HARBERT — The Episcopal Church of the Mediator, located at 14280 Red Arrow Highway., has a wide variety of events planned in the upcoming weeks, including a French Market, an evening of star-gazing, and two musical performances.

“Our larger mission is to be able to share the church in the community and to reach out to as many people in the community as we can,” explained Kristen Dow, senior warden at the church. “We’d like people to know that we’re another location in Harbor Country where people can attend events.”

For those who love shopping local and finding great bargains, members of the Church of the Mediator’s Flower and Garden Guild have planned their annual French Market to take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on July 19.

“This event has been going on for a long time. It started out as a bake sale and a rummage sale, and we used to call it the European Market,” said organizer and co-chair of the church’s Flower Guild, Jeannine Totzke. “I took over this event four years ago, and I just kind of expanded it.”

Now, the event includes a variety of vendors.

“There are all different kinds of people selling items, and most of them are handcrafted. One girl sells books. She always does really well. We also have someone who does resale. It’s very nice stuff—linens, dishes, outdoors stuff,” Totzke said.

“I also have an artist. She does note cards and such. There will also be a lady who sells perennial flowers. Also, Purple Bicycle Wine Jelly will be there. They use local wines to make all kinds of nice jellies. They’re very good.”

While the sale included nearly 40 vendors last year, Totzke said that there are still some spaces available for vendors who would like to participate in this year’s market.

Interested parties can contact Totzke at mediatorfrenchmarket@gmail.com. Booth spaces are $15 each, and those funds will be used by the Flower Guild to provide flowers for the altars and other areas in the church to make it warm and friendly for visitors.

“There is also a bake sale put on by the Episcopal Church Women. That’s always a big success,” Totzke said. “This year, we plan to add box lunches as well so that shoppers and vendors can get something to eat besides the sweets we sell at the bake sale.”

The Episcopal Church Women plan to use those funds to renovate the church kitchen.

If star-gazing is more your thing, the Church of the Mediator will also be hosting an evening of activities related to astronomy on Saturday, July 26, 2014.

Beginning at 7:30 p.m., the evening will start off with a telescope-building session, and participants are also encouraged to bring a picnic dinner along with them.

Commemorating discoveries made by Galileo 400 years ago, participants will build replicas of the telescope he designed. Kits for those telescopes will be available for $25 each, and tripods for the instruments will also be available for $25 each.

After the telescopes have been built, viewing of the night sky will take place in the church’s gardens at sunset, which will take place around 9:15 p.m.

A 5 1⁄2-inch reflector and a 12-inch Dobsonian telescope will be available for viewing, and event-goers are welcome to bring their own telescopes as well.

Information about planets, constellations, and other astronomical phenomena will be provided by two experts for the evening, Jennifer Francis, director of the Upton Planetarium and Mike Durren, Instructor of Astronomy at Lake Michigan College. Other experts are also welcome.

Finally, music lovers are invited to attend two separate concert programs that the Church of the Mediator is offering.

On Sunday, July 20, The Lighthouse Chorus, with special guest quartet the Reveliers, will be performing at the church at 4 p.m.

The Lighthouse Chorus is dedicated to the preservation of barbershop singing, and they will perform in the traditional a cappella style that barbershop quartets are known for. The Reveliers will also sing a cappella, including old favorites, fun and novelty songs, doo wop and barber shop tunes in their repertoire.

Then, on Aug. 3 at 4 p.m., the Episcopal Church of the Mediator will host a performance by the Tenors Three.

Comprised of accomplished vocalists, Robert Dure, Bruce Johnson and Matthew Daniel, Tenors Three will entertain the audience with a variety of vocal standards, classical pieces and seasonal favorites.

A free will offering will be taken at the door for both of these musical events.

More information about these and other events, including a children’s summer reading camp scheduled for August, can be obtained by calling the Church of the Mediator at (269) 469-1441 or by visiting their webpage at www.churchofthemediator.com. They also have a Facebook page where upcoming events are listed.