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Gospel music joins people of different faiths and races as Trinity Episcopal Church celebrates its 177-year anniversary Date published: 5/23/2005
By JESSICA ALLEN Horace Boyer gently stroked the piano keys as he listened to his class give life to his words, “We shall come re–joic–ing; Bring–ing in the sheaves.” “Altos now,” Boyer commanded the lower-pitch female section to join in. “We shall come ,” they sang. “Now I should be able to put all four groups together,” Boyer said. “Number 33.” “We shall come re–joic–ing” the chorus sang in unison. “Bring–ing in the sheaves.” “Stop,” Boyer shouted. “Who had difficulty finding their pitch?” No one answered. “It was all good? Then let’s keep going,” he said. The 40-member group sang in such harmony that one would have thought they belonged to the same church choir, denomination or locality. They didn’t. But neither were they strangers. They were brothers and sisters in the faith, each with a desire to praise the Lord through spiritual music. As part of Trinity Episcopal Church’s 177th birthday celebration, the group participated this weekend in a workshop and concert titled “Sweet, Sweet Spirit: Hymns, Spirituals and Gospel Music in the African–American Tradition.” Participants were members at Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) on Sophia Street in Fredericksburg; Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site) and Tower of Deliverance, both on Princess Anne Street; Third Mount Zion Baptist in Woodford in Caroline County; Colonial Beach Baptist in Westmoreland County; St. Stephens Baptist in Culpeper County; Christ Episcopal Church in Spotsylvania County; and Fredericksburg United Methodist Church on Hanover Street in Fredericksburg. The Rev. Kent Rahm, Trinity’s senior pastor, and Doug Henderson, the church’s music director, said they wanted to celebrate the anniversary with the community. When Henderson met Boyer last year at an Episcopalian conference, he was inspired to ask him to conduct the workshop and concert. “We wanted to make an effort to bridge Fredericksburg, and we thought with someone like Horace Boyer with his gospel and being black, it would be a way to bring everyone together,” Henderson said.
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