Gospel Choir Touring Ensemble to Visit Minnesota

North Park University's Gospel Choir Touring Ensemble will visit three churches in the Minneapolis area as part of its fall tour, October 23–25.

Fall tour October 23–25 to feature 33 student singers

CHICAGO (October 19, 2015) — There’s a refrain in the Gospel song “We Have Overcome” by Jay Wade that includes the lines, “We have overcome by the blood of the lamb that was slain.” The song is among the repertoire that the North Park University Gospel Choir Touring Ensemble will perform this weekend when they travel to Minnesota for a series of concerts. Dr. Helen Hudgens believes those lyrics resonate deeply with the tour’s theme, “Celebrating the Resurrected Jesus.”

Hudgens, an associate professor of music at North Park who serves as co-director of the choir, traces the lyrics to Scripture, as well as to the black church experience. “That line originally comes from the book of Revelation,” she says. “In the text, at the end of history, believers who had been martyred gather before God. The idea is that there’s this underlying power that brings people through. That they’ve found the ability to see the power of God carrying them through that. It’s saying, ‘I have overcome difficulties—even to the point of death.’” 

Choir Director Stephen Kelly, worship coordinator for University Ministries, agrees. “We celebrate with this music the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, which resides in all who believe,” Kelly says in his program notes. “This power unites us as brothers and sisters to bear his image through how we love him and each other.” There’s a history and a communal context to the theme, “and that matters as we sing these lyrics,” Hudgens adds. “We always try to bring that to our concerts.” 

The ensemble will visit three Minnesota congregations of the Evangelical Covenant Church October 23–25, during the University’s fall break. They will perform full concerts at Rochester Covenant Church and Excelsior Covenant Church, and sing in worship during two Sunday morning services at Redeemer Covenant Church. 

“We celebrate with this music the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, which resides in all who believe," says Choir Director Stephen Kelly, who also serves as the worship coordinator for North Park's University Ministries.

One of the School of Music’s most popular ensembles, the Gospel Choir’s performances are perennial favorites on campus. The Touring Ensemble draws students from around the country and the world, featuring 33 singers accompanied by instrumentalists. North Park’s touring ensembles regularly visit parts of the country with concentrations of alumni and Evangelical Covenant Church congregations.

The ensemble will perform 14 compositions during performances and a handful of songs during worship services. Other song highlights from the tour include “Sow in Tears” by Gospel legend Richard Smallwood; the traditional spiritual “Done Made My Vow,” arranged by Nolan Williams Jr; and “Grateful” by popular singer and pastor Hezekiah Walker. “There’s a theme of looking to Jesus as the one who has walked that road before,” Hudgens says. “We follow in his footsteps, but it doesn’t mean that the road is going to be easy.” 

“Sow in Tears,” with its lines “Tears may flow, but don’t let go,” doesn’t deny that there will be difficulty and sorrow in that walk. But it also refers to tears as cleansing and created by God. “It’s a word of encouragement in the struggle,” says Hudgens. 

Another prominent aspect of the walk with God explored in these songs is the necessity of committing to the journey. “In ‘Done Made My Vow,’ there’s something that the person has to do—God isn’t going to do it for you,” Hudgens says. “It says that Jesus is walking in front of you, but you still have to walk the road. Hopefully you’ve had experiences which have convinced you of the fact that if you walk that road, God will be with you, but you have to make that vow.” 

Despite the struggles of the African American experience that the songs are rooted in, the joy and gratefulness embedded in the music are just as central to the tour’s theme. The chorus of “Grateful” is simply that word repeated over and over. “It’s about beginning with gratitude and always remembering,” Hudgens says. “That’s where you have to start.” 

All performances are free and open to the public:
• Friday, October 23, 7:00 pm, at Rochester Covenant Church, Rochester, Minn.
• Saturday, October 24, 7:00 pm, at Excelsior Covenant Church, Excelsior, Minn.
• Sunday, October 25, 8:45 and 11:00 am, Redeemer Covenant Church, Brooklyn Park, Minn. 

Location details are available online.

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