The good shepherd
“It’s not necessarily about believing in one figure; it’s about the community and everyone coming together.” JAMES DOUCETTE PERFORMER AND VOLUNTEER AT TIMOTHY EATON MEMORIAL CHURCH
James Doucette doesn’t consider himself a religious person.
But he’ll be performing as a singing shepherd in the nativity play at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church on Christmas Eve, a pageant he has taken part in for the past 11 years.
For 27-year-old Doucette, who has played various roles including Joseph and one of the three wise men, the play isn’t about worshiping a supreme being.
He does it because it makes him feel connected to other people and for a love of music he has nurtured since growing up in Downsview.
He first saw the Timothy Eaton show when he was 16, after being introduced to the church’s music program through a friend who sang in the choir.
“The first year . . . there was a moment where there were over 1,000 people singing ‘Silent Night,’ ” he recalls. “It was a beautiful moment. I just realized maybe it’s not necessarily about believing in one figure; it’s about the community and everyone coming together.”
He’s not a member of the congregation but Doucette is active in programming at the church. For the past seven years, the pianist and singer has volunteered with Spirit Express, an eight-month musical theatre program at Timothy Eaton that teaches local youth in grades 8 through 12 the basics of theatre and singing.
He co-ordinates music and is a vocal coach in the program. Several young people in the program participate in the Christmas play.
Doucette says he’s thrilled to be able to give the gift of music back to the community through the pageant and youth group.
He sang in a vocal ensemble in high school and played clarinet during those years, but there were limitations on his access to music. For one thing, the music program at school was drying up at the time, he recalls. And private lessons were largely out of reach for the family, led by a single mother.
He helped out at home where he could and took on an evening retail job with close to full-time hours when he was 16. He wanted to help his mom with the bills and have some spending money. Meanwhile, he still did musical theatre and choir. “I was a busy, busy person,” he says. But he successfully completed high school and now holds down several jobs, including managing restaurants and teaching music at a few other churches.
Mallary Davenport, director of the Timothy Eaton pageant, credits professionally trained contributors such as Doucette for helping maintain the quality of the annual production, which involves 150 volunteers.
She noted the spectacle, which has been performed at the church for more than two decades, also features some performers of the four-legged persuasion — camels, donkeys, sheep and goats.
One year a donkey stopped during the show and refused to budge while it urinated inside the church, Davenport recalls, laughing.
Animals aside, Doucette likens the group that collaborates on the pageant to a second family, saying, “I’ve made some best friends here.”
Later, he adds: “I know every Christmas who I’m going to get to see. It’s our little get-together. It’s a lot of fun.”