Shiloh Church of Christ Fashion Extravaganza

I got a call a few weeks ago from a sister that I have known since I was about 12 years old. Her name is Linda (Cleveland ) Josephs and we became fast friends when we were both kids residing at "Tuxedo Court" lol...which was located at 30 East 128th Street (where the Legal Aid building now sits). We both wound up attending the same church growing up (Shiloh Church of Christ Disciples of Christ) located up the street from our home...right across 5th Avenue.

Now I haven't talked to Linda in a minute and I knew something was up when I saw her name pop up on my screen. Lol...after exchanging a few pleasantries, she got right to the heart of her call. Apparently, her group (the nurses unit) was having a fashion show and she wanted me to attend as a "special invited guest". After letting her gas me up a bit about being a "celebrity" at Shiloh (lol) and giving her a few of my "base rules" (don't ask me to sing and don't ask me to talk and PLEASE don't ask me to walk) I agreed to attend.

I knew I had to attend an event at Saks immediately following the fashion show, so I packed a bag with two outfits (I had to wear a Douglas Says dress for the event at Saks) and I decided to wear a red dress by NJ designer Veronica Lipscomb and some red patent leather knee high boots (yeah...I know...that sounds a little risque for church...but you also know I gotta be ME!). I tried to keep the cleavage to a minimum and called a taxi for the short ride to the church.

The show was scheduled to begin at 3pm but I know my people well, so I wasn't worried about the time and I decided to drop off my bags at my surrogate dad's place, where I was gonna change into my second outfit.

As the cab waited at 5th avenue for the light the back of a church van caught my eye and I couldn't resist taking a photo of the message painted on the back:

"Directions to Heaven: Turn Right and Keep Straight".

Definitely words to live by! I quickly dropped off my bags and tipped in those patent leather boots to the church. Linda was upstairs getting ready so I stuck my head in the door of the choir room and let her know I was there. Then I headed back downstairs to the sanctuary to wait for the show to begin. While I was waiting I saw several people I hadn't seen in many years and just sitting there began to bring up so many old memories for me.

As I sat and looked around the sanctuary, memories of me singing as a teenager on the Youth For Christ Choir and as I got older I graduated to singing with the Voices of Shiloh filled my head....I remembered distinctly one choir anniversary in particular where we (me, Linda, Muzette Charles & quite a few others) had these sea foam green dresses made from a Simplicity pattern for all the girls in the choir and we performed "The Beatitudes" and "Have A Good Time" from the Broadway musical "Your Arms Too Short To Box With God". We had the church lights turned off and hung these pen lights around our necks and entered the sanctuary singing in those lol...awful green dresses (yeah...I can say that now). The congregation went absolutely NUTS because no one had ever done a presentation like that before!!! I still smile to this day at the very thought of that performance.

I chatted for a moment with Leonard Gillams, who shared some deeply inspirational words with me (they meant more to me than he could ever know). A few other folks came by to say hello and a little while later the show began.

The show was called "A Fashion Extravaganza" and the program was put together by Lujuan Williams, President of the Nurses Unit. After a brief invocation by Deacon Julius Green; the MC for the evening, Sis. Delores Sessoms took the stage and the program began with a solo delivered by Sister Shirley Henderson.

The fashion show was divided into 4 scenes and it moved quickly. The audience was small in number but real big on enthusiasm! The models consisted of a wide range of ages & sizes. I will be honest here....I was a little surprised that I was having such a good time. There was a selection by The Male Chorus of Shiloh before the final scene that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The benediction was delivered by Pastor Sheila Gillams and mercifully, she just announced my name and allowed me to wave...lol.

I saw a lot of potential in what they were trying to do and offered my services to them if ever they decided to try and put together a fund raiser in the future.

It felt good to be home....if only for a little while.

Excellent job on the program Lujuan, thanks for the invite Linda, I had a great time!

“The church is the great lost and found department.”