The Association Free Lutheran Bible School Concert Choir from Minneapolis, Minnesota, will be in concert at First Baptist Church of Silverhill on Thursday, April 8m at 7 PM.
Pastor Alan says, "Between the two churches we could do this." More talk and the framework for a Bible School choral group coming to Silverhill on April 8 took shape. This touring choir will perform in the First Baptist Church sanctuary at 7 PM and community and friends are invited to join their neighbors at First Baptist Church in Silverhill for the event. The church is located right on State Highway 104, just a block west of the stoplight.
On top of that, "the state is no longer funding teacher supplies, so teachers pick up the slack." And, on top of that, imagine school problems when floor wax and bleach and typical cleaning fluids are no longer covered by your school system! It is no wonder that box tops, coupons, and fund-raisers are becoming much more important in the everyday operation of our schools.
First Baptist Church of Silverhill is hosting that choir and Zion Lutheran Church of Silverhill is providing some logistic support. The Association Free Lutheran Bible School Concert Choir (Minneapolis, MN) is traveling in the Southeast United States this April. AFLBS is a two-year, college-equivalent Bible School. The school began in 1966 with 13 students, all of whom sang in the first choir. This year 81 of the 122 students sing in one of the two touring choirs, continuing the tradition of active participation.
The choir's music includes classics (Bach, Haydn), hymn arrangements (Lamb of God, Children of the Heavenly Father, Beneath the Cross of Jesus), spirituals (Moses Hogan, Jack Halloran), Gospel songs, as well as featuring music from many composers from its home state of Minnesota.
Information concerning this performance or about First Baptist Church of Silverhill may be directed to the church office at (251) 945-5182. The church is located at 15898 Silverhill Avenue, Silverhill, AL 36576. Information concerning the AFLBS Concert Choir tour can be accessed at www.aflbs.org.
Local Arrangements for
AFLBS Concert Choir in Silverhill
The Concert Choir of the Association Free Lutheran Bible School came the afternoon of April 8 and left the morning of April 9. They sang in the evening at Silverhill's First Baptist Church.
Click each photo to enlarge.
"You arrive at a church in the afternoon. You get fed.
You don your robes and you line up for another concert." The AFLBS
Concert Choir gathered outside Silverhill's First Baptist Church for
its choir concert the evening of April 8.
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"Your tired after a concert. Where are we going to bed
down?" Guys and gals think about fatigue and leaving on April 9 at 7
AM. And yes, breakfast at 6 AM at the Zion Fellowship Hall.
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Dean of AFLBS Pastor Rolf talks to the young men of the
Concert Choir. They will be sleeping in the Zion Fellowship Hall
while the women will sleep in nearby homes of the Debbie and Phil
Owen and Becky and Steve Vasko. And yes, the Rolfs and the Hansons
will have real comfort as well at the Charlie and Martha Cannings and
the Aleda and Pete Midgardens, respectively.
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Zion's pianist Shirley Stephens noted, "This is the best choir I have ever heard." Pastor Alan House from First Baptist told Director Hanson that the group would be welcomed back in the next travel cycle in five years, and he promised a bigger promotion then.
You see, the Choir was that good! They should have been, for after all, Pete Midgarden even had a distant relative in the choir! Not only that, but Martha Canning discovered that Andrew Hanson grew up in her old home territory in Georgia. The world is indeed small.
Click each photo to enlarge.
Morning comes. The sopranos and altos join the tenors
and basses for breakfast in the Zion Fellowship Hall. The table gets
set.
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The sleep gear and asundries are assembled for the "bus
ride" to Selma on Friday morning.
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People start to look towards the chow. Only 45 minutes
to eat and get on the road.
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There was food "all over the place." Margaret Stephens, her sister Tina, Aleda Midgarden, Becky and Steve Vasko, Charlie and Martha Canning, and Vera Avera worked on the lasagne crew to get the supper chow out. Pastor Alan worked "back-up" on that. Ella worked on dessert. That was just supper! Pete Midgarden, Steve and Becky Vasko, Martha and Charlie Canning, and Joel and Mary Ann Rolf "worked breakfast" in Zion's Fellowship Hall at 6 AM so the group could be off to Selma at 7 AM.
Click each photo to enlarge.
Brownies! What sack lunch is afraid to welcome a brownie
into the lunch bag?
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Time to pick up and move out.
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The Baptists 70 sandwiches were matched by the
Lutherans and bagged by the morning crew at Zion Fellowship Hall on
April 9.
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Debbie and Phil Owen housed 16 girls at their place and Becky and Steve Vasko housed 7 more at their home. The "poor" young men camped out in the Zion Fellowship Hall. Wife Angela and Director Andrew Hanson were hosted by Martha and Charlie Canning for the evening. Wife Mary Ann and Bible School Dean Pastor Joel Rolf stayed the evening at Aleda and Pete Midgarden's home.
Click each photo to enlarge.
The kitchen was a busy place as the "bees" buzzed around to
get the breakfast out to the choir before that 6:45 AM deadline for
bus-loading.
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Time to get on the bus.
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Time to get into the van. Van and bus caravan to the next
Concert Choir stop in Selma.
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Everyone assembled for breakfast in the Zion Fellowship Hall early. "Baptist" chips, donuts, and sandwiches were added to similar "Lutheran" fare (sandwiches and bagging courtesy of Henrie and Ernie Burnett and Charlie and Martha Canning), and the group was hustled out the door by 7 AM for that Selma concert later Friday morning.
Pastor House noted to Pastor Dave the following week, "The Zion congregation came together on this challenge in a big way. What a response and what workers!"
