Birmingham Citadel
Salvation Army

Symphony Hall becomes Bethlehem for a day

13.12.2016

With the largest audience for a number of years Birmingham Citadel turned the Symphony Hall stage in to the destination of Bethlehem. Through the symbolic arrival of the people to Bethlehem, the nativity from our Primary children, the music from our Junior and Seniors Choirs and Bands, the school choirs and our guest soloist Rob Moye (Stowmarket), the audiences were taken to Bethlehem where Major Adrian Allman (Corps Officer) explained that the birth of Jesus maybe wasn’t what they wanted, or expected, but Jesus was what they needed.

We would like to thank the generous members of the audience who donated over £7,200 towards the work of The Salvation Army in the United Kingdom, including the Modern Slavery/ Anti Human Trafficking Unit.

Rob Moye

In our 25th year of presenting our City Carol Concert at Symphony Hall the experiences of those watching and taking part can be seen below:

“What a fantastic afternoon, probably the best ever. Excellent soloist, choirs ,band and a brilliant nativity presentation by the Primary. Well done everyone including the compères who kept it moving and said just enough! Thank you ”  – Janet

“Very pleased with how today has come together and humbled by people’s responses to today. Proud, grateful and fortunate to belong to such a diverse church” – Rob

“Wonderful day where some people may have heard of God’s love for the first time ” – Lucy

“A very enjoyable Christmas Carol Festival, where there was something for everyone to feel included and welcome.   Excellent contributions from all participants, and there were appreciative comments from people sitting near me about the whole event” – Mavis

“We’ve done all we can as best we possibly can. It’s now in Gods hands!” – Rob

“Proud… because the youngest members of our Church have begun their journey to express their faith. Those first steps, (literally) bravely taken are a joy to behold.” – Gaynor

“It’s great to sing on the Symphony Hall stage and bring the message of Christmas to people by singing the music we spent so long practising. It’s good to get out of our comfort zone by singing to a bigger congregation while bringing the good news of Jesus to Birmingham and beyond” – Lauren (age 14)

“An amazing day , what a great opportunity to share the true meaning of Christmas. My highlight of the year”  – Denison (13)

“I thought it was a gorgeous afternoon. The soloists first song, accompanied by the Songsters was absolutely lovely but I enjoyed the whole event. – Maggie

“I had thoroughly wonderful time, I especially enjoyed the performances” – Haz

“Working for weeks with a group of such a wide age range, to reach the performance stage is so rewarding  as a leader but I’m totally humbled by the response from the audience who come to find their ‘Christmas’. I hope we sent them home feeling that they could shine and feel the love offered to us all through a tiny baby if we all follow the ‘Shining Star'” – Jennie

Major Adrian Allman said ” What a fantastic day – a great blessing! I have tired feet so am glad to put my feet up and my slippers on! The modern world is a diverse place and we have aimed to present Christmas in a variety of different ways with something for everyone. Along with the traditional items that are established favourites I’m quite sure there were things that were not expected too but hopefully at the end of the day our audience left thinking that the message of Christmas, God making himself known to us, was just what they needed to hear! I thank everyone who took part for all the hard work in making our 25th Anniversary concert a joyful success!”

View from the auditorium

view from the back of the stage Over 2,300 people attended the two performances