. All that is ultimately needed is a willingness to share your time and talents to make the music at weekend Masses vibrant, engaging, and, most importantly, enhancive to the overall liturgy.
I truly look forward to knowing all of you further in the coming months. Please don’t be a stranger to me.
Thank you,
Jake Mappes