Friday, June 04, 2010

May 28, 2010



Stillwater gospel group seeks to bring community together through concert

STILLWATER, Okla. — The Stillwater gospel group, the Messengers, will present “God’s Message in Our Music” Gospel Explosion Concert beginning at 3:30 p.m. June 5 at the Seretean Center 225 S. Knoblock. The concert will feature about a dozen gospel groups from all over Oklahoma including Yale, Oklahoma City and Cushing. Admission is $10, and proceeds go toward area churches.

“It’s the way the Lord gave me to show faith. A lot of people preach the Word, we sing the