The success of the first coffee house in October made one thing very clear for the church. They liked the idea of new events and a time for fellowship. It was in January that myself, Connie Sabatine and Jeff Barrows sat down with the pastor and proposed our plan to hold a concert in June and follow it with an Italian dinner. Calling it “Italian Night” we would be able to entertain our guests and then provide a delicious home cooked Italian meal.  I knew this combination would be a great fit.

Building off of our success with the Interfaith Choral Festival in November, I had searched for an opportunity for the choir besides the coffee house and singing in church on selected Sunday mornings.   I believe if you want your ensemble to grow and become more mature, you need to find new outlets to perform in and a new audience to sing for.  Stretching yourself out of your comfort zone will definitely do that.  Since we have never sung more than two sections in a row, this opportunity to perform a full concert can only help us become a better choir.  I can now select literature of varying styles ranging from secular to Sacred as well as material that is better suited for a concert as opposed to just a Sunday service.  This is exactly what I did. I chose several songs including “Cantate Domino” which is partially sung in Latin. Although not terribly difficult, it is a good concert song that allows me to teach more advanced musical concepts as well as introducing Latin to our members.

In addition to Cantate Domino, we are performing Instrument of Peace, A Thousandfold, An Irish Blessing, Joshua, Make a Joyful Noise, A Mighty Fortress is our God and The Christ Child is Born will be our Sacred selections.  But, we also have a few non Sacred songs to provide a little fun and they include Bring Him Home from Les Miserables, Stand By Me and the traditional college song Vive L’Amour.  There will also be a special selection sung by Jeff Barrows.

I am definitely proud of the choir and the work they have put in so far to make this concert a success.  Like other church choirs, our membership has a varied level of musical talent with some having music and choral experience to those who this is the first time they have ever sung in a choir.  But, they are developing nicely and working towards my high expectations of them.

The dinner part just fit so nicely into the plans. It does provide a night out for our guests with dinner included.  Plus, it is all for free.  Where can you go in our society today that you can get a good concert and a full dinner all for free?  I am excited to know that many of our guests are not just going to be regular members of the congregation.  We will have family and friends from out of town, those from other churches, and even those who don’t go to church at all.  This is a nice opportunity for anyone who has never been inside our church to meet our members, have a chance to walk through the church and get a feel for who we are and what we stand for.  If opening up our church can even change one persons life for the better, than it is all worth it.

After the concert, I will be the disc jockey for the dinner.  I will be playing many of the great Italian favorites and dinner classics associated with the great country of Italy.  It stands to be a beautiful night for everyone.

I do need to tell you that entrance to both the concert and dinner is by ticket only. You will be only able to get into the dinner by having a ticket. Right now we have very few seats left. If you are interested, please call me and I will try to save you one.  However, if you don’t care about the dinner and just want to come and hear the concert, you can do that.  Just come on in!

If you have any questions or would like to inquire if we still have tickets remaining, please call me at 908-619-4502 and I can give you more information.

I am excited to invite you to Bethel’s spring coffee house, which is going to be held on Saturday, April 28th at 6pm in the multi-purpose room of the church. The event is FREE and open to ANYONE! I encourage you to bring a friend and share with them a great night of fellowship, entertainment, food and love. As you may know, our first coffee house was held in October 2017 and was a huge hit bigger than we could have ever expected. We were hoping for maybe 100 people and figured if we came close to that, we could call it a successful night. Well, we were VERY Blessed to smash that figure and had 132 people in attendance. It was a great night and probably one of the largest turnouts for a non-service event the church has had. We have made plans to increase our set up and are ready to host 150 people this time.

The church has decided that they would like us to produce two events a year, one in October and another in the Spring. Well, we have been working very hard getting our April event ready and I think you are really going to like it. Doors will open at 5:30pm and we will begin to serve food and drink shortly after. We expect to begin with the entertainment shortly after 6pm. Like our first event, we will be providing light food and refreshments including hoagies, mini-chicken sandwiches and delicious hot pretzels. Of course, this is in addition to delicious coffee, tea, cold drinks and home made desserts!

The highlight of the night is our wonderful entertainment. We have several acts returning from last time as well as a few new ones to entertain you. There is a great deal of diversity within the music that you will never be bored. From Sacred to Secular, there is a little something for everyone. For me, I am proud to have an opportunity to again direct our 13 pc. men’s choir, Victory Voices, in two selections, Instrument of Peace and Stand By Me. Instrument of Peace, by Greg Gilpin, is a beautiful song written for men’s choir that speaks to the need for peace in our lives and that spirit which needs to live in all our spirit. During the song there is a beautiful solo song by tenor vocalist Nick Cornelius. To lighten the mood, our other selection is the great Stand By Me by Ben E. King. The men are doing a great job and this is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

For our other entertainment, we are pleased to announce that the following will be performing: Pastor Brent Robinson, Sam Bodder, Joe DeMaio, Jeff Barrows, Karen Barrows, Jerry Crivellaro, Ray LaBarre, Leah Tielmann, Kemie Adedoyin, Keith Schifano, Linda Pettinelli, Laura Stauffer, Laura Carlson, Shawn Isaacs, and Mark Campbell. There is a lot of talent with all of these voices and performers. Our closing number will even be a surprise that might shock some of the church members!! A surprise that I am sure will be well worth it!

Although the event looks to be a great night, it takes several months of work, meetings, many phone calls and communication to put everything together. I would like to thank my committee for doing a great job assisting and leading on several fronts. Our committee includes: myself, Connie Sabatine, Jeff Barrows, Melinda Scheel and Joe DeMaio. Everyone has graciously donated their time to build this event. So far, the excitement is growing as we are getting closer and I am encouraged by the turn out we are expecting. This is an outreach event geared to bring others into our church regardless of their religious affiliations. To be able to share a time of fellowship, food and entertainment with them is a gift of peace and an opportunity to get to know our community.

We also are VERY THANKFUL to ShopRite, Wegman’s, Weis Market, Giant Market, Philly Pretzel Company, Sam’s Club, Chick-Fil-A (Phillipsburg Location) for making wonderful contributions to our night.

The event should last until about 8:30pm. We will have an intermission between sets and at that time will again host the popular trivia contest like we did last time. A mixture of tv/movie and pop culture, our trivia contest was a hit, and for some, a great blast from the past. Prizes will be awarded to those 3 with the most correct.

The night is shaping up to be very special. I encourage you all to come. The room is set up in a very relaxed and warm atmosphere almost resembling a dinner theater. Plus, it is free! If you have any questions or need directions, please call me at (908)-619-4502.