Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church will perform the 47th installment of The Messiah Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

This year’s performance will feature choruses from the first section of the Oratorio composed by George Fredrick Handel’s “The Messiah.”

The conductor for the program is Circuit Court Judge Collins Pettaway Jr., and the guest conductor will be Dr. Horace Carney, director of the University Choir at Alabama A&M University. Minister Valerie Harris, Director of Choirs at Miles College, will be the accompanist.

The program will be dedicated in the memory of Dr. F.D. Reese, who died on April 5. Reese was pastor of Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church for 50 years, from 1965 to 2015. Former Selma Mayor James Perkins succeeded him.

Pettaway said this installment will be a memorable one.

“It will be a sad, but special occasion,” Pettaway said. “Dr. Reese wanted to bring a different type of culture to the community. He was the founder of Messiah. He was a conductor and I’d assist him. He was very good at it.”

Camellia Butler, a longtime singer of the Messiah Choir, is a big fan of Handel. She was taught by Reese.

“The first excerpt we learned was ‘The Hallelujah Chorus,’ Butler said.  “That was and still is a powerful song. When you hear it, no matter where you are and what you’re doing, you have to stop and listen. If it wasn’t for Dr. Reese, it wouldn’t have happened at Ebenezer.”

Pettaway’s son, Collins Pettaway III, said he started singing in the Messiah at age seven. The younger Pettaway appreciated the moments as he got older. At age 15, he sang the Tenor solo, “Every Valley Shall Be Exalted.”

“That was 14 years ago and I’m still singing that solo today,” Pettaway III said. “It’s amazing how time flies. You don’t hear many choirs singing music like this anymore. It’s truly an inspiring way to get anybody into the Christmas spirit.”

Ebenezer Missionary Associate Minister Carolyn Robinson, who has sung in the soprano section since the inception of the Messiah Choir, said there’s a purpose to the event.

“It is a tradition that I look for to each practice and performance, singing songs that depict the prophecy of the coming Christ Jesus and the celebration of his birth,” Robinson said.