About Us
Chaverim is a group of young Christian singers and musicians aged 12 to 20. Chaverim members represent many denominations-Alliance, Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian and United, to name a few. Chaverim started in Vasey United Church and now rehearses at Grace United Church in Barrie. The members of Chaverim come from the Midland, Orillia, Barrie and Stayner areas of Ontario. Each season, Chaverim performs up to 30 times in locations across Ontario. We join congregations for Sunday morning and evening worship as well as evening praise services. Being a member of Chaverim is a way to express our Christian beliefs through music, which is something we all enjoy. It also gives us a chance to meet people we wouldn't meet if there were no Chaverim. We have a lot of fun in Chaverim. We all like to sing and perform Christian music. Because we're good friends and love to do what we do, Chaverim is one reason each member looks forward to weekends when we perform.
Led by Rev. Karen Hilfman-Millson the members wrote a covenant to follow to make the group more life-giving.
Chaverim Covenant
In order to make Chaverim a special and wonderful group in which to participate, we, the members and leaders of Chaverim, promise to:
- work at working together
- be intentional about showing we are responsible by:
- treating buildings with respect
- treating each other with respect
- engaging only in behavior that a leader could walk in on anytime
- focusing when it's time to focus
- taking responsibility to focus yourself
- becoming an active participant on our teams
- listening with the intention of hearing and understanding
- encouraging others
- working through issues until we get to a satisfactory solution
- using a clap or chant with echo or response to attain quiet and focus
- being honest about expressing feeling with patience and calmness
- speaking to someone if hurt by something or angry about something
- creating opportunities for input
- communicating and explaining decisions
- being welcoming and inclusive
If we are not following the covenant, the process will be for someone to ask the person if they realize they have violated the covenant; if they do realize, the person will ask why the covenant has been broken. Further consequences will be developed at a future time if the covenant is repeatedly broken.
Statement of Purpose
- To provide a group where young people can discover that Christianity is relevant to them through performing contemporary Christian music.
- To provide a ministry of contemporary Christian music.
- To provide a group for young people to explore their musical abilities to discover what place music has in their lives.
- To increase young people's self-esteem and self-confidence through the disciplines of performances.
- To provide a positive alternate peer group.
Our History
Chaverim began in March 1986 at Vasey United Church. Since its creation, Chaverim has performed over 500 times in Churches of all denominations and sizes holding only 50 people as well as venues holding 1000. The group has played all over Southern Ontario and the Ontario near North - from London, to Ottawa, to Elliott Lake and everything in between. Chaverim has played at many United Churches, Alliance, Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Community, Mennonite, Pentecostal, and Presbyterian Churches, and even places like the Oro Fairgrounds and the Martyrs' Shrine in Midland.
Chaverim has been performing contemporary Christian music with a few secular pieces in the mix. The music arrangements are from many sources with some privately arranged, but many arrangements are our own. We are constantly looking for new appropriate music that will bring God's message to the members in the group as well our audiences and congregations.
The group has done four recordings in the last 15 years. Each recording has had its own challenges musically, plus working our way through licensing, budgets and the actual recording process. The directors have learned as much as the members by doing these projects. Chaverim owns all its own sound equipment and also has to maintain it or eventually replace it. Our budget has grown from $0.00 in 1986 to over $25,000.00 in 2000.
The biggest challenge over the years has been to maintain the consistency of the performance of the group. Each year, we lose between two and eight members (sometimes more) as they move on to new parts of their life such as university, college or work. The challenge is to find young Christians who can sing and/or play instruments well, and want to do it as part of a group thirty times each year. As with all adult choirs, tenors and basses are hard to come by and are cherished and nurtured; similarly, senior pianists are constantly sought. We are constantly encouraged to continue with this ministry since the Chaverim members of today will be the next generation of church musicians tomorrow.
2008/2009 Director
Christine Boyd, BMus, BEd
Graduating from the University of Western Ontario with her Bachelor of Music (Hons.), and Bachelor of Education, Music Specialist, Christine has been involved in many youth choirs at the primary, junior and intermediate levels.
Whether for the school board or her local church, she has brought inspiration to many young people through music and drama.
While adept at vocal and piano training, her heart belongs to brass instruments as her favourite section.
Founders
Cathy Brown and Rick Brown
Cathy and Rick Brown started Chaverim in 1986.
Cathy has sung in various choirs for more than thirty years including the Queens University Choral Ensemble conducted by Denise Narcisse-Mair and the McMaster University Choir conducted by Wayne Strongman.
In the beginning, Cathy has been the Music Director and the driving force for the wide range of music that Chaverim performs. In her other life she is Director, Human Resource Services for Georgian College. Rick is currently the Media Services/ IT Technician for Georgian College at the Orillia campus.
Cathy and Rick have two daughters - both past members of the group.