F. Paul Dickey has served as the Director of Music at the Bernardsville United Methodist Church since 2022. He conducts the singing choir, plays the church’s pipe organ and piano to accompany the choir during worship, and leads the handbell choir as well. Mr. Dickey previously served as the Director of Music at the United Reformed Church in Somerville, New Jersey, where he directed singing and handbell choirs since the winter of 1999. He also served as organist for all the church’s worship services. Before coming to United, Mr. Dickey had served in similar positions in Presbyterian churches in New Jersey and Georgia, his longest tenure being for eighteen years at the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church, where he developed an extensive music ministry and concert series with professional soloists and orchestra. Mr. Dickey holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, and a Master of Sacred Music degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. His military service position was on the staff of the Armed Forces School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia, where he was Music Librarian and the conductor of the Army Student Men’s Chorus. He has been a member of the Handbell Musicians of America for many years and has been a handbell clinician and festival conductor for many of their events.
