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Bethlehem Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod |
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Kathleen Olive - Minister of Music
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Events & Meetings The Choir meets every Thursday, at 7:00 pm. Please come one come all. The more the merrier! Reflections, Hopes, Dreams…. As I reflect on the past eight months—my time here at Bethlehem—I am very happy with all that has happened. There is never a dull moment or any lags. For this I am grateful! We have had some wonderful music. Many have participated in a great variety of music in praise, adoration, hope, joy and awe. We have experienced Alicia Crespo in the dedication of our ‘new’ sanctuary, Marilynn Dessauer singing those glorious gospel songs, a patriotic concert celebrating our freedom to worship in our country. Jim and Debbie Schuetzler (and sometimes their children) frequently lead the Saturday Praise and Worship service. Judie Knudtson often plays the flute or signs adding beauty to our worship. John Poe has played his bugle adding majesty to our service. We have heard Dave Horn sharing his message with his original music. We had a magnificent cantata by our dedicated choir, Kenny, Lori, Katie and Matt (on timpani) made our Christmas Eve more special and celebratory that I ever could have imagined! The children—singing, playing the bells, pagenting—We are very fortunate and I am so blessed to be a part of all this. (If I have left anyone out, please forgive me.) I am looking forward to our Lent/Easter season with just as much musical extravaganza as we have already experienced. We could certainly use some extra voices in the choir for Easter Sunday so that we can have instruments and this wonderful majestic organ accompanying the voices. PLEASE think about and then do it! Come to rehearsals on Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. for Easter music. Most recently we had here at Bethlehem dancing Light—a wonderful professional duo and a surprise guest guitarist who performed in concert on Friday, February 13th as well as at the Saturday services on February 7th and 14th. The twenty-five (25) people who attended the concert got a very special treat from this very talented group. This small (too small for a church where 250-300 people attend every weekend) but a very warm audience expressed their appreciation and a good time was had by all. However, if we are to continue this concert series and we have some very exciting and interesting concerts coming up, we MUST have better attendance and support. I trust that at our next event there will be many of us enjoying the talents of all those who so generously share their gifts with us. And don’t forget—bring a neighbor and/or friends. Bring people to our church—this is an Outreach Ministry. Thank you for all you do. God’s Blessings, Kathleen Olive |
We all try to incorporate it into our lives every day. Variety is everywhere. There are so many possibilities from which to choose. If you don't believe that, take a trip to the food store and stroll down the cereal aisle or the soft drink aisle. It is mind boggling and yet different people buy different ones. Restaurants have menus offering a variety of choices. Cars, movies and TV shows, shops in the mall, malls themselves, places to go, things to do; so much variety! God has provided to us a world of enormous variety: so many different plants and animals, so many different colors which make our world so vibrant. He has also endowed us with a variety of talents with which we can share with each other; which we can use to take care of each other; with which we can enrich our lives and each others' lives; with which we can praise Him and for which we can thank Him. We must work together, celebrating each others' talents in order to create something greater for all. The total can be greater than the sum of the parts because when we work or play or practice or sing or whatever we do together and the Holy Spirit is welcomed in, something very special and Divine happens and we are all better off than we were before. I truly hope we can join together in kindness and cooperation here at Bethlehem and make more and wonderful things happen in our church and in our community. There is so much to do! Iespecially look forward to new and different musical events and projects to be happening here. Variety is everywhere and praising God can be done in a variety of ways as well. We know this by the variety He has provided for us.
Minister of Music
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Sing for Joy And they did! And they brought joy and wonder and reverence and JOY to all of us! We were indeed blessed to have the Concordia-New York Tour Choir here with us at Bethlehem. It was an evening we will not soon forget. Music from all over the world and from a variety of centuries brings to us today the message of Christianity – of hope and peace and praise and celebration. Songs reminding us of our charge as stewards of the earth; songs of love in all its forms and indeed, songs of JOY. Many thanks to the choir and we certainly hope that they will consider returning here to Bethlehem Lutheran Church in the future. I would also like thank all of you who supported this glorious event. After the concert Dr. Jason Thoms told me that this had been the best concert of the tour up till that point. I also want to thank you for your generosity to the ministry of this choir. Special thanks go to the following: Brenda Murray and the fellowship committee who provided dinner for the choir that evening. The Garrett family, the Gruhn family, Anna Arno, the Murray family, the Duensing family, the Kauffman family, the Pretzell family, the Dellinger family, Joe McHan and the Leimer family, all of whom provided housing for the students. A great big special thank you to all of you. The ‘Sing for Joy’ concepts continues here at Bethlehem , not only with our very own devoted choir, but also on Saturday, June 6 at our Praise and Worship Service at 5:30 at which the Beaches Children’s Choir will be presenting all the music for this service.. The Beaches Children’s Choir was established in the fall of 2008 and has already made a ‘Joyful Noise’ in the community. Again, we are privileged to have them here to praise and worship with us. Let’s support this and especially, this is a perfect opportunity to invite someone who may never been to one of our Praise and Worship Services. Let’s all ‘Sing for Joy’! In His Name, Kathleen Olive
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Variety,
The Spice of Life