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May 7, 2024 57 mins

Step into the vibrant Choir Room where the rich tapestry of song and spirit comes to life. This week, my co-hosts Dorian Johnson, Mietta Stancil-Farrar, and I, Greg Thomas, as we uncover the poignant history of the hymn "It Is Well With My Soul" and then followed by a live rendition by the enchanting Sarai Negron-Ingold.  Mietta brings us the CRQ and we delve into the conversation of recruitment for a community choir.

With personal anecdotes, we delve into the transformative power of choir singing and the sense of community it fosters. From the unique perspective of our blind singer, Ed, to the cultural diversity that shapes the spiritual expression within this group, we celebrate the collective voices that resonate through the choir in the walls of Gracepoint Gospel Fellowship in New City, NY.

The Choir Room resonates with tales of personal journeys and the shared experiences that draw us to the power of voices united in harmony. We discuss the balance of personal freedom and collective message delivery in worship, and how the evolution of choral direction has shifted from stringent conformity to a liberating platform for individual interpretation. As we explore the multifaceted nature of singing, we tap into the intuitive performance dynamics and the profound impact it has on the mental, physical, and emotional spheres of our lives.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to the choir and worship team, whose dedication creates an invigorating space for all who seek solace in song. If our stories of faith, diversity, and musical passion resonate with you, we invite you to connect with us and join next week for another session of harmony and storytelling in the Choir Room. Reach out to us with your thoughts at TheChoirRoom@MetroMusic-Arts.com, where your voice becomes a part of our ever-growing chorus.

Perpetuating and Promoting the Christian and Positive Idea Through the Medium of Music and Other Arts.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Choir Room.
This is episode 38 of the ChoirRoom Podcast.
Welcome to the Choir Room.
I'm Greg Thomas, your host, andI will be joined by my co-hosts
, dorian Johnson Welcome to theChoir Room and Mietta

(00:20):
Stancil-Farrar.
This podcast exists to promoteand encourage two longtime
traditions in our society thatseem to be dwindling away, and
that is choir and corporatesinging.
We hope to revive theexcitement and joy experienced
with singing in a choir, as wellas inform and educate the
listener on all things singingand all things choir.

(00:42):
This podcast is a production ofMetro Music and Arts, whose
purpose is to perpetuate andpromote the Christian and
positive idea through the mediumof music and other arts.
Now, if you haven't done soalready, we ask and encourage
you to subscribe to the podcastwherever you listen to podcasts,
as it is available on prettymuch every platform, and be sure

(01:03):
to like and share when yousubscribe.
And don't forget that you canparticipate in the podcast by
sending your questions andcomments to
thechoirroomatvetromusic-artscom.
Today is a special podcast withsome special friends, but
Dorian is coming first with ourHymn of the Week.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Thanks, greg.
This week's Hymn of the Week isit Is Well.
This hymn is truly a classic ofthe faith, and not only for the
hymn itself but also for thebackground of the hymn's writer
and the occasion for the hymn'swriting.
Horatio Gates Spafford was alawyer and Presbyterian church

(01:40):
elder who lived in Chicago inthe mid-1800s.
He was the senior partner in alarge law firm and an investor
in real estate north of Chicago.
In October 1871, the Great Fireof Chicago destroyed much in
the city, including killingapproximately 300 people,

(02:03):
destroying roughly three squaremiles of the city and leaving
approximately 100,000 residentshomeless.
And in that fire most ofSpafford's real estate
investments were destroyed.
Two years after the fire, thefamily planned a trip to England
where they would hear theirfriend DL Moody preached.

(02:25):
He was a family friend andSpafford did not join his wife
and four daughters on the tripbecause he needed to stay in
Chicago on business.
On November 22nd 1873, whilecrossing the Atlantic, the ship
carrying Spafford's wife andfour daughters sunk, killing 226

(02:45):
people, including all fourSpafford's daughters.
His wife Anna survived thesinking and upon arriving in
Cardiff, well, she sent atelegram to Spafford that read
Saved Alone.
Shortly afterwards, spaffordtraveled to meet his grieving
wife in Wales and as the shippassed near the place where his

(03:09):
daughters died, he was inspiredto write it Is Well With my Soul
.
The tune written by PhilipBliss, himself a hymn writer,
was named after the ship onwhich Spafford's daughters died
and if you look in any hymnalyou will see that is the tune
that this hymn is traditionallysung to.

(03:30):
The hymns first one and a halfverses focus on the varying
states of life, whether they aregood times where peace, like a
river, attends or flows our way,or challenging times when
sorrows like sea bellows roll orSatan's buffeting or
antagonizing us, or trials arecoming at us.
But as the hymn writer says, wehave been taught to say in all

(03:55):
of these things that it is wellwith our soul.
And in the last two and a halfverses we learn why we can say
throughout all of the variationsof life, all of the
circumstances of life, we canindeed say it as well with our
souls.
In the last half of the secondverse we sing that Christ hath

(04:15):
regarded my helpless estate andhath shed his own blood for my
soul.
Because of the pity shown byChrist to we who were helpless,
we sing of the power of Christ'sdeath and his taking on himself

(04:45):
all of the sin of the believer,past, present and future, as he
died and paid the penalty, andas many of the classic hymns we
have studied do.
The last verse points us toglory.
A day that the believer indeedlooks forward to, a day that the
believer indeed looks forwardto.
Hence the request in that lastverse for that day, that great

(05:08):
day, to come with haste, thatday when the clouds will be
rolled back, when the Lord shalldescend with the sound of the
trump and the faith shall bemade sight While the unbeliever
seeks to hide.
On that day, the believer knowsthat on that day, their
salvation will be complete andindeed it will be well with the

(05:28):
soul of that believer for all ofeternity.
So, despite whether your timesare what you would regard as
good, peace flowing towards youas a river, or whether your
times are regarded as trying ordifficult, do you know your

(05:49):
helpless estate that Christpitied and came to earth to save
?
Do you know that the blood ofChrist, applied to the life of
the sinner, brings that sinnerinto right relationship with God
?
And do you look forward to theday of Christ's return?
And can you say, in thinkingabout all of these things.

