Choirs join voices to
celebrate community
By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY The Rev. Idalia Craig, associate rector of St. Peter’s Church, Freehold Borough, welcomes guests to a gospel choir performance that celebrated Black History Month.
FREEHOLD — The snowstorm that began on the afternoon of Feb. 16 did nothing to deter the religious community of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Throckmorton Street from doing two things — giving thanks to God and honoring Black History Month.
Despite the heavy downfall of snowflakes the size of quarters, congregation members and guests gathered in the 300-year-old church for an afternoon of singing, poetry readings and spiritual warmth.
The church hosted the appearance of the Bethel A.M.E. Church Gospel Choir, Freehold, and the gospel choir from the Second Baptist Church in Freehold, to help celebrate Black History Month on a local level, according to the Rev. Idalia Craig, associate rector, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.
Craig gave guests and congregation members a brief history of the musical theme chosen for the day’s spiritual songs. The music and song provided by the choirs was inspired by the meaning of the hymn "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
Members of the Bethel A.M.E. Church Gospel Choir perform gospel hymns during a community celebration honoring African-American heritage. The Feb. 16 event was held at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Freehold.
After a moving rendition of the hymn, sung by Gwendolyn Evans, Craig told the audience that the music at the event reflected the idea of the verses written by African-American poet James Weldon Johnson and his brother, Rosamond, a musician.
Craig, who told the crowd gathered to "have a blessed time," explained that the song, written in the early 1900s, was written specifically by Johnson to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
"James Weldon Johnson was a man of many talents," the reverend began, "and he used all of them to shape African-American history."
Craig noted that Johnson was not only a poet, but a historian, a lawyer, an ambassador to Nicaragua, a civil rights leader, a member of the NAACP and also a driving force in the organization to pass an anti-lynching bill.
Minister of Drama Kimberly Wright of the Second Baptist Church, Freehold, performs a dramatic interpretation of a song that describes the pain, hope and conviction of slaves who prayed for freedom.
Also a news editor, Johnson created a newspaper to help educate the black American community. Although the paper closed after only one year, Craig said it is "remembered in newspaper history."
After college, Johnson became principal of the black school that he attended as a child in Jacksonville, Fla.
The minister explained that "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was taught in his school to his students, who in turn taught it to others in the community. After 20 years, the importance of the song was recognized by black community leaders and was deemed by the NAACP as the "National Negro Anthem."
"The song has been used over the years as a rallying cry for political leadership in Africa," Craig explained. "Its importance has not diminished. Millions of African-Americans continue to find it inspirational."
The reverend also spoke of slavery and what spiritual music meant to those in captivity.
"It allowed slaves to express personal feelings, and it was also a means to cheer one another on," she said.
After Craig’s presentation, the church became alive with the sound of both choirs as they sang "We’re Marching Off to Zion."
As the resonant voices of choir members filled the church, it was impossible not to follow their lead and move to the sound of faith in action.
Dr. Adraina Crump provided poetry readings from Maya Angelou. Choosing "Still I Rise," Crump reflected Angelou’s traditional genius as well as the pride of her heritage.
Lyrics such as "Does my hardiness offend you?" and "I look like I got oil wells in my living room" reflected the empowering faith displayed by slaves, while passages such as "Did you want to see me broken, bowed head and lowered eyes?" reflected the reality of a race of people "rooted in pain."
Men and women of the Bethel A.M.E. Church Gospel Choir, under the direction of Janet Freeman, dressed in traditional church vestments of white with red trim, sang of commitment to their faith and hope in hymns like "King Jesus Is A’ Listenin,’" "Done Made My Vow," "Jesus, Lay Your Head in D’ Window" and "Soon Ah Will Be Done."
The soloist for "Done Made My Vow" was Mint Coleman. The soloist for "King Jesus Is A’ Listenin’" was Jim Wildes, and the soloist for "Jesus, Lay Your Head in D’ Window" was Paul Norris.
Voices high and low, soft and loud, blended to make sound speak to the heart as well as to the ears.
The day’s spiritual menu continued with Margaret Peace, secretary of the Court Street School Education Community Center, giving a brief history of the school.
Remembering that the school is one of the principal structures associated with the segregated history of the early 20th century education of the black community in Freehold, Peace told the audience that the school became an official historic landmark in 1995. She reviewed the programs the school offers to all members of the community.
According to Craig, all proceeds from a freewill offering taken at the gospel concert will go to the school.
Song was not the only means of celebrating Black History Month. Andrea Clayborne and Johnette Mitchell gave a liturgical interpretation of the hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow."
Dressed in white flowing gowns, both young women gave thanks and praise to God with graceful gestures that were both genuinely moving and uplifting as well.
A dramatic interpretation given by Kimberly Wright provided a visual image of slavery as she spoke the words to "I’ve Been ’Buked" with authentic realism.
As she spoke, the barefoot young woman, dressed in a black dress with her head wrapped in a black sash, showed to the audience as she spoke her wrists, bound together by a black scarf, depicting the chains of slaves of long ago.
Thought-provoking and believable, her performance spoke of the painful reality many endured and the faith and hopeful light to freedom that kept them going, never losing faith, never allowing their spirits to be broken.
The Second Baptist Church Gospel Choir, dressed in solid black dresses and suits, rocked the walls of the old church with the spiritual "Send Up Judah."
Prompting congregation members to move, clap their hands and, in some cases, even stand up, the mood of the choir became quite contagious as choir members, accompanied by Sean Henderson on drums, Jose Henderson on bass guitar and Calvin Berry on keyboards, sang with enthusiasm.
The rich voice of Juné Edwards, led by choir director Gregory McGuire, hardly needed the accompaniment of musical instruments on "Precious Lord, Take My Hand." Her voice alone was the instrument of choice for this hymn. It was impossible not to feel the music, impossible not to respect and be in awe of the vehicle which delivered the hymn’s message.
A reading from Dr. Yvonne H. Johnson focused on the meaning of black spiritual music.
"It’s more than just music," Johnson said. "It offers hope for day-to-day challenges. It cries, it nourishes, it consoles."
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was also honored at the concert as Lester Archambeau contributed excerpts from a speech King delivered on March 25, 1965.
He spoke of "dark and different," Archambeau said. The reader spoke of jail cells that "would still have us." He uttered King’s words that hoped that one day all would live in a society at peace with itself: "One that would see not a white man or a black man but man as man."
A closing prayer was offered by the Rev. Francis Hebert, followed by a reception that helped to warm the cold afternoon.