Photo submitted The Timm Family Singers will be presenting a Christmas concert at Shiloh Presbyterian Church on Sunday at 7 p.m.

By Becky Polaski

Staff Writer

The Timm Family Singers will present a Christmas cantata, Emmanuel - God With Us!, on Sunday evening at Shiloh Presbyterian Church beginning at 7 p.m. A free-will offering will be collected with proceeds benefiting The Children’s Miracle Network at Geisinger. The concert is expected to run between 60 and 90 minutes. 

The Timm Family Singers is made up of Andy and Sheri Timm and their four children, Sarah, age 24; David, age 23; Leah, age 22; and Hannah, age 18.

While the Timm family has participated in holiday concerts in the past, this will mark the first time the family has presented their own concert without other choirs joining them.

“Our family has been participating in one or two Christmas or Advent concerts every year for the past five years in Altoona, Clearfield and St. Marys,” Sheri Timm said. “It is sometimes difficult to coordinate all six of our schedules from work, school, college, etc. We make it a priority to be together on Christmas Eve and the family presents special music at our church, Shiloh Presbyterian, for the Christmas Eve service every year. This year, Asa Carns asked our family to join with the church choirs at three different churches in the Altoona area on Sunday morning as those choirs present the cantata, Emmanuel – God With Us!.”

Those performances will be held at 2nd Avenue Methodist Church in Altoona at 8 a.m.; Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church in Altoona at 9 a.m.; and St. John Lutheran Church in Sinking Valley at 11 a.m.

“We decided to perform the same cantata here at our own church at 7 p.m. as a charity event,” Timm said.

Carns, a native of Clearfield, is the organist and director of choirs at all three of the Altoona area churches and also offers private piano, organ and voice lessons for students in Clearfield, State College, Altoona and Elk County. All of the Timms are his former students.

Along with Carns, The Timm Family Singers will also be joined by singer Charlie O’Leary, a native of St. Marys. Charlie is the son of Rob and Pam O’Leary of St. Marys and is currently a freshman at the University of Notre Dame. He is also a former student of Carns.

Singers Daniella Dalli, Nick Heller and John Wallin, all from Sight and Sound Theaters, will also be joining the Timm Family Singers, as will Rev. Scott Wiest, pastor of Shiloh Presbyterian Church.

“The service of Lessons and Carols dates back to 1918 when the first such service was held at King’s College in Cambridge, England. The origin, however, is from 1880 when a service of carols and related scriptures was developed by the Bishop of Truro Cathedral in England for Christmas Eve,” Timm said. “Over the years the basic format has been adapted and utilized by churches around the world over and over again. Emmanuel – God With Us! is another in a succession of Christmas works to employ the effective medium of word and song. It blends historic carols with newer compositions along with the Bible to tell the ageless story of Christmas. The audience will have an opportunity to join in the singing of a few familiar carols and hear songs like ‘Breath of Heaven’ and ‘Mary, Did You Know?’”

Timm added that the family chose to donate all proceeds from the concert to Geisinger Medical Center for a variety of reasons.

“This charity was chosen because, as a child, Leah had a temporary kidney condition that was treated and monitored at Geisinger,” Timm said. “Children’s Miracle Network is the charity of Walmart where Andy is employed and the charity of the Miss America Organization in which Sarah and Hannah are current titleholders: Miss Central Pennsylvania and Miss Mercer County Outstanding Teen, respectively.”

While the Timms noted that they enjoy sharing their musical talents with others, especially during the holiday season, they were hesitant to plan to hold an annual event.  

“We would love to be able to make this an annual event, but we cannot usually make plans that far in advance because of our varying schedules,” Timm said.