Venue: TA 2
ALDERSGATE CONVENTION 2012 will be held at Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church 2 (TA 2) from Thursday, May 24 to Sunday, May 27. TA 2 is located at 61, Wishart Road, off Telok Blangah Road.
There will be the Aldersgate Service, two rallies and a hymn festival.
The theme for the convention is “The Spirit-Filled Life” and the speaker is the Rev Duleep Fernando, a former President of The Methodist Church in Sri Lanka.
The convention will begin with the Aldersgate Service on May 24 at 7.45 pm during which the Rev Fernando will deliver the sermon entitled “A Heart Strangely Warmed – The Regenerating Spirit”.
At the rallies on May 25 and 26 from 7.45 pm to 9.45 pm each night, he will speak on the topics “Scriptural Holiness – The Sanctifying Spirit” and “The World Is My Parish – The Missionary Spirit” respectively.
A two-hour Wesleyan Hymn Festival will round off the convention on May 27 at 7.30 pm. The Methodist School of Music is working on the programme which will celebrate the event with songs and music.
The annual Aldersgate Convention is an opportunity for Methodists to affirm their unity in Christ as they gather to explore their Wesleyan heritage.
Hymn festival director scores again
THE MULTI-TALENTED hymn festival director/composer/ organist Dr Michael Burkhardt visited Singapore a second time to conduct a Christmas concert at the Esplanade Concert Hall on Dec 6, 2011.
Entitled “Gaudete! Gaudete! Christmas Through the Ages”, the presentation traced the spirit of Advent and Christmas in corresponding anthems, carols and organ pieces.
With his characteristic charm and musical prowess, Dr Burkhardt led the 140-voice Gaudete Festival Chorus (formed for this event), which was accompanied by a 19-member orchestra and the pipe organ. A total of 1,356 seats were filled, topping the number at the Wesleyan Hymn Festival 2010 (Victoria Concert Hall).
Dr Burkhardt arrived in Singapore two weeks prior to the event, for the final rehearsals with the adult and children’s choirs. What seemed to many as a daunting task – to blend and unify the massed voices into a unified choral tone – appeared second nature to him.
The Festival choristers comprised singers from nine Methodist churches, and friends from the Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Bible-Presbyterian and independent denominations. Also included were singers from the “A Capella Centralite” from Central Methodist Church in the Philippines.
From Nov 30 to Dec 2, the annual Children’s Choir Camp was held at the Methodist School of Music premises. The three-day event comprised rigorous choral training by Dr Burkhardt in preparation for the Gaudete event, percussion sessions with a guest clinician, Mr Derrick Lim, handbell ringing with Ms Ng Chet Wei, and Asian Instruments with Ms Judith Mosomos.
Other fun and games and craftwork sessions occupied the energetic campers for the remainder of each day. The camp was organised by the Methodist School of Music.
Dr Evelyn Lim is the Vice-Principal (Musical Arts) of the Methodist School of Music.