PCS 125th Anniversary Celebration

As most of you would know, the Presbyterian Church in Singapore will be celebrating her 125^th Anniversary in April next year. It is indeed a joyous occasion, not only to celebrate our unity in the body of Christ, but also to celebrate God’s sustaining grace upon our Presbyterian Church for so many years. And although the exact wording of our theme for next year is yet to be finalized, its emphasis would be on looking forward to the future.

Thus, it is our hope that the youths of our churches would play a more significant role in this worship celebration. We are hoping for about 300 youths from various churches to participate in three main areas: 1) a choreographic dance which is to be part of the entire worship celebration and, 2) a further 200 youths to be part of the combined choir and, 3) a combined orchestra. The dances will be choreographed by Dr. John Lustre, youth worker of Prinsep Presbyterian Church; while the choir and orchestra will be conducted by Mr. Lim Soon Lee, SSO conductor for the Youth Orchestra with help from various choir conductors of various churches.

1. DANCE

The dancers will perform a tambourine dance to the hymn, “THE KINGDOM, POWER AND GLORY FOREVER” finale, and an on-stage dance item to the hymn, “I WILL PRAISE HIM”. No previous dance experience is needed, but basic hand-eye coordination skills would be much appreciated. The on-stage performers will be selected from a group of 300 participants. Before the dance rehearsal commences, Dr. John would like to invite interested youths to participate in a Mime and Interpretative Dance Workshop and a Tambourine Workshop as scheduled below (at no cost).

Date : 14 Dec 2005

Venue : Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School

Time : 10.00AM -12.00PM (MIME AND INTERPRETATIVE DANCE WORKSHOP)

Participants staying for the Tambourine Workshop at 1PM will be provided with lunch

: 1.00PM - 5.00 PM (TAMBOURINE WORKSHOP)

Participants must have their own Tambourines (or Hard Plastic Plates if they don’t have Tambourines yet)

The TAMBOURINE PATTERNS will be handed to the churches so that they can practice on their own depending on their availability in the months of January and February. Dr. John shall schedule a separate rehearsal for the mimes and dancers for the hymn “I WILL PRAISE HIM” choreography.

Dates for the dance rehearsals:

Every Sundays: 2 – 4pm from March to April 2006

5^th March, 12^th March, 19^th March, 26^th March,

2^nd and 16^th April – Rehearsal with Choir and Orchestra @ Jubilee Church (6:30 - 9pm, dinner will be provided),

22^nd April – Final Full Dress Rehearsal @ Singapore Indoor Stadium (details to be confirmed later),

23^rd April – Actual day @ Singapore Indoor Stadium

Venue for the dance rehearsals: True Way Presbyterian Church

Address: 156-B Stirling Road, S(148947) near Queenstown MRT station

Tel : 64743527

So, please encourage your youths to sign up as dancers now! Send in their names to the coordinator listed on page 2.

2. CHORAL

As various church choirs and conductors are already divided into several zones (as listed below); each zone will be conducting its own practices at its most convenient times. You may call the Synod office at 63385837 to check which zone your church is in. Dates and venue of practices are as scheduled below:

• two Combined Practices with all the various zones;
• two Combined Rehearsals with the dancers and orchestra; and
• one Final Full Dress Rehearsal with all three components of the participation

So, it is best that interested youths are to contact their church choir conductors or directors for more information on the practice timings. Please encourage your youths, who have experiences performing in choirs or acapella groups before, to submit their names to the choir coordinators in their own church.

Venue of practices and contact person for each zone)

Zone 1 : Living Praise PC (Mr. Gabriel Tan @ 9653-3573)

Zone 2 : Glory PC (Dn. Zhang Wei Wen @ 9002-2488)

Zone 3 : Chen-Li PC (Dn. Dorothy Sim @ 9099-8958)

Zone 4 : Bethany PC (Eld. Sng Lee Meng @ 9794-1141)

Zone 5 : Prinsep Street PC (Sister Poh Choo @ 9785-9366)

Zone 6 : Amazing Grace PC (Dn. Rebecca Teo @9028-1712)

Combined Practices (all zones)

Date : 5^th and 19^th March 2006

Time : 6:30 – 9pm (light dinner will be provided) for both dates

Venue : Jubilee Church

Address: 256 Outram Road, S(169053)

Tel : 62235203

Combined Rehearsals (with dancers and orchestra)

Date : 2^nd and 16^th Apr 2006

Time : 6:30 – 9pm (light dinner will be provided) for both dates

Venue : Jubilee Church

Address: 256 Outram Road, S(169053)

Tel : 62235203

Final Full Dress Rehearsal (everyone!)

Date : 22^nd April 2006

Time : details to be confirmed later

Venue : Singapore Indoor Stadium

3. ORCHESTRA

If any of your youths have performed in any school band or orchestra before and are interested in contributing to this worship celebration with their musical talents, please encourage them to send in their names and the instrument(s) that they play to the coordinator listed below.

Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you and God Bless.

In Christ,

Rev. Dr. Lim Boon Young

Synod Youth Council, Chairperson

Coordinator Details:

Please submit your names of interested youths to the youth coordinators in your church, alternatively, email their names to wilson@presbysing.org.sg, or fax them to 63394076 by 7 Dec 2005 (dateline for registration).