Singing Gospel Legend's Praises

Musician Honored On 80th Birthday

Shirley Berkeley celebrated her 80th birthday Saturday, but don't ask this local grande dame of the choir loft about retiring or slowing down -- a request that she hears often.

More than 300 friends, family members and gospel notables filled the Camelot in Upper Marlboro to praise Berkley, who has directed choirs and recorded with the likes of the Rev. James Cleveland for decades and who can be found at her piano in church every week.

On Sunday, she will play the piano at the Maryland Family Christian Center in Forestville. On any other day, she can be found at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden, where she plays during funerals and keeps the younger musicians in check.

She was all smiles as the pastor of Glenarden, the Rev. John K. Jenkins, and other church leaders told stories about her.

"This is my work, not a job. A job is temporary, but work is permanent," said Berkeley, the minister of music emerita at Glenarden.

Berkeley is shy of 5 feet tall but has a reputation for being tough. As such, she served as the host for her own program, making sure ministers and singers kept to their allotted times. Among those in attendance were Henry Davis, the last singer in the Voices Supreme; gospel singer Stephen Heard; and Cliff Jones, leader of the 7 Sons of Soul.

"Mother Berkeley epitomizes a woman of God who is part of the battalion of gospel music legends," said the Rev. Jerome Bell, pastor of the Christian Center and a longtime gospel radio personality. "You are talking about a woman in her eighties who has given more than some people in their twenties."

In addition to recording music and serving on the board of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Berkeley has also published songs in five hymnals, including songs such as "He Has Done Great Things for Me" and "I Will Bless the Lord at All Times."

Berkeley, a fourth-generation Washingtonian, started playing the piano at 9. Her first major job as a pianist was at Walker Mill Baptist Church. She began directing choirs and became the director of the D.C. chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop, part of a national network of musicians who performed and recorded with Cleveland.

"Lord, we thank you that this is a celebration and not a homegoing," said Bishop Alfred Owens, pastor of Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church, who called Berkeley a "living legend."

Heard had people laughing when he told how Berkeley chastens singers who think too much of themselves or try to cut corners. "I see excellence in everything that I do, and music is something that you have to work at. It is really an art regardless of what form it is in," she said.

Berkeley said she feels compelled to keep directing choirs and playing, even at funerals, which many musicians dread: "It is important that we comfort the families for the celebration of life. I feel like my work is really a ministry."