Australian Choir Performs at Chapel Service

The voices of the Jubilate Choir mixed and flowed and provided a rich worship experience for the Monday morning chapel service at the Christian Reformed Church’s office in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Currently touring through North America, the more than 50-voice choir from Australia sang songs that glorified God and uplifted the spirits of those who had taken a break from their work to step into the atrium at the CRC office to listen to the short concert.

Before they sang, the choir's director Rev. Crosbie DeKrester said he appreciated the opportunity to both lead the singing and to take a little trip "down memory lane."

Only moments before, he and  Rev. Joel Boot, executive director of the CRC, reminisced how they had attended Calvin Theological Seminary together more than 40 years ago.

"It is my joy, privilege and honor to be here, and also to take this little sentimental journey, remembering how we both studied at the seminary 42 years ago," said DeKrester, who grew up in Sri Lanka and is now a retired pastor of the Christian Reformed Churches in Australia.

The mixed-voice choir is from the Melbourne, Austrialia area. Accompanied by a piano, it sang several selections, including No Other Name/Worthy of Glory and He is the Rock.

Before coming to Grand Rapids, the choir performed in California and in the Chicago area. On Sunday, the choir sang in Holland, Mich. From Grand Rapids, it will go on to perform in Canada, said DeKrester.

“The aim of our choir is to provide a ministry in song and music and glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” he says.

“Our members are from many churches, several of them CRC, and we sing together for concerts and events and during Easter and Christmas.”

The choir, whose members range in age from their 50s to their 80s, was established during the mid-1950’s by Dutch migrants. It initially was the church choir of the Christian Reformed Church of Dandenong, Victoria, Australia, says a letter the choir sends to churches describing its history.

“When the Jubilate Choir was invited to give a series of concerts in The Netherlands in 1995 many others joined specifically to participate in the tour to the Netherlands,” says the letter.

“After the overseas tour to The Netherlands it was decided to continue as a touring choir as well as an outreach choir within Australia.”

The choir performs all over Australia and, in the last decade, has made several overseas tours.

"I love my music, my choir and my Lord,” said DeKrester.

And music is one way, he says, that helps people to realize, “We are all united in the bonds of our faith and enjoy God's goodness and love on our journey of faith."