(06:10):
Can you declare that it is well?
It is well with my soul.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
With my soul, hades is well.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Hades is well with my soul.
What an amazing classic hymnand what an amazing moment led
by Sarai Negron, now known asSarai Negron Ingold.
We know her as Sarah, and it'sabout time we have Sarah here in
the choir room.
Miera has our CRQ, sarah, andit's about time we have Sarah
here in the choir room.
Welcome to the choir.

(07:09):
Mietta has our CRQ.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
Thanks, Greg.
Here is our CRQ for this week.
What are some ways we canrecruit more people to our
community choir?
What are some ways that we canrecruit more people to our
community choir?
Now I'm reading this and I'mtrying to figure out the type of
music.

(07:30):
That's what comes to my mind.
What type of music you'resinging in this community choir,
Because it could be a communitychoir of show tunes.
It could be a community choir.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
Well, they're doing arrangements for Medell's album,
right.
It could be well they're doingarrangements of a from a dale's
album, right so we don't reallyhave that.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
So whoever um, uh wrote in or sent this question,
would be helpful to explain whatkind of music and specific
specifically that you are, aresinging.
Um, community choirs areawesome.
I have a community choir.
I have a gospel community choir, though, so of course, our
music is centered around thegospel, and so recruiting

(08:08):
members for that is a littledifferent than recruiting
members for a community choir.
You may not have as many rules,restrictions or that type of
thing for them.
It may be easier.
Some of the ways that you couldpossibly do it what we and we
talked about this a couple ofdays ago about a choir call.

(08:31):
You can do that and that'sputting you know, putting out,
looking for singers, looking forsopranos, looking for altos,
looking for tenors, looking forbass.
You know a flyer, you knowstream it somewhere saying that
you know.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
Did you say flyer?

Speaker 3 (08:47):
Flyer I did.

Speaker 5 (08:48):
I just dated myself, don't do it.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Don't do that, don't do that, don't do that.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
You can still do a flyer, but then get it out on
social media.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Take a picture of it.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
It's a digital flyer Bless your heart.
Take a picture of it.
It's a digital flyer.

Speaker 3 (09:05):
Bless your heart.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
A digital flyer Flyer poster, Flyer poster and a
classified ad right, Right,right, exactly.
I was just played out just afew minutes ago In the newspaper
.
I just ate.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
I dated myself terribly oh my gosh.
Okay, that's the last use offlyer for me.
I'm not saying anything.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
We've done our share of flyers in the day.
Yeah, yeah exactly A whole lotof them.

Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah, you know, put out a social media blast.
How about that?

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Is that better?
Okay, there we go.

Speaker 3 (09:37):
You know, trying to get voices.
You can do it that way, youknow.
You can go in your community.
You can go in some of theschools and see what the town is
like in some of the schools inyour area.
There are a few ways that youcan.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
I think that's a good point.
Though If it's a communitychoir, which is what they say,
then you got to start with yourcommunity.
So maybe social media is notalways the best, because social
media the whole world was.
We'll get to see technically.
But if you're looking toattract people to your choir
from a specific communitybecause their reach has a, you

(10:12):
know, a limited reach, then,yeah, you start with with the
community, and I think the oldword of mouth nothing travels
faster uh well, we used to saythat.
But word of mouth is stilldigital these days, no flyers
needed, yeah.
So if you do a digital placecard or a digital flyer or

(10:37):
whatever you want to call ittoday, then you need to
encourage the choir members.
It's my suggestion to also getinvolved digitally and that they
are sharing it or sending it topeople in their sphere of
domain and I think you'll likelyreach more people, because
singers know singers.
I mean, that's just how itworks.

(10:58):
Singers know singers.
They always know somebody, justlike musicians know other
musicians.
Start with the ones who arealready in the choir, but you've
got to give them something todistribute.
You can't just tell them, hey,go, start recruiting.
That doesn't work.
So you have to give them that.
You have to do the work andgive them something to
distribute and then encouragethem to make it as easy as

(11:21):
possible.
Sometimes you can use a QR codeand make it even easier.
They can see the flyer, butnobody wants to actually pick up
a phone and call the number onthe flyer.
But if it's a QR code which youcan get easy today, they can
scan that right there with theirdevice.
If it's an email blast, thenthey can click the email and it
takes them directly to either awebpage, or directly to a signup

(11:44):
page, or directly to a videothat shows the choir.
It can be a personal videogreeting.
There's so many ways to do itand on the digital platform, I
think that would make it a loteasier.
So so, yeah, I think singers,no singers, you start with that
and then, like you said, startwithin your own community.
It's work.

Speaker 3 (12:05):
Work.
You start with that and thenlike you said, start within your
own community.
It's work, work, dorian.
Exactly it's work, yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
A few months ago, we mentioned that we would be
conducting what we callrehearsal sit-ins or just
sit-ins, and the purpose ofthese sit-ins is to simply bring
you some best practices fromchoir rehearsals and choir
directors from across thecountry, and some of those again
will be church choirs, highschool choirs, college and
university choirs and, of course, community and show choirs

(12:35):
wherever we have access, andthere's nothing specific that
determines whether or not werecord a rehearsal or we just
conduct the podcast on location.
Now, some of these sit-inpodcasts will include both clips
from the rehearsal and maybe aninterview with choir members
and the choir director.
Now, again, the sit-in is tobring you best practices.
Now, when I say best practices,these are practices that are

(12:58):
perhaps uncommon in normalrehearsals some things that you
can implement in your rehearsalor perhaps things that you're
already doing and that you canimprove on, and vice versa.
Maybe we get to sit in yourrehearsal and bring some of your
practices to the ears of otherchoir directors and choir
members.
Now perhaps you feel your choirdirector or your choir has

(13:19):
something that they can sharethat's unique to your group.
We'd love to hear from you andperhaps we'll be able to arrange
a sit-in with myself or Dorianor Mietta, or maybe all of us.
For the next few weeks we'regoing to be focusing on church
choirs and we've had anopportunity to talk to a few
people in the New York, newJersey, connecticut,
pennsylvania area representingseveral different churches.

(13:42):
Now these are sit-ins that wereconducted separately, so they
are not together today but overthe next few weeks again, you'll
be hearing from them.
Today we're going to New City,new York.
Now we didn't get to sit in ontheir rehearsal but we did talk
to eight to 10 of those choirand worship team members and
you're gonna hear from them.
Right now the choir room is onlocation at Grace Point Gospel

(14:02):
Fellowship.
All right, we are here at GracePoint with some of the Grace
Point Choir and so glad to haveall of you here.
Good evening everybody.
Good evening, all right.
Their choir director, theirworship leader, our good friend
and brother, chris Cruz, what up, and we'll talk about Chris

(14:24):
later.
He and I have a historytogether and so tonight we're
going to have a conversationwith choir, with some of the
worship teams and choir members,and the first question
obviously is a very generalquestion, but yet very specific
why choir?
Why choir for you.
You could have beenparticipated in other areas of
ministry.
You chose choir, so let's startwith you.

(14:47):
Why choir for you?
And tell us your name, tell usyour role here.
Let our audience know who youare.

Speaker 7 (14:56):
Hi, my name is Jennifer.
I am one of the worship leadershere at Grace Point.
I've been serving with theworship team for about five
years and I think about whychoir?
That's actually where I startedoff.
I do I sound matching thevoices of others?
How do I lock in?

(15:27):
How do I listen to those thatare singing next to me?
So that way, when we sing, wesound as one collective voice.
So that's something that I likethe most about choir.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
So when you say you started in choir, did you start
in choir here?

Speaker 7 (15:41):
I actually started in choirs previously.
So growing up all my life inRockland, I sang in part of my
school choir, all county area,all state.
Even at NYU, where I went to, Iwas part of the gospel choir
there, and so choirs have justbeen something that's been a
part of my life and somethingthat I will always just hold
dear the experience Wonderful.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
Anybody else why choir for you?
Thanks, Jennifer.

Speaker 6 (16:12):
My name's Angelo.
Actually, I didn't choose choir, it chose me in this room.
When we started out withcantata, my wife and daughter
were in it and they would youknow.
It was like a six month process.
So we listened to all thetracks, the music, and I did
that for three years, bringingthem here, listened to the songs
for six months in the car,memorizing everything.
So one year Gladys says whydon't you join the choir?

(16:34):
I mean cantata, you're alreadyhere, you know everything about
this.
I said, all right, I'll give ita shot.

Speaker 7 (16:41):
She goes what are you ?

Speaker 6 (16:43):
I said I don't understand the question.
She goes what are you?
I said I don't understand thequestion.
She goes you're a tenor bass.
I said again I still don'tunderstand the question.
So this is how naive I was toit.
But she goes you're a tenor.
And from there on I was hooked.
I didn't realize how you'redrawn to people now and it's
like this is awesome.
Now I feel like I'm truly partof something really big here and

(17:08):
the family we made was some ofthem 20, 30, 40, 50 people.
One year we had and that's sixmonths being with these people
twice a week.
We have dinners afterwards.
So it was such a great bondingand great friendships were
formed there.
So that's what, what I mean.
I didn't choose it on purpose,I kind of fell into it.

(17:29):
And I'm like well, why did Iwait this long?
Because, once I did, I'm likewow, I should have done this a
long time ago.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
Cool.
Now, when you say you shouldhave done it a long time ago,
what did you feel?
Because obviously you feltsomething different once you
became a part of it than youfelt when you were just a
spectator.

Speaker 6 (17:47):
I felt how important it really was.
I worshiped really what it doesmean, you know, to bond with
God and spread his love and allthat stuff.
And when we look out on ourcongregation, we are so diverse
here I'm like wow this is whatheaven's going to look like.
You know it's not all one color,one race.
This is everybody.

(18:08):
I'm like this is incredible tosee how everybody is praising
out there and worshiping.
Some are crying, some arelaughing.
It's just I don't know.
I love it.
It makes me very connected.
Cool, cool, anybody else?
White Choir?

Speaker 1 (18:20):
Hi, cool, cool, anybody else?

Speaker 10 (18:23):
White Choir.
Hi, my name is Ed White.
I am a choir member who isblind, and I actually grew up in
a big family and the quartetused to sing at our house, so
that was a lot of fun, but partof the fun was eating the snacks

(18:45):
that my mom would put out forthem after they rehearsed.
So I was drawn to quartetsinging.
Well, you were drawn to snacks,yes and snacks.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
Singing was a byproduct.

Speaker 10 (18:58):
So my career actually is in a business that
runs a concession stand, so I'malways around snacks and singing
.
I can sing while I feel vendingmachines.
So the, the, the rehearsalthing is the work part, you know
, and just like playing aninstrument.

(19:19):
But when you get, when you getto actually do the thing that
you have been rehearsing, thatis a different feeling than the
rehearsal, you know.
You get to interact with thepeople you're singing with.
You get to hear the sounds ofthe people around you to see how
they're reacting to what youare doing.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
Okay, yes, so you mentioned the work and then you
mentioned the application.
I want to come back to that ina minute.
You raised your hand Keely.
Why choir for you?

Speaker 11 (19:53):
Hi, I'm Keely and, yes, I'm on the worship team and
also the choir and my deaconesshere Been singing with this
church for quite a while.
But I did not start out inchurch.
I started in elementary school,junior high and high school
singing in the glee club, thechoruses.
So the technical aspect ofsinging as one was always

(20:17):
stressed, of course, and it wasa whole lot of fun, loved it,
loved it, loved it.
But in my late 20s I acceptedthe Lord and then began to sing
in churches and that wasdifferent, because when you're
singing in worship team or inthe choir, you're worshiping as
well as keeping those technicalaspects, and so adding that

(20:40):
nuance to it was just so lovely.
And, like my brother said, whenyou're looking out at the
audience and you see that we'reall worshiping together, I mean
it's nothing like it, it's just,it's incredible.
So that's one of the reasonswhy I still sing in choirs.
Even before I came to gracepoint, I just kept sticking with
it because that aspect ofworship embedded in the music

(21:00):
was so precious.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
So Ed talked about the work, the, the fruit of your
labor, for lack of a betterterm, Angelo.
You talked about the experiencethat you had between well, that
you had first just bringingyour wife and daughter in, yes,
and then later joining yourselfand then asking, saying to

(21:24):
yourself, why didn't I do itearlier?
Let's dig a little deeperaround that tree there.
Why didn't you do it earlier?
When you all think about whatyou were doing before you joined
choir and even what choir meansto you in a minute, because
we'll talk about that too whatwas it or what is it that makes
you still want to do this?
You got kids.
You're adding this extraresponsibility to your life.

(21:46):
What is it about this group?
I mean, if she was missing,would it even matter to you?
You see where I'm going.
What is it about choir?

Speaker 7 (21:57):
So what kept drawing me to even think about like
applying to sing in the choir?
I remember when I moved backfrom college right, I came from
having that sense of community.
To now I'm at home, I'mlearning this new church family
and I'm by myself, I feelisolated, and so I think about

(22:17):
what drew me to choir was thatsense of community.
I needed that.
I needed someone to help tolean on, someone to help hold me
accountable in my walk with theLord, someone to pour into me.
And I found that once I joinedchoir I got that.
I was able to thankfully meetKeely, who really took a liking
to me and really encouraged me,and she ended up being my

(22:40):
deaconess when I joined thechurch.
And so it was so amazing to beable to glean from my fellow
choir members and that'ssomething that kept me wanting
to serve.
Every time that notificationhit, I'm like I want to serve, I
want to serve.
I want to serve not just topour my gifts unto the Lord, but
also to surround myself withcommunity.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
Do you really like her?
I mean, I was asking Keely, shedidn't say anything.
She didn't say anything.
I love.
I love Because a lot of becausecommunity is that you have to
like each other and ultimatelyyou have to love each other.

(23:20):
But you needed that community,and that community solidified
something that was or filled avoid, perhaps that was missing
when she left school, and thatwas.
She said it, it was family andit was community.
It's fellowship, what else isit?

Speaker 8 (23:37):
Anybody.
I am Daina, and to me,additionally to a sense of
community, it was also thespiritual growth that comes
along with being in the choir.

Speaker 1 (23:50):
So and how does that happen?
How does the spiritual growthhappen in choir?

Speaker 8 (23:56):
well, for me it's like the work that I have to put
in.
I have to, like we always say,we can't bring somebody
someplace that we've never beenbefore so to do that you have to
stay on the word and alwayshave a song in your heart, so
that that's it beautiful tina um.

Speaker 4 (24:20):
For me I think it was the joy like angelo, I didn't I
wasn't looking to join thechoir, it kind of fell on me one
of my grace point.

Speaker 5 (24:29):
Sisters chased me down for like almost three years
to join the choir and I waslike I was a new Christian and
when the worship team was upthere and we were singing,
that's really how I found mypath to the Lord through worship
, through song.
So she chased me for like threeyears to join the choir.

(24:50):
I finally joined it and I foundmy relationship with God
through music.
I grew up as a dancer, so musichas always been very big to me
in terms of emotions and growth.
I just didn't realize it waslike the singing part of it.

Speaker 4 (25:07):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (25:08):
But as a new Christian I found my
relationship with God.
But I didn't understand thecommunity part.
So I found how to pray throughmy music.
I find my joy through that, butI also found that finding my
joy, the worship became about meand God and not for us and God

(25:28):
to present to the church to helppeople find the same thing that
I found.
So the discipline part of it isyou know, I forget sometimes,
because I'm a new Christian, toopen up my Bible and read.
But when I sing I hear thesongs and it's a psalm or
something it brings.
It always brings me back tohelp remind me.
You know, I'll make a note orI'll make cards on the word and

(25:52):
that's really how I'm learningmore about the Bible as well.

Speaker 1 (25:55):
That's powerful.
You said you were a dancer, soI think we underestimate the
power of music in every area ofour lives.
I think I shared with you in aworkshop not long ago.
You go to the mall, right, youget into a taxi cab in New York
City, you get into a taxi cabanywhere.
You go into a grocery store ora department store, there's
always music playing.

(26:16):
There's a reason for that andthere's been big time study on
that and the effect of it.
But when you go to the mall inparticular, it's very specific,
it's very strategic, right downto the lumens of the lights in
the building to keep you lookingfor a bag that you don't need

(26:36):
to keep you there.
Think about it Now if you everwent into a mall and there was
no music, I guarantee you yourexperience would be different.
If the lights were all superbright, I guarantee you your
experience would be different.
So when we talk about it beinga spiritual experience and being
something that's helping youdevelop spiritually, that's both

(26:56):
of you.
That's pretty key.
So I ask the question then howdo you grow in the grace and the
knowledge of the Lord throughchoir?
There's got to be anothermethod, obviously, because you
can study on your own.
But then how do we sing withunderstanding?
How do we do that?
How do we go to the next leveland not just read the word?

(27:17):
But what else is music doingfor you?
Because obviously, musicrequires some thought.
I mean, singing requiresthought.
Right, it requires somephysical input.
Yeah, it definitely creates orstimulates an emotional response
.
So you got these three thingshappening.
We used to have this commercial.

(27:38):
What was the phrase?
I used to say it all the timeReading is fundamental.
Remember that.
How many of you know singing isfun and mental.
Think about it.
Singing is fun and mental.
It requires what?
Thinking.
Give me an example of whysinging requires thinking.
In what capacity?
Say it again, in what capacitydoes singing require mental

(28:06):
contribution?

Speaker 11 (28:07):
You're memorizing your words, your points, that
you have to hit, all of that.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
Words, lyrics, notes, right.
What else Is it physical?
How is it physical?

Speaker 6 (28:19):
You just can't stand totally still, because all eyes
will be on you, uh-huh.

Speaker 1 (28:23):
So it's like you have to, although there's some
people who do that.
It drives me crazy.

Speaker 12 (28:29):
It depends upon the style of singing.
I sing classical.
I sang some second grade.
I asked you a question a coupleof years ago about worship and
how do I break through withoutgiving a performance?

Speaker 7 (28:39):
I had to break through it's Holy Spirit.

Speaker 12 (28:41):
But the other day, just for a joke, I have to watch
on in an hour and a half I did8,000 steps.
It banged off the service.
So, gospel singing is verydifferent than classical.
You're rigid.
So gospel singing is a verydifferent thing Classical,
you're rigid.
When I go to Cuba or Peru, I'mdoing more in movements and fun,
you know kind of dynamic.
Where I have classical, youdon't move.

(29:01):
You know, you don't sneeze, youdon't itch, you can't blink and
it's really a workout.
You're a diaphragmatic breather, you're a grip bud, so you kind
of yoga positions, things thatyou do to your body, positions
things that you do to your body,and you did it with our
workshop, with our hands opening, expanding our chest
positioning.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
It's mental, it's physical, is it emotional?
Absolutely.

