Special St. Stephen's Church Service & Tree of Lights update
Post date: Nov 25, 2014 4:32:41 PM
Hello Everyone,
We hope you are all well after the first major snowfall of autumn 2014. Take heart, Sunday November 30 is predicted to be a sunny dry day with temperatures not too cold! I am sure you want to know more about the handsome folks at the top of this letter-so read on.
Next Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent and thus marks the beginning of the year for the Church as well as the official start of the Christmas season so naturally there will be a service at St. Stephen's Vankoughnet.
To accompany the Sunday Eucharist at 10 am this coming Sunday we shall have some special guests who will lead us in our musical celebration. TheVankoughnet Community Choir led by Carolyn Dunn Rapson have been preparing to sing ( and lead us) "Come Thou Long-expected Jesus", "People, Look East! The Time is Near" and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel".
Carolyn moved to Wood Lake in 2012 ( that is Dexter in the picture with her). She began her musical career at age seven in the Stamford United Church Choir and then moved on to the Harmony Singers. As a young adult she played the clarinet, competed in Royal Conservatory Festivals, and completed Grade Eight Piano and Grade Two theory. While in University she started a children's choir at St. Andrew's United Church and when living in Aix-en-Provence she conducted the international choir of L'Institut d'Etudes Francaises pour Etudiants Etrangers. During her teaching career Carolyn organized and led numerous English and French Elementary Choirs and Choruses. Now retired, Carolyn missed the joy of teaching music and singing and began the Vankoughnet Community Choir this year.
The Tree of Lights stands in the churchyard of St. Stephen's at 1217 Vankoughnet Road. Every year at the beginning of Advent the tree is decorated with blue and white lights. Each white light memorializes a loved one no longer with us and each blue light recognizes a person we wish to honour. Members of the community can donate $5 to have a loved one remembered with a white light or a person honoured with a blue light. The names of those have purchased a bulb for will be recognized at the services in both St. Stephen's at 4 pm Christmas Eve, and 7:30 pm at St. David's.
All funds collected will be donated to Interval House, a Bracebridge shelter abused for women and their children and Out of the Cold, a multi denominational program to provide a hot meal and fellowship to those in need in our community.
To order your bulb(s) please contact Jennifer Milne at mondayschild47@bell.net or phone 705-646-0248 or Joanne Sutton at sutton.mj@bell.net or 705-645-9363 or Patti Thompson psthmpsn@muskoka.com 705-645-0037.
Come and join us at St. Stephen's. You will be welcomed!
We Look forward to seeing you!
Jennifer
Later in the day, at 4:45 pm, the community is invited to stop by St. Stephen's for a brief visit in the Church and for a short ceremony to celebrate the annual lighting of the Tree of Lights. Each evening thereafter until the conclusion of the Christmas season the Tree of Lights will be lit at sundown, a welcome sight in what can be a cold and dark season
As an extra treat the choir will be joined by soloist Evert McIlwain who will sing "Who Could Imagine a King " by Hallerin Hilton Hill and Mervin Warren. Evert spends part of the year at his Wood Lake home. At age fourteen he began singing at the Kipling Avenue Baptist Church and as a young adult he was active in church bands, concerts and community events. Evert completed Grade Eight Voice at the Royal Conservatory of Music and later, for several years, became the Choir Director at Kipling Avenue Baptist Church. Evert has acted in and directed community and professional theatre productions and for the last twenty years he has been the musical director of the Notables-a community choral group in the Whitby/ Oshawa area.
We hope you can make it to St. Stephen's for what promises to be an inspiring Advent Service.
