On February 12, the Houghton College gospel choir will travel to Rochester, and join the Browncroft Community Church worship team for all three of their services. In the past, the School of Music and the Houghton Symphony Orchestra have collaborated with Browncroft’s worship team to orchestrate events such as the annual Christmas Prism Concert. “This is an excellent way to bring our visions and our goals into fruition,” commented Jerome Bell, Leader and Director of gospel choir. Browncroft’s worship pastor, Jason Harris, will be leading worship.
The gospel choir, created in the late 90’s, features a variety of African-American music. Students who are a part of gospel choir have the opportunity to learn about the deep, passionate genre of gospel music. Practice, though said to be managed efficiently and productively, is considerably casual, the choir learns not by music, but my listening along until the words are memorized.
Currently there are almost forty members, but gospel choir is open to anyone who is interested, with practice taking place every Sunday night from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m, and occasionally Thursday night for an hour. Certain occasions, such as the Homecoming college concert have yielded an additional thirty plus members. The number of members is also contingent on points of the semester. For example, members during the spring semester are less frequent.
“Gospel Choir means so many different things to so many different people,” exclaimed Bell. “What I like most about it is the community. People of different ethnic, racial, and social backgrounds can come together and worship the same God.” Bell further explained that the gospel choir spends time in prayer and in the Word during rehearsals, making for a very inviting and Christ-centered atmosphere. “Most importantly, we get ‘turnt for Jesus,’” said Bell
Travis Trotman ‘17, Assistant Director and leader of gospel choir, agreed. He stated,, “There is just something about this choir that screams community, love and great friendships. Another thing I like about gospel choir is the openness you have when you worship. Regardless of the song that we sing I always find that we as a group are always moving, extending our hands to the Lord or keeping a beat to the rhythm of the music.”
“It’s so authentic,” added soprano member, Olivia Flint, ’20. “It’s the most passionate, authentic worship that I’ve ever been a part of. Jerome upholds this great foundation of what real worship should be like. God calls all of his people to worship—every tongue should worship him.”