Reverend Debra Thorne,
Consulting Minister
Rev. Thorne is a native Vancouverite, who completed her Masters of Divinity degree at Meadville-Lombard Theological School in Chicago. Contact her at minister@beaconunitarian.org.
Marilyn Medén,
Lay Chaplain
Marilyn is available to officiate at weddings, memorials, and other rites of passage for Beacon members and the general public. For more information e-mail info@beaconunitarian.org
Charlene DuBrule,
Choir Director
Beacon’s Choir Director Charlene Dubrule is a Music Therapist and long-time music educator, specializing in Music For Young Children. She teaches students of all ages at her Coquitlam Music Studio.
Her passion for music started at a very early age when she became a member of a Elementary School Girls choir that open her world to music.
Her interest grew to studying piano, voice, musical theatre and then performing.
She has been involved in High School choirs, Madrigals, Musical Productions as well as Community performances (Gilbert & Sullivan), Musical Productions, Choirs, Jazz vocal ensembles and various Church organizations.
Her experience in directing has been through Church music events, a Jazz Vocal ensemble “Ginger Snaps” and her year end Music For Young Children Concerts.
All her life she has been passionate about music and has a thirst of wanting to experience and learn more. Recently she has completed her Choral Conducting at Capilano University.
Charlene can be contacted at char4myc@shaw.ca
Ashley Cole,
Director of Religious Exploration
I was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta but have spent the better part of the past decade traveling the globe, learning from different cultures and religions, and earning a degree in International Development Studies. I moved to Vancouver two years ago and currently work for a non profit in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Before I moved out west, I served as the Director of Religious Education (DRE) at the Unitarian Church of Calgary, which was my initial introduction to the Unitarian Universalist community. Since then I have grown leaps and bounds in my understanding and appreciation of the UU principles and practices. In my time as DRE I attended various regional conferences, teacher trainings, and Liberal Religious Education Assocation (LREDA) gatherings. I was also fortunate enough to coordinate the youth programs for the 2013 Winter Elliot Camp hosted in Seabeck, Washington as well as coordinate the children’s programs of the 2013 Canadian Unitarian Council AGM hosted in Calgary, Alberta. You can email Ashley at BeaconUnitarianRE@gmail.com.
Blake Matthew,
Sound Technician
Since graduating from Douglas College for Music Technology in April, 2014 I have worked as a freelance audio engineer, music producer and film composer. Besides being at Beacon as a sound tech, I am also the studio engineer at Renegade Productions and spend a lot of my time scoring films. I continue to learn on a daily basis about audio engineering as well as music composition and I look forward to seeing what the future holds.