Churches sponsor cantata to help needy
MOUNT MORRIS – A free community Christmas concert, sponsored by three Mount Morris churches, is planned for 3 p.m. Dec. 6 at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 308 East Brayton Road.
During “A Cantata of Lessons and Carols,” donations will be accepted to support the Loaves and Fish Food Pantry, which serves the northwest region of Ogle County.
The concert is sponsored by Disciples United Methodist Church, Mount Morris Church of the Brethren, and Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Music will include well-known songs from Handel’s “Messiah,” sung by a 50-member chorus and accompanied by chimes, piano, organ and a nine-member orchestra. The audience will be encouraged to sing along on several familiar songs.
It is the fifth year that the churches have joined to sponsor the concert, which draws musicians from Oregon, Mount Morris, Forreston, Grand Detour, Lost Nation and Leaf River. Jan Rungren will direct the chimes; Karen Larson, Carol Reckmeyer and Joanne Miller are piano and organ accompanists; Nellie Winters, Warren Reckmeyer and Nelson Miller will direct the chorus and orchestra.
The Loaves and Fish Food Pantry operates from Mount Morris Church of the Brethren, 409 W. Brayton Road. Food distribution is the first and third Thursday of each month, 4:30-7 p.m., and the second and fourth Monday of each month, 2-4 p.m. For more information, call 815-734-4573.
This year’s concert will feature the Rae of Light dancers from St. Paul Lutheran Church in Oregon, performing an interpretive dance to “One Small Child” by Peder Eide. The troupe, directed by Marcy Egyed, is composed of nine girls, ranging in age from first through eighth grade.
The public is invited to a reception following the concert. For more information about the event, go to www.trinitymm.net, or call Disciples United Methodist Church at 815-734-4853, Mount Morris Church of the Brethren at 815-734-4573, or Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church at 815-734-6354.
