Choir mission

Our mission can be summed up very simply:

• To bring glory to our God through song
• To be a music ministry to our community, and wherever we travel
• To use only sacred and Word-inspired music
• To not charge our hosts any fees for our attendance

Choir history

The choirs' founders, John Oosterink (director) and Bert Witteveen (organist), had a common vision of creating an interdenominational men's choir and in 1993 the choir was formed. The beginning was small, only 20 members, but that was soon to change. Our dedicated members come from a very large circle surrounding Woodstock, such as Ingersoll, Cambridge, Stratford and beyond. The composition of the choir changes from year to year. Every year we see new members joining, and some leave but we still have a good percentage of the original membership with us.

From the choirs' humble beginnings, here's a timeline of major changes:

Sept 1996: Peter Schepers joins as pianist

Sept 2003: Johann Van Ittersum replaces John as director, as John is taking a year off.

Dec 2003: Bert Witteveen resigns as organist.

Jan 2004: Anneke Baan accepts our call to be organist.

Dec 2005: Anneke Baan announces her upcoming wedding plans to us, and officially resigns as organist.

Jan 2006: John Lobbezoo accepts the call to be our new organist.

May 2006: Our founding director, John Oosterink, tenders his resignation from the choir at the end of the 2005/2006 season citing professional and personal reasons.

July 2006: Geoffrey Bullivant accepts the call to be our new director.

Dec 6, 2006: Geoffrey resigns from the choir.

Jan 2007: Henry Bruines accepts the position of interim director until the end of the season in April, 2007.

June, 2007: Henry Bruines accepts the position of full-time director.

Sept 2008: Funeral for our founding director John Oosterink.

May 2009: Resignation of organist John Lobbezoo as he is moving to Alberta.

Sept 2009: Lois Goodall agrees to help out with organ duties.

May 2011: Henry Bruines steps down as director.

June 2011: Randall Rehkopf accepts directors position.

May 2017: Randall Rehkopf steps down as director.

Aug 2017: Kitty Babcock accepts the directors position.

Apr 2019: The COVID-19 pandemic shuts down most group activities and many businesses. The choir will re-start when it is allowed and safe to do so.

Aug 2022: The board has decided to try re-starting the choir, so our first practice is scheduled for Sep 14, 2022 at Emmanuel Reformed Church.