Community members singing Handel's Messiah at the Middlebury Congregational Church. Photo by Ernest Longey.

Chattering madly with friends and neighbors, they’ll pour into the church, unwrap their mufflers, grab a score of Handel’s Messiah from a pile stacked by the door, and slide into a pew.

Everyone in the community is welcome to come and sing or bring their instruments and join the orchestra. There are no rehearsals, only a couple of carols to warm up. Soloists will include community members like tenor François Clemmons, who played “Officer Clemmons” for decades on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood when we were kids.
(Read more in “The 12 Blessings of Christmas,” Nov/Dec 2012 issue.)

Get in the holiday spirit with these videos from Middlebury Congregational Church’s 2009 Messiah Sing.

The Blessing of Music The Saturday Evening Post

"Wonderful Sermon. Thanks for not mentioning me by name."
from May/Jun 2001

"Odd how old, forgotten words spring to mind, isn't it?"
from December 27, 1941

"Oh, oh! It looks like he's going to take another unpopular stand."
from May/Jun 2001

"The correct response is 'I do'--not 'it's worth a try'."
from Jan/Feb 2008

"Harold was a man who brought home the bacon and, against doctor's orders, kept eating it."
from Mar/Apr 1997

"The pay isn't so great, but I can't say enough good things about the boss."
from Jul/Aug 1994

"The music was okay, but I thought the commercial was too long."
from Jul/Aug 1994

Cartoons: Clerics The Saturday Evening Post

At least the slug in Norman Rockwell’s May 16, 1959 cover got out of bed on time for church. He’s just not going. Curled up with the Sunday paper, he feels a decided chill in the air as his properly turned out family marches behind him on the way to church. If you’ll look closely, you’ll see something devilish about the man’s tousled hair – Rockwell’s little joke, no doubt. Perhaps Dad will repent by next Sunday.

Well, we’re gradually improving here. The gentleman in artist Charles MacLellan’s 1912 cover got up, dressed nicely and made it all the way to the pew. Alas, to the dismay of the Mrs., he fell asleep during the singing (we assume, from the open hymnal she is holding). Let us hope for her sake that his snores don’t drown out “Rock of Ages”.

The women’s choir is getting ready in the two-part cover by Thornton Utz. The top panel shows the silver-haired organist preparing to sit, no doubt wondering about the chaos in the dressing room behind her. But as the bottom panel shows, all the ladies make it on time. Well, almost. While the choir opens, two young ladies (or maybe one and a half) are scampering to their spots. But at least their songbooks are open and their voices are preceding them. And once they catch their breath, they can send up a little prayer of thanks that the congregation cannot see the state of the choir room.

Classic Covers: Sunday Morning Slackers The Saturday Evening Post