A random act of caroling was looking to put shoppers in the holiday spirit Tuesday.
Around 50 parishioners of St. Paul’s Anglican Church started a flash mob in the food court at Intercity Shopping Centre, singing ‘Joy to the World’ for surprised shoppers who probably weren’t expecting a holiday serenade with dinner.
“We have a sign outside of our church that says there is joy here and the joy that’s in our hearts we wanted to share with everyone,” St. Paul’s archdeacon Deborah Kraft said after the performance. “If it can bring some people joy than we feel really happy about that.”
The flash mob began with three women holding bells singing the carol before parishioners of all ages joined in throughout the food court. Kraft said it’s the first time the church tried a flash mob and that it came together in a few weeks.
“We thought it would be a little more interesting (than traditional caroling). We thought it would be a little more engaging and spontaneous,” she said.
Kraft said she’d never heard of a flash mob before rehearsing began. But now the church plans to put a video of the performance online. The church wants to remind people that there is joy in the world in good times and bad she added.
“It only becomes joy when we give it away.”