Speaker 5 (29:24):
So let's hear from the dancer and then we'll come
back to Jennifer.
So we get into some songssometimes and you can hear your
fellow choir singers behind you,and you can hear your fellow
choir singers behind you, andsometimes my goosebumps and my
hairs will just stand up and youknow, I'm like this has to be
the Holy Spirit.
Or you get this sudden urge tojust turn around and hug the

(29:50):
person next to you because thatmoment or when you're hearing
the audience sing with you,you're like, oh my Lord, it
happened.
You know, so it's.
I think that's a huge part ofit.

Speaker 10 (30:01):
Yeah, you know I like when she said you feel the
people singing next to you.
You do want to reach out andtouch them.
You know, I mean I have to stopmyself.
There are two tenors singingbeside me.
I want to like sometimes I wantto take all three of my hands
and just raise them up in theair simultaneously.

Speaker 1 (30:21):
Now, what's wrong with that, Ed?
Let me just ask you Maybe notwhat's wrong with it, but why do
you find it?

Speaker 10 (30:28):
prohibited.
It doesn't seem like a normal.
It's not a normal move that achoir may do, you know, holding
their hands and raising themsimultaneously.
They might hold their handsdown together, like this when
they're praying, but they don'tnormally raise their hands up
together, you know, as it were,touching and agreeing.

(30:50):
You know we're I call us tenormadness, because most groups
have men, but the men arenormally doing technical things.
They're playing instruments butthey're not singing most of the
time.
So that's an oddity.
So when you have only three,you really bind yourself

(31:11):
together.
When one is missing, it's like,oh boy, you know, you feel like
you're going to have to stepinto a leadership role or
something you know when it'smissing.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
When you introduced yourself, you introduced
yourself as Ed, and then yousaid I'm blind, right, have you?
Been blind all your life.
Yes, okay, who told you thatyou can't lift your hands while
you're in the choir?

Speaker 10 (31:30):
Well, I think you know.
Even as a blind person, youhave a sense of what is normal.
You know, just like facialexpressions.
You're not taught them, but youcan make facial expressions.
If something is bitter, yourbody knows how to make a bitter
face.
Or something is sweet orsomething hurts, your built-in

(31:53):
nature knows how to make a smile, for example so.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
So then, at what point?
How do you know then that, withyour hands by your side, that
what you're saying and howyou're saying it is enough to
communicate the message?

Speaker 10 (32:09):
right?
Um, yeah, it's.
It's difficult to to know topick up body language.
You know swaying, for example,or are you know everybody stands
up at a certain time or stopsclapping their hands at a
certain time, those things youhave to sort of get a sense at.
Sometimes someone will tell youwe can sit down now, you know

(32:34):
sense at and sometimes someonewill tell you we can sit down.

Speaker 1 (32:37):
Now you know, well, I'm going to challenge you and
if you get in trouble let meknow, because Chris won't bother
you, he won't.
But I've had guys in my choirmen, and my tenor section is
right in the middle and I thinkI had about 40 of them, just men
and I had guys in my choir tall, big, curly hair, some really

(32:59):
big guys and when they gotexcited, there was nothing that
was going to stop them fromgoing like this with each other.
I had a football, an NFLfootball player, in the choir
and on one Sunday he got soexcited that he turned around
and did exactly what you talkedabout doing hugging somebody.
And he turned around and hehugged the big guy, the big,

(33:19):
burly guy, and they're in thetop row, they can be seen by the
world and they're hugging eachother in the middle of worship.
But it was such a genuineexperience.
He wasn't trying to drawattention to himself.
There was a moment in theworship that just took off for
him and he had to feel free thatit was okay.
We had to, not intentionally,but there was an environment

(33:41):
there that said you know what?
It's okay to rejoice in theLord and to lift your hands
right and to embrace a brother,if you feel like doing that at
the moment.
Now, obviously, it's like youknow, I always say the choir is
like FedEx you still got todeliver the package, you know we
can shout later, but you got todeliver the package.
Get it to the door, you know.

(34:03):
Or Amazon, take the picture andthen go back to the van and you
can shout it out, but you gotto deliver the package.
And it's the same thing withthe choir you can get excited,
but you can't lose your focus ondelivering the message of the
song.
And so that's just my challengeto you, ed.
If you're between these twoguys and I'm assuming that's
generally how it is man, if hegrabs your hand, go for it.

(34:24):
Go for it, because I thinkyou'll be surprised at how much
freedom that will send to thecongregation, how many more
people will be set free and feellike they're free to worship.
What happens on the platform andI'm not asking you to go crazy,
but I'm just saying whathappens on the platform.
A lot of that is picked up byyour congregation and if they

(34:44):
feel you're stiff, they're goingto listen.
Welcome to the choir.
Okay, let's get Jennifer andthen Tina.

Speaker 7 (34:55):
I was going to say that for me, the emotion comes
in when you start singing abouthow good God is and you start to
marvel and bask in the fullnessof his glory, and it just
brings you to a different place.
Also, there will be times wherethere will be those reflective
songs.
Let's just say you're singingabout the goodness of God and
it's like you're singing yourtestimony out loud and it

(35:17):
reminds you of how far God hasbrought you.
It just stirs something in yourspirit that at the end of the
day, you deliver the package andthe job gets done to where
you're not so overwhelmed byemotion, to where you lose sight
of.
I'm on stage and I'm stillhaving to lead the congregation

(35:41):
in worship and I think it'sbeautiful when you have a choir
to lean on to, where there'll betimes where your heart just
gets so overwhelmed that thosethat are standing next to you
are there for you to lean ontheir shoulder and then for them
to carry the sound when yourvoice starts to falter a bit.

Speaker 1 (35:57):
That's that community .

Speaker 5 (35:58):
Tina, I just wanted to touch a point too.
I think it has to do with thedirection of the choir as well.
I grew up in Catholic churchand there was no joy.
Singing was not fun.
And then I've been to Baptistchurch and I saw the singing but
I just didn't understand.
Like what does this catch thespirit and how does Jesus talk

(36:18):
to you?
I don't understand any of that.
I thought people were crazywhen they said Jesus told me and
I'm like OK.
And then I came to Grace Pointand the choir direction Like
when I first got on the choir,we all wore like the same colors
on sundays, so it was a littlemore strict um.
Right, it was a little moreunified, a little more strict um

(36:40):
, and we went through a coupleof different choir directors and
like I feel like the directionthat we're in now, although
we're a group and it's unified,it's we're still our own people,
like we're allowed to sing thesongs the way we want them.
But I think that some of usstay a little reserved.

(37:01):
Like you know, I was told whenI first joined the choir this
isn't a performance.
So you know, you got toremember the people around you
don't do anything that thepeople around you aren't doing.
So I feel like we're still,like we're all brand new again.
So we all have these things andit's probably and Ed could tell
me if I'm wrong, but I thinkmaybe some of these things are

(37:23):
coming up a little bit more nowbecause the way that we're
worshiping Do you feel likeyou're more free than you've
ever been before?
Yeah, we're more free with thedirection that we're given.
Like the direction on how thesong is being sung is perfect.
It's so everyone understands.
I'm not a new.
Like again, I'm not a musicalperson.
I don't read music, but whenI'm given the direction how the

(37:45):
song is going to be sang, I'mlike, oh, I can sing it that way
, you know, but then I'm allowedto sing it my way.
So I think that makes a reallybig difference.
Like Jen said, she gets thatsong.
It hits a chord in her abouthow good God has been to her and
she's like this is me, this isme, and there goes.
You know my message to God andhe's talking to me, type of

(38:07):
situation.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
And now you can catch the spirit.
Chris is here.
Chris is your worship leader,worship director, choir director
.
We love this guy.
Yes, and you do too, right?
Yes, yeah, yeah, go ahead, youcan do that.
You can, chris.

(38:30):
You've been directing thischoir now how long.

Speaker 9 (38:34):
It's been like two years now.
So I got to Grace Point.
I took over as the worshipdirector here in 2022.
And so, yeah, it's been twoyears now and maybe a little
after, maybe like four monthsafter I started, I kind of
restarted the choir here.
They did take a hiatus for alittle bit, but it was in the
heart of Pastor Daniel and Iknow it was in the heart of

(38:56):
these choir members who havebeen a part of the choir for so
long at Grace Point.
And so I say, hey, let's do it,let's start it up.

Speaker 1 (39:04):
How many of you were in the choir before Chris came?
All of you, most of you, okay,a lot of churches suffered
during COVID.
A lot of churches lost theirchoirs.
Some of them gave their choirsup, but we can't blame COVID for
everything.
So I think you have to have agenuine love for choir and a
desire to worship God in songwith other people in order to

(39:28):
come back to choir.
I think, for a lot of churcheslosing choir, that was an
opportunity for people to justsay, all right, I'm done.
They didn't want to leavebefore you know, so they got an
opportunity to just go back andgo to a ballgame, you know,
whatever For you, what was themost difficult part of
restarting?
Because you came, there was nochoir, am I right?
Yeah, and you had to restart it.

(39:49):
It was in the heart of PastorDaniel, yeah, and now you've got
this aggregation of singersyeah.

Speaker 9 (39:54):
You know, I think one of the hardest part was
managing expectation.
So before there was like a 40,you guys correct me if I'm wrong
, it was about 40, 50 personchoir here at Grace Point, and
so now I have that number in myhead, I got to get it back to 40
or 50.

Speaker 1 (40:11):
Okay.

Speaker 9 (40:11):
And so numbers kind of get you.
But you know, obviously this issomething you pray about and
God, maybe this isn't the seasonof 40 or 50.
Maybe this is the season of 12to 14 solid choir members Solid
yeah, that love the Lord, thathave a gift and a touch of God
on their lives.
And not to talk bad about theother you know can't do math

(40:33):
right now but the other choirmembers that didn't rejoin, but
maybe this is what God wanted inorder to, you know, kind of get
on the other side of COVID.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
I think every choir has to have a core group of
dedicated, committed,non-wavering or unwavering
people you feel like you havethat.

Speaker 9 (40:54):
Oh yeah, I love these guys.
I'm not saying this becausewe're on a podcast.

Speaker 1 (40:58):
You can tell me later .
You can tell me who gives youthe biggest trouble.

Speaker 9 (41:06):
No, no, I love these guys, love them.
They come prepared.
More than prepared, they comewith a heart of worship.
One thing about coming in asthe new guy is resistance.
Right, I'm not part of the dnahere, you know, I'm different,
um, but the love and acceptancethat I kind of felt here, the

(41:28):
openness to kind of say, hey,you know, one of the things we
got rid of was tracks or stems.
Right, we weren't going to doanything to click tracks or
anything like that.
Not talking bad against thatright.

Speaker 1 (41:37):
Well, let me let me jump in.
Did you guys use?
You used to use tracks, clicktrack.
Did you hear them?
Was it going through themonitors to you or did you all
wear?

Speaker 11 (41:49):
monitors okay, all right just curious.

Speaker 1 (41:51):
I was just curious how it worked for it, cause I
know many churches who do itdifferently.

Speaker 9 (41:55):
Yeah.
So you know, obviously those,that was something that God put
on my heart.
And again to clarify, notsaying it's bad, but for me, god
put it on my heart to move awayfrom that.
And then the thought is, well,how are they going to receive it
?
Now I'm going to get a oneperson choir right.
Everybody's going to be like belike we out of here, bro, we
give us some click tracks, butuh, it wasn't that like it was.

(42:15):
It was.
It almost seemed like god hadalready been knitting us
together with the same heart,the same focus and goal in mind.
Right, the goal isn't umpresentation, right, it's.
It's inviting the presence ofgod.
Yeah, his presentation, not aperformance performance?

Speaker 1 (42:32):
Absolutely so.
How was it different then,moving from the stability, if
you will, of click track to noclick track and not knowing
what's going to happen next?
How did that flow for you all,or was it difficult?

Speaker 11 (42:52):
Prior to the click tracks we had just live music.
So, it was kind of like theclick tracks came in between and
it worked.
It was fine.
But we all know that when youhave a live band and you're
looking at each othercommunicating, things can shift
at any moment, whereas with aclick track sometimes you have
that rigidity and you reallyhave to stick with the program

(43:14):
until you maybe fade it out anddo something.
So that was really the onlydifference.
I don't think it really changedso much in terms of the beauty
of the worship.
The worship was there.
It's just that for somemusicians at that particular
time, that was a point ofstability.
That was something that theyneeded, because our, our
musicians, are not necessarilyprofessional musicians.

(43:34):
Some of them have just learned,you know, within a year or two,
and picked up instruments andthat sort of thing.
However, they were able to lockin.
So that enabled some of them toreally lock in together.

Speaker 10 (43:46):
Those especially who were learning how to keep time
and how to, you know, know, keepthe format right um, if I might
talk about the, the, the livemusic and the click track, one
thing we found in the in theolden in the last several years
was we couldn't hear ourselvessinging while we were on the

(44:08):
platform.
You know, you couldn't hear theperson next to you because the
music was so loud or the frontline was so loud.
So we were here, but we weren'tas happy as we are now, because
you can hear yourselves, we canhear ourselves and that makes a

(44:28):
big difference.

Speaker 1 (44:29):
You can hear each other Right, absolutely.

Speaker 7 (44:33):
I would say the biggest shift from using click
tracks to not using click tracksas much was, you didn't feel as
restrictive worshiping.
I believed it just opened thisdoor and this avenue for
spontaneous worship to wherebefore it was like you know, the

(44:55):
song ended, it ended, you know,and so.
So, whatever you were feeling,yeah, just cut it short.
And so it really encouragedthat if the Lord was just
stirring or there was a yearningand in the in the room, um, to
go with it and to just kind oflay and stay in that stream, um,
and to know that you didn'thave the restriction of a track,

(45:19):
it was just your voices, theband following wherever it is
that the Lord was leading you,and then the choir as well,
listening that one time and thenlatching on.
That is, I feel, the that wasopened once we stopped using.
Welcome to the club.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
Welcome to the Pride of Doom.
Let me go back to Chris realquick.

Speaker 9 (45:51):
What is the most exciting part about working with
this group in particular?
Yeah, for me the most excitingpart is just like their
different personalities.
It's kind of like Keely's myauntie, she's auntie here, but
just getting to know her.
You know her background inmusic and singing jazz and stuff
like that.
And then just hearing Jen'shistory with the choir and

(46:11):
seeing Diana grow she sang forthe first time on the front line
last Sunday.
Diana Grow, she sang for thefirst time on the front line
last Sunday and so kind ofpushing people out into you know
, kind of letting them grow,forcing them to grow and kind of
seeing them excel.
And so I love that, I love, Ilove learning about these people
, I love growing with them, Ilove being challenged by them.
Although I, you know, I wasraised under your leadership, I

(46:36):
was never a choir director.

Speaker 1 (46:38):
I mean, I learned from you, right, I'm not a
professional I didn't tell himto say that I was not going to
refer to our relationship, butgo ahead.

Speaker 9 (46:47):
I'll say, I'll say, this man was my choir director
for a long, long time, um, andbut I wasn't a professional, I'm
not a professional, um, and sothis is something I actually had
to teach myself.
And I actually, when I firstimplemented the choir, I had to,
like think about those daysthat, you know, I was in choir
rehearsal with you.
I was like, how did greg dothis?
You know how did he do that?

(47:09):
And I just kind of found my ownway.
You know, it wasn't exactly theway you did it, but it seems to
be working, so yeah, awesome.

Speaker 1 (47:18):
So you ended up on the front line.
I hear what was that likebecause you're used to being in
the choir tucked in the backbehind.
You know, with the team whichis support, and support is
necessary.
You ended up on the front.
You're growing.
What's that like?

Speaker 8 (47:36):
Yes, I remember the first time I did that was
pre-pandemic and it was a lot offear Because that was my very
first time.
But last Sunday was different.
I was still fearful, but not asmuch.
I was able to let free a littlebit, okay.

Speaker 4 (47:58):
And did you lead or did you just?

Speaker 1 (47:59):
support.

Speaker 8 (47:59):
Yes, okay, now I hear an accent.

Speaker 1 (48:01):
Where are you from?

Speaker 8 (48:03):
I'm from Haiti.
From Haiti.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
Where are you from, Jennifer?

Speaker 7 (48:06):
I was born in the US.
My family's from Ghana, ghana.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
Keely.

Speaker 7 (48:10):
Brooklyn.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
New.

Speaker 4 (48:11):
York USA.

Speaker 1 (48:12):
Brooklyn, usa.
Brooklyn's a country by the wayit is.
It's a country by the way it is.
It's a whole different country.

Speaker 5 (48:20):
From the Bronx, but I'm Puerto Rican-Sominican, okay
.

Speaker 1 (48:24):
Ed, brooklyn, brooklyn, usa, south Yonkers,
south Yonkers, st Thomas, stThomas, bronx.
Okay, so we've got severalcultures here, which is another
beautiful thing.
We've got at least fourcultures, four or five different
cultures here, you know, and asPuerto or Dominican did, you

(48:44):
say Puerto Rican, and thenHaitian.
No, you're Haitian.
You're Ghana, no, you're Ghana.

Speaker 3 (48:52):
All right, somewhere around there All right Now.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
Let me ask you Chris has Hispanic blood.
He's Spanish, whoa, what is it?
Puerto Rican?
Has he ever gone Latin on youguys in the middle of worship?
Oh, what did you think I wasgoing to say?

Speaker 11 (49:16):
When you said has he gone Latin?
For a minute I thought you weregoing to say have we done Latin
?
We have some songs that we'vesung in English and Spanish.
You know bilingual, but I'venever actually seen him break
out.
Okay.

Speaker 1 (49:28):
He's got a little more Bronx in him than Puerto
Rican.

Speaker 11 (49:31):
I've seen him break out more in his playing.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
okay, Like he'll put some little chords in there, I'm
like so my question then iswell, it's the same question,
but what would happen with allthe culture in this church,
because it's pretty diverse?
What would happen if you justgot a dose of Puerto Rican Holy
Spirit and you went into aMontuno, and what would y'all do

(49:55):
I mean?
How would you respond to that?
How could you respond to that?
And you went into a Montuno,and what would y'all do I mean?
How would you respond to that?

Speaker 7 (50:02):
How could you respond to that?
So for me I'm very like when Ising I need to move.

Speaker 1 (50:07):
Well, it's in your DNA.

Speaker 7 (50:17):
So you would probably catch me dancing, taking
everybody who has beenworshiping, we'd be dancing unto
the Lord.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
so that's basically my style, or how I would react
to that type of now, with whereyou're from, what?
What's the describe the style,describe the emotion um.

Speaker 7 (50:26):
So where I'm from, um , with ganyan music, the worship
is very, very involved, likeyou're not just singing, but
people are dancing, they areletting loose and just
worshiping, so it's very much ofhigh life gospel music, and so
we got actually little glimpsesof that here.

(50:47):
We'll sing like there's no onelike Jesus, and I know it's been
translated in so many differentdialects over time, and so
that's more of the style inwhich Gunyan worship music is
aligned with, and Haitian.

Speaker 8 (51:03):
It's similar.
Yeah, I probably react bydancing too.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 (51:09):
I think, if I heard it, I would start singing in
Spanish.

Speaker 8 (51:12):
It's like when someone speaks to me in Spanish.

Speaker 5 (51:14):
I automatically answer back in Spanish.

Speaker 1 (51:16):
Right.

Speaker 5 (51:16):
I think if he started playing in Spanish, spanish, I
automatically answer back inSpanish.
I think if you started playingin Spanish, I'd start singing in
Spanish, like wait a second.

Speaker 1 (51:21):
What would that be like, though, at Grace Point?

Speaker 5 (51:25):
crazy.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
They love that stuff, they'll start cause I've been
here and I saw people run aroundand I was like, okay, they're
running around the sanctuary andI'm not.
That wasn't foreign to me, Ijust didn't expect it to happen,
that's my wife starting a congaline.
Oh it was your wife.
Was that your wife?

(51:48):
Was that really your wife?
Yes, wow, you told her.
I said thank you.
No, it didn't surprise me,because I've been in services
like that where that's happened.
I just didn't expect it tohappen at Grace Point that
particular hour, and it was justso freeing to know that there's

(52:08):
a freedom here.
That's not because it's notpretentious, it's not something
that was contrived.
It was a genuine outbreak ofjoy and an expression of God.
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (52:21):
There was one service I forget which one it was, but
the spirit was obviously flowingand you could see Pastor Sal
was waiting in the back.
He had to come out and saysomething and every time he
tried the music would just kickup again.
And he tried it like threetimes Like he'd come out and
he's like and I saw him do this,yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:43):
I'm not going to break this up with an
announcement.
You know he shouldn't.

Speaker 6 (52:46):
He shouldn't Some of the best services are when the
worship goes way longer than itwas supposed to but because
there's a reason for it.
Right, don't stop at midway.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
It's genuine.
Yeah, if it's genuine, you'llknow.
You know it's not it's not.

Speaker 6 (53:03):
Look at his face.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
Awesome.
Well, thanks, guys.
Thanks so much for giving meyour time.
Let me just ask the lastquestion, and then we'll let you
guys get into your rehearsal,because you're going to rehearse
tonight.
If there was one thing that youwalked away with, uh, whenever
you guys were are together as achoir what would be that one
thing?

Speaker 5 (53:24):
my peace peace yeah, I love coming to practice for
choir and I love singing on thesundays.
When I leave, I feel like I'vejust emptied everything out and
I've just filled myself up withenough energy to head for the
whole week.
I mean, I feel like that onSundays in general, but it's
different when we're singing.

Speaker 10 (53:44):
Yeah, Awesome Ed, it energizes me.
I mean I come home afterrehearsal and my wife says quiet
down, quiet down.

Speaker 8 (53:54):
I'm like zooming, you know.

Speaker 4 (54:03):
All right, anybody else?
Rehearsal, and my wife saysquiet down, quiet down.
I'm like zooming, you know.
All right anybody else?
Yes, hi, my name is reggie, Ithink.
For me since um being in achoir since a child and matured
from it, I've been in and out ofthe country as well with
secular bands.
But it's different when it'sthe choir right.
And for me, my big takeaway iswhen you come down, even just

(54:28):
one person in the church tellsyou I love how you guys sing.
You know how I was blessed.
Even just one person, it's notactually just one, several
people said that they wereblessed.
For me, it's just my heart isvery overwhelming, you know at
that time.
And like what you said, whenyou sing with a choir, as soon

(54:51):
as I close my eyes, I know mytears come down.
People might say, oh my gosh,is she hurting again?
No, my eyes, I know my tearscome down.
People might say, oh my gosh,is she hurting again?
No, it's just the overwhelmingfeeling of joy and peace, like
the Colossians was saying, and Ialways seek for that
righteousness, like Matthew wassaying in 633.
So yes one person being blessedis just the heavens opens up.

Speaker 1 (55:12):
Beautiful, anybody else?

Speaker 11 (55:15):
Although I don't come home like talkative Ed, I
really really become energizedas I'm driving back home.
I can still feel the energy, Ican still feel it like a buzz,
and what it does for me is, asI'm pouring out, I'm actually
being poured into and so I'mactually being renewed and
refreshed as I give the giftthat God has given back to him.

(55:38):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
Chris I know his takeaway is going to be, man
that they're even learning thesongs.
For goodness sake.

Speaker 9 (55:49):
No, I mean, my biggest takeaway is, like you
know, I always tell this topeople, especially the
leadership here at the church Ilove choir Sundays because we do
second and fourth Sundays.
That's choir Sundays.
It's like you have an armyaround you and it's like, man,
I'm ready to I'll go to war withthese guys and I'm ready and I

(56:10):
know we're winning.
So yeah, that's my takeaway.
It's just a big army surroundedme beautiful.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
Each one will bring something and receive something
unique when we come together,lift our voices and praise god
in choir.
A big thank you to chris cruzand the choir and worship team
of grace point gospel fellowshipin new city, new york.
If you're looking for a churchhome that has a choir, check out
grace point.
I'm sure pastor daniel will beglad to have you.
Now don't forget to like, shareand send us your comments about

(56:41):
the podcast TheChoirRoom atMetroMusic-Artscom.
And remember, if ever we putthe messenger before the message
, we have failed to present anunblemished gospel.
I'm Greg Thomas.
Join us again right here nextweek in the Choir Room.
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