There was a mass attendance at Choir Fest 2014, now in its fifth year, one of the popular official events in the approach to the Anguilla Day celebration on Friday, May 30.
The sixteen singing performances by local church choirs, chorales and other groups, including one visiting regional group, were held at the Seventh-day Adventist Church at East End on Thursday evening, May 22. Commemorating the 1967 Anguilla Revolution, which culminated in the formal separation of Anguilla from St Kitts-Nevis in December 1980, the event, like all the other line-up of events, had as its theme Reflecting on 1967, Reviving the Spirit of Unity, Anguilla at 47. The coming together of the churches for the occasion also demonsrated the spirit of religious unity and tolerance on the island.
The introductory portions of the Choir Fest comprised remarks by Mr Kenneth Hodge, Principal Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs; the Opening Prayer by Pastor Trent Berg, the Resident Seventh-day Adventist Minister; welcome remarks by Mrs Serene Carter-Davis, Retired Chief Nursing Officer, now Leader of the Intercessory Prayer Ministry at the Christian Fellowship Church; and greetings by Ms Aurjul Wilson, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The presentations, in order of appearance of the singers, were as follows: Celestial Voices Children’s Choir, Mount Fortune SDA Church: O Happy Day; Christian Fellowship Church Choir: Bless Me; Dominion Faith Centre Senior Choir: The Storm Is Over Now; Ebenezer Methodist Senior Choir: The Battle; Ebenezer Youth Choir: I Know Who I Am; Gerald Gumbs’ Ministries Choir God’s Storehouse: I’m Amazed; Hilltop Baptist Church Chorale: We Will Remember; Immanuel Methodist Choir: All Because Of God’s Amazing Grace; Kingdom Citizens’ Church Choir: You Make Me Stronger; Life Impact Centre Youth Choir: Take Me To The King; No Walls Church Of Hope Chorale: Hallelujah Praise The Lamb; Princess Alexandra Hospital Choir: Total Praise; Shekinah Church of God (Holiness): Testify; Sons of Thunder – Caribbean Gospel Ministry Tour Group: I Know Who I Am; St Augustine’s Anglican Church Chorale: Great Is Thy Faithfulness; and World Harvest Assembly Combined Choirs: Days of Elijah.
The Choir Fest ended with closing remarks by the Chairperson, Mrs Serene Carter Davis; and the Benediction by Pastor Phillip Gumbs of the Shekinah Church of God (Holiness).
Despite the expected few small gaps in the live radio coverage, experienced by listeners, the event was well-organised and orderly, with each participating group being moved in quick successive positions to reduce delays.
