Members of the Church Choir of Christ the King Lutheran Church along with family and friends fly to Scandinavia on July 20 for a tour of Sweden and Denmark with an extension to Norway. The choir will sing for services at four churches: the national cathedral in Upp-sala, Sweden; the cathedral of Lund, Sweden, the national cathedral in Ros-kilde, Denmark; and the Lillerød Church located north of Copenhagen, where Pastor Kirsten Drigsdahl is on staff.
The trip is the second tour to Europe by the choir. The first tour took place in 1999 when the choir sang and visited important sites relating to the Reformation and to Johann Sebastian Bach. This tour includes the capital cities of Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo.
A total of forty-three persons are traveling with the group. Thirty persons
will sing with the choir under the direction of Dr. Albert LeDoux, music director
of Christ the King Church. The choir tour will give an excellent opportunity
for participants to appreciate the Scandinavian aspects of our Lutheran heritage.
The first part of the tour ends in Copenhagen on July 31. Twenty-nine persons
will travel by ship to Oslo, Norway and the others will return to their homes
in the United States and in Germany.
Other highlights of the tour include ample time in Stockholm, the capital of
Sweden and one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. Built on a constellation
of islands, the city is surrounded and divided by water which gives the city
its beautiful quality. After a taste of the Swedish urban life, the group will
travel south to the region of Småland, famous for its forests and lakes
and for its glassworks as well. A visit to the university town of Lund is a
must. The cathedral was completed in 1145 A.D. Copenhagen with its “Little
Mermaid” and Tivoli Gardens offers much to enjoy. Excursions to Kronborg
(of Hamlet fame) and Fredensborg castles will show off much of the beauty of
Denmark.
There will be an opportunity for the participants to meet the Danes in the context of Pastor Kirsten Drigsdahl’s parish of Lillerød. Pastor Drigsdahl has been our guest in the congregation on several occasions and is delighted that she has an opportunity to share some of her life in the Danish church with the group. The church choir will sing a complete setting for holy communion, and Pastor Moore will preach. The parish will invite the travelers to a reception on the parish grounds, and later Pastor Drigsdahl will extend the party to her home nearby. Pastor Drigsdahl will show the group some of her favorite parts of Copenhagen.The Norway extension is designed to give participants time to settle for several days in the fjord region near Bergen. There will be opportunity to tour Oslo, the capital city. After a bus ride over the mountains to the west coast, there will be leisure time and busy time depending on what each traveler wishes to do. The normally drier month of August should allow for long hikes and other excursions.
The group will return to Houston on August 5 perhaps somewhat spoiled by the cooler temperatures. Spoiled or not, participants will have sampled a good slice of Scandinavian life.