Brown Chapel Renovation, Candlelight Christmas Service Set for 5:45 p.m. Dec. 6, 2002

SHREVEPORT, LA -- Centenary College will dedicate its newly renovated Brown Memorial Chapel prior to its annual Candlelight Christmas Service at 5:45 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6. The dedication ceremony and the service of worship, song and music are free and open to the public.

The events will mark the first use of the Brown Chapel since it has undergone extensive renovation during the past five months. The refurbished chapel¾featuring new paint, carpeting, lighting, sound and refinished pews will be celebrated with a prayer of dedication and a liturgy by the Rev. William W. Hutchinson, bishop of the Louisiana Conference, United Methodist Church.

Music and song will be provided by the Centenary Brass Quintet, the Centenary College Choir with soloist Taylor Davis and flautist Julia Fraser, Centenary Camerata, Cantare, and Chorale, and by Dr. Hollice Watson, organist. The congregation will also be invited to sing O Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night and Joy to the World, as well as join in the candlelighting ceremony and recessional.

During the service, selected readings and prayers will be led by students in the Centenary Church Careers Institute and Chaplain Betsy Eaves.

The Brown Memorial Chapel, completed in 1955, is the most visible monument to the Brown family’s long and continued service to Centenary College. It was made possible by the generosity of brothers Paul M. Brown Jr., a 1917 graduate, and Colonel S. Perry Brown, who completed his degree in 1926. The main chapel is dedicated in memory of their parents, the Rev. and Mrs. Paul M. Brown Sr., and the memorial chapel in memory of their brother, Ellis Horne Brown, who also graduated in 1917. The Brown family’s service to Centenary extends to the college’s beginnings and includes the brothers’ great-grandfather, who was a member of Centenary’s first Board of Trustees, and both their grandfathers, who were Centenary graduates in the 1850s. Paul M. Brown Jr.’s son, Charles Ellis Brown of the Class of 1948, continues to serve as a member and vice chairman of the current Board of Trustees. Four Brown family members currently attending Centenary represent the seventh generation of their family to attend Centenary.

After the dedication and Christmas Candlelight service, the congregation is invited to attend a reception and visit with Santa in the Magale Library. For further information, contact the Centenary Church Careers Institute at 869-5156.

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