Community United Methodist Church in Port Hadlock is presenting a concert in celebration of Black History Month on Sunday, Feb. 9, with donation proceeds going to support disaster relief.

The concert will feature spiritual songs by coloratura soprano, performing arts teacher and activist Lee-Alison Sibley, with her son, Gabriel Brezic, traveling from California to recite “Black Renaissance” poetry by Maya Angelou, Amanda Gordon and Langston Hughes. Sheila Harwood, the church’s music director, is to accompany Sibley on the piano.

Sibley, who is white, marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a child in 1967, sang for Coretta Scott King at Boston University in 1968, and served as a United States representative on concert tours in celebration of Black History Month, Dr. King’s birthday and the U.S. civil rights movement, in countries ranging from Jordan to Madagascar.

Sibley’s multicultural musical career has also seen her awarded the title of Woman of the Decade in Arts, at the 2017 Women’s Economic Forum in New Delhi, India.

Sibney’s 1997-2001 stints as the head of performing arts for the Amman Baccalaureate School, and at the IB Theatre Arts Program, in Jordan became the basis for her memoir, “Jordan’s Jewish Drama Queen,” about teaching music and drama as a Jewish woman in an Arab culture.

Sibney performed for concerts around the world as an emissary of the U.S. while her husband, George, served as a diplomat for the State Department, but after decades of international travel, they decided to settle in Washington state, by first renting, then purchasing a home on Marrowstone Island, where George finally retired in 2022.

“It’s our paradise,” Sibley said. “We never get tired of the view, or just being here.”

Sibley laughed as she noted how inclusive the Methodist Church was toward a Jewish person when she became acquainted with Harwood. She emphasized that she and the church share the views that “peace is possible” and “love can change minds.”

Sibley added, “Tikkun olam is a concept in Judaism, which literally translates to repairing or saving the world. I only wish my husband could attend this concert, but he’s actually busy with Saltfire Theatre’s production of ‘Macbeth’ that day.”

Pastor Scott Rosekrans, who’s been with the church for nine years, sees the concert as but one part of the church’s mission of compassionate outreach to the community, along with its food pantry, soup kitchen, clothing closet and efforts to help provide housing for those in need.

“We believe in the gospel’s call to be welcoming to others,” Rosekrans said. “What some might see as ‘woke’ is just what we believe Jesus would do.”

Rosekrans noted the concert will be raising money for the American Red Cross and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), the latter of which he explains pays no salaries and has been busy funding disaster recovery across the country, in the wake of California wildfires and hurricanes hitting North Carolina.