For the past 84 years, the pastor and members of Shiloh Baptist Church in Northwest D.C. have celebrated the Christmas season with a performance of Handel’s “Messiah.”
Dressed in black suits and dresses and accompanied by an orchestra, the senior choir put on an outstanding show under the leadership of Thomas Dixon Tyler, minister of Worship, Evangelism and Discipleship.
The concert is a signature event in the life of a historic church built in the mid-1800s.
“Welcome to Christmas at Shiloh. We are just as excited to have you join us because this is an experience of worship as we lift the name of Jesus,” said Tyler. “We magnify, and we glorify even with sacred music.”
Accompanied by an orchestra and Evelyn Simpson Currenton on the pipe organ, the choir members sang the Christmas classic with inspiring voices who represented the majesty of the great choirs at Shiloh down through the years.
“His name shall be called a wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting father Prince of peace,” said the Rev. Kevin Lamar Peterman, associate minister of Shiloh. “Written by George Fredrick Handel himself, this oratory has been sung on all seven continents… For 84 years we here at Shiloh have been giving color to that Messiah.”
The Rev. Wallace Charles Smith, senior pastor at Shiloh, said: “We lift up a phrase that the Christmas season doesn’t start until the ‘Messiah’ has been presented.”
Part I of Messiah is sometimes called the “Christmas” portion. It is frequently performed during Advent concerts, sing-alongs, or as a Scratch Messiah. When performed in this way, it usually concludes with the song “Hallelujah.” There were several visiting artists who joined the Shiloh Senior Choir to sing several parts.
“From an Afrocentric perspective the ‘Messiah’ represents the liberation of a people through music,” Tyler said in an interview. “Handel said when he was writing the ‘Messiah’ it felt like God was standing right beside him.”
