The Farmingdale United Methodist Church (UMC) will host a special Thanksgiving concert this Sunday, Nov. 21, and the entire community is invited to attend.

The Thanksgiving concert is expected to provide the community both an opportunity to come together and celebrate, and to meet UMC's newly appointed director of music, Christine Bouton.

When the church asked her to host a holiday concert, Bouton responded with much enthusiasm.

"I figured Christmas time might not be good because people are busy, and they might not even have time to come to a concert. And, I thought, Thanksgiving is great, because I just like the whole idea of giving thanks and praise to God," she said. "And, I knew I could find plenty of hymns and selections based on the idea of thanks and praise."

In addition to hymns, the program will feature seasonal music by Johann Sebastian Bach, American composers Samuel Barber and Randall Thompson, British composer Kenneth Leighton, German composer Siegfried Karg-Elert and French composer Louis Vierne, as well as two of Ms. Bouton's own settings.

Bouton plans to follow up the Thanksgiving concert with a new concert series, which will also be open to the community. The series is aimed at filling a void of community concerts in Farmingdale.

"We just felt that there was no church nearby that was sponsoring community-type concerts that music lovers might want to go to. There certainly is a certain segment of the population that would enjoy classical music, or different types of groups that would come to perform," she said.

"We thought, wouldn't that be great, if we could start something like that. We could use local talent, and maybe also bring in groups at times. So, they asked me to kind of kick off this."

Bouton noted that she has an ambitious vision for the the church's music program, which she hopes will grow under her leadership.

"Actually, the [senior] choir has already grown just in the short time that I've been there. We're up to 22 members," she said. "I do a hand bell choir over there also, and a children's choir. And, they're all doing very well. I'm pleased with it. But I'd like to see it grow. I'm always looking for talent in the church."

She added, "I think it's great when people can be involved in whatever their talent area is. I feel that God has given us all talents and abilities. It's up to us to do our best, and to use them." In addition to the choirs led by Bouton, the church has two other musical groups led by volunteers.

Bouton is a professional organist who comes to UMC from Bayshore United Methodist Church, where she was also director of music. She has presented recitals throughout the New York metropolitan area and was the featured organ soloist for the King's College Choir tour in the US and England. She is skilled as a composer, arranger and accompanist, and resides in East Islip with her husband, Ken, and three children.

She encouraged members of the local community to attend the Thanksgiving concert, which is free, and will include a Meet the Artist reception. A free-will donation of $10 is suggested. For directions or concert information, one may call the church at 694-3424.