Read Part I, Part II
Thursday evening was a time of worship and renewal, as campers gathered around a large mercy seat “cross” covered in lit candles. As the service progressed, candles were snuffed out, representing the fact that 75% of young people leave the church permanently once they finish high school and move away to college or vocations. Interspersed amongst congregational worship songs that included “In Christ Alone” and “O Boundless Salvation” were testimonies, a call to a Zambian missions opportunity, and reflections from special guest speaker Major Floyd Tidd, our Territorial Corps Ministries Secretary. Floyd based his devotional on the book of Hebrews, particularly Hebrews 2:1 where it says that “It’s crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we’ve heard so that we don’t drift off” (The Message). A time of prayer and recommitment followed, and the mercy seat was filled with campers determined to make a life consecration to following Christ.
Friday night was Elective night, featuring presentations from the Timbrels (led by Donna Harris), the Barbershop elective (led by Steve Armstrong), a Trombone Choir (John Lam), Contemporary Vocal (Cathie Koehnen), Drama (Peter Koehnen), Worship Team (Len Marshall and Valerie Moreton), and Songwriting (Kurtis Loveless and Curtis Cartmell), the latter presenting a worship song campers had written entitled “Here”. Interspersed throughout was media presentations by the Media Elective (Tim Sharp and Kim Garreffa), who had videoed interviews with members of all the non-performing electives, including:
Conducting (Ken Bailey), Eric Ball (Ron Holz)
Tune Into God (Bible study with Major David Ivany),
Going Deeper With God (prayer with Clint Houlbrook)
Pop Musicology (Paula Marshall)
and Reading Band (Brian Burditt).
The three Mixed Choruses also performed at this time, and here I must say that it was Steve Armstrong’s Chorus that brought down the house, first with Len Ballantine’s “Prepare” followed by Calvin Bridges’ “I Can Go to God in Prayer”, featuring soloist Lauren Deneweth, whose flawless vocals was entirely suited to this rousing hand-clapping gospel number. In the final program, it was the Timbrels and this chorus number that opened and closed out the program to a delighted capacity audience.
The final Saturday evening program, held at Scarborough Citadel to an audience of about 450 strong, was one of the best presented in the past number of years. John Lam’s band played Leslie Condon’s “Call of the Righteous” while Brian Burditt’s band offered us Kenneth Downie’s “Majesty”. The Drama Stream delighted us with “Church Shopping”, a whimsical but illuminating look into the different worship styles and atmospheres of various church denomination. Its message of respecting differences and allowing diversity couldn’t be missed.
Cathie Koehnen led the Women’s Chorus with Donna Butler’s “Reason to Sing” and Kirk Franklin’s lovely “Lean on Me”, which was accompanied by media designed by staffer Tim Sharp. Jane Lam also led the Women’s Chorus in a couple of numbers: “You Are Always There” (Richard Phillips, arranger), and a premiere presentation of staffer Donna Harris’s piece “Things Thought Impossible”. Keep an eye out for this incredibly gifted composer… I know we’ll be hearing a lot more of her music as time goes on (visit her websites at www.markedbylove.com/ and www.myspace.com/markedbylove ).
But the evening had to go to ‘A’ Chorus and ‘A’ Band. First, ‘A’ Band prefaced Commissioner William Francis’ devotional with Erik Leidzen’s “Abide With Me,” which was unfinished when the composer died, but has since been completed by Ron Holz himself, who aimed to mimic Leidzen’s writing style in a way that gave due honour to the great composer. Afterwards the Commissioner delivered a short message, focusing on the centre verse of the entire Bible, Psalm 118:8, and its relationship to the Last Supper of Christ, prior to His time in Gethsemane and the crucifixion.
‘A’ Chorus then presented Len Ballantine’s “Behold the Tabernacle”, and here the audience was unexpectedly transported into a very sacred and spiritual place. Based on scripture from Revelation 21, which in part says “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God,” the piece depends on fluid, breath-taxing, unison, pitch-perfect lines from the choir in order to translate the message, and here Cathie Koehnen’s chorus did absolute justice to Len’s gorgeous creation. The result is not a sense of God’s presence falling on His congregation, but rather the audience being lifted into heavenly realms, into places where God Himself dwells. No one dared to move or breathe during this awe-filled offering, and at the end of the nine minute piece there was absolute silence for at least ten seconds. No one desired to destroy the moment. Finally it was the choir themselves who relaxed to prepare for their final presentation, an arrangement of Stuart Townend’s anthem “In Christ Alone”, in combination with the hymn “Solid Rock”. Although this anthem was lovely in its message of hope and triumph, it could not measure up to the heavenly sound of the previous piece.
‘A’ Band finished out the night with Martin Cordner’s new piece “Lord of Sea and Sky”, based on a fairly well-known contemporary (1981) hymn by Daniel Schutte, which in turn is based on Isaiah 6 where Isaiah gives his famous response “Here I am, send me.” Accompanied by interpretive media and scripture from Ezekiel 36:26-27 and 11:19-21, the band sold the powerful message of Cordner’s inspired arrangement which focuses on the grandeur of a God who powerfully creates the universe yet intimately loves His people, and calls each one of us to sacrificially love the nations with that same intimate, personal touch. Yet it is only by the transformation of our own hearts by the power of God’s Spirit that we are enabled to accomplish such great things for God’s Kingdom. It is this message that is the crux of our Founder’s calling, and the crucible by which our Army must continue to stand. A fitting climax to a wonderful evening.
As a benediction, all 170+ staff and campers gathered at the front to premiere Len Ballantine’s “Always Good News”, whose lyrics read: “Since I’ve heard with my ears this Song of songs, Since I’ve seen with my eyes the work God has done, I must tell with my mouth, I must try to describe this Good News.” Ultimately this is the purpose for which Territorial Camp exists: To creatively and spiritually motivate young adults to go out and make a difference in the communities God has given them, to fulfill the Great Commission and be effective witnesses for Christ to their generation. To this end may Territorial Camp continue for another 40 years: Hail, Jackson’s!
All photos connected to this article were taken by the following media students and staff: Matthew Kerr, David Purdy, Colin Smith, Len Marshall, Kim Garreffa