Gospel Song Fest

Saturday I was invited to come and sing at a Gospel Song Fest held at a local Baptist Church (Calvary Bel Air - we call them a sister church among the Southern Baptist). We had about 80 people in the choir from multiple church choirs, a gospel quartet, a gospel trumpet duet and a small brass and winds ensemble. I believe it is amazing how popular these are in an area that is definitely not "Deep South". The host church was packed, mostly with 50+ year olds as is usual with gospel music.

Southern Gospel music is one of the true American styles of music. The music borrows from Appalachian folk music, jazz and spirituals. Many of the early gospel songs came from the Methodist Camp Revivals, but many other evangelical churches were quick to adopt the style as well. By the early 20th Century the music started to transition even more with some jazz influence and eventually became the modern Southern Gospel style.

While studying Baptist History at the seminary, I remember reading a report by a visitor to a Baptist church around the late 19th Century. This writer commented that the pastor spoke with fervor and that is was often difficult to tell when he went from preaching to praying. You can see how Southern Gospel music would appeal to these worship services. Not all evangelical churches chose the Southern Gospel music. In the early days of gospel music many churches felt that the music was too "emotional" for use in worship. They chose to stick with the traditional hymns.

The great thing about church music is that I can experience and worship with so many different styles of music. Last night was Gospel night, this morning was Traditional and Contemporary worship, this evening was Tree music, on the way home I listened to the National Christian Choir singing classical music and most likely tomorrow I will be listening to some of my favorite jazz music by Denver and the Mile High Orchestra.