Tweet
Has this come to anyone else's area? I mentioned in the What I Learned In Church Today thread several weeks ago that she was coming to Omaha.
http://www.suvchoir.org/
I didn't know quite what the evening would be but it was the best church meeting I have been to in some time. She did two performances last night. We went to the 5:30 one. It was at the Stake Center and the chapel and cultural hall were filled so I think about 1700 people were there, many of them nonmembers. The choir did mostly gospel music. There was much applause and clapping along with the songs by the audience. You could tell that a lot of the button-downed lifer mormons were a bit cautious about letting loose like that in the chapel, but they got into it soon enough. The nonmembers made sure to show us how.
The music was a mixture of gospel songs and some arrangements of LDS hymns. Gladys sang a very soulful rendition of I Am a Child of God that was amazing. My favorite part of the evening (apart from the music) was Gladys and her husband sharing their conversion story and testimonies. They were frank about the fear they had of what the reaction woudl be from the black community and their families when they each decided to become Mormon. Gladys mentioned more than once that she feels she became famous so she could have a platform from which to share about the church. She also explained how this touring choir grew from a conversation she had with President Hinckley where she said she missed the gospel music of her youth and wished LDS music had something more to it. He said "what are you going to do about it?"
Such a great evening and Gladys definitely is an amazing asset to the church. She did more to change the church's image for those who attended than we could ever hope to with our missionaries.
http://www.suvchoir.org/
I didn't know quite what the evening would be but it was the best church meeting I have been to in some time. She did two performances last night. We went to the 5:30 one. It was at the Stake Center and the chapel and cultural hall were filled so I think about 1700 people were there, many of them nonmembers. The choir did mostly gospel music. There was much applause and clapping along with the songs by the audience. You could tell that a lot of the button-downed lifer mormons were a bit cautious about letting loose like that in the chapel, but they got into it soon enough. The nonmembers made sure to show us how.
The music was a mixture of gospel songs and some arrangements of LDS hymns. Gladys sang a very soulful rendition of I Am a Child of God that was amazing. My favorite part of the evening (apart from the music) was Gladys and her husband sharing their conversion story and testimonies. They were frank about the fear they had of what the reaction woudl be from the black community and their families when they each decided to become Mormon. Gladys mentioned more than once that she feels she became famous so she could have a platform from which to share about the church. She also explained how this touring choir grew from a conversation she had with President Hinckley where she said she missed the gospel music of her youth and wished LDS music had something more to it. He said "what are you going to do about it?"
Such a great evening and Gladys definitely is an amazing asset to the church. She did more to change the church's image for those who attended than we could ever hope to with our missionaries.
Comment