Thomian Choir heralds the Advent Season in Sydney. Bishop Gary Koo, reminds us of the “true meaning of Christmas”
Sydney summer weather for November turned to be unusually pleasant creating a whiff of the Christmas mood as the guests gathered for this much anticipated festival of “Nine Lessons and Carols” presented by the S.Thomas’ College Old Boys’ Association of NSW/ACT.
Warden of S.Thomas’ College, Rev Marc Billimoria in his message to this 14th consecutive year of the Carol service to be held in Sydney, writes “ Christmas reminds us each year that God the creator entered the creation in order to share the joys and sorrows of the world God loved so much (John 1:14; 3:16). The incarnation is also a reminder that God is with us through all the changing scenes of life. As we emerge from the pandemic and other challenging situations of the past two years this is a wonderfully reassuring message of hope for us all. Christmas also reminds us that good overcomes evil, light overcomes darkness and life overcomes death in and through Jesus Christ, whose holy birth we celebrate”
Kumar Rasiah in delivering his well-researched introduction & welcome made connections of the traditional ‘Nine Lessons and Carols’ at S.Thomas’ College Mt Lavinia, to its beginnings where a long and strong tradition of Choral music, originated by Canon Roy Bowyer-Yin who serendipitously was mentored by Milner-White at Cambridge, was the Chaplain of S.Thomas’ College, Chapel of the Transfiguration. Canon Bowyer-Yin in turn groomed Rev LGB Fernando and Mr Bartholomeusz, whose proteges were Vasantha and David, our leading exponents of Choral Music in Sydney. Amazingly, the new Director of Music at Westminster Abbey who will be directing the music for the Coronation of the new King Charles III. Andrew Nethsingha, is the son of Lucien Nethsingha who was trained at S. Thomas’ College in that era.
That segue did well in introducing the Right Reverend Gary Koo, the Bishop of Western Sydney, Kumar admitted that he had found most of his bio from the Wikipedia ! However, he made a connection of Bishop Koo’s Singaporean, Malaysian origin to Canon Bowyer-Yin a Singaporean who served as a Chaplain at S.Thomas’ College for 17 years. Bishop Khoo also served as the pastor at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Carlingford for 7 years before he was consecrated to the episcopate. Some parishioners at St Paul’s were Thomians who knew him quite well.
That said it was Choir Master Vasantha to begin the Carol service with an introit carol of glory and praise, “Come Christians, Join to Sing” that was sung by a section of the choir from the upper narthex of the church, with the accomplished organist Godelieve Ghavalas giving a trumpet like ‘intro’. This was followed by the traditional ‘Once in Royal David City’, the first verse, a solo sung beautifully by Nemeka Ramanayake. This years’ carols were carefully selected with some carols selected by the Thomian fraternity following a survey to indicate the most popular carols sung in the past. Two carols were sung for the first time, “The Shepherd Men Were Keeping’ and Keith & Kristy Getty’s very popular carol “Glorious Light”.
Thus it continued, the Thomian Choir giving a remarkable and soulful performance, delivering each Carol with a judicious mix of power, devotion and reverence. The service continued unannounced with the nine lessons read by representatives of schools closely associated with S.Thomas’ College, most coming under the board of governance of CMS.
It was a beautiful rendition of carols sung in unison and harmony that reflected the long hours and persistent training that began in earnest in September. This is a group of voluntary singers blessed with exceptional voices. Combining the voices, organ and piano accompaniment was a carefully orchestrated task handled by Vasantha Weerakoon ably assisted by Godelieve Ghavalas, Yasmin Abayasekara and Nemeka Ramanayake. A brilliant solo by Christopher Massillamany, moved the congregation in echoing their feeling of the emotive carol “What Can I Give Him”.
In his poignant and stirring Christmas message, Right Reverend Gary Koo asked, “what does a name mean ?” then he explained in detail, that the name Jesus means “the Lord is salvation” (Matt 1:21), that God himself gave that name to His son, who was sent to save God’s people from their sins. Therefore, Christmas is a time to celebrate, not the trimmings and the trappings but that it is about Jesus, who lived up to his ‘name’. Bishop Koo was able to hold the attention of the congregation with his exceptional style of delivery filled with light repartee and anecdotes. But, the message was clear and meaningful.
Ending yet another memorable Thomian Carol service Reverend Owen Goddard, the Rector of All Saints Church Parramatta, blessed the congregation before the Choir and congregation sang exuberantly the traditional receding carol “O Come All Ye Faithful”
All were invited to a time of fellowship that most guests look forward to, gathered in the adjoining Ministry Hall for a relaxed time of connecting and a ‘chit chat’ over refreshments. We hope the congregation were filled with a memorable night, being restored and reminded of the true meaning and the spirit of Christmas, heralded by a service that inspires.
The Thomian Carol Service 2023, the XVth , will be held on Saturday 25th November 2023.
The Committee, STC OBA NSW/ACT
Related Links:
Link to the Photo Gallery - Click Here
Link to the Carols Booklet - Click Here
Link to the ‘Video of the Carol Service’ - A recording of the Carol service will be uploaded on the STCOBANSW/ACT Website YouTube channel. A communique will follow as soon as it is made available.
Historical record of details of Thomian Carol Service - Click Here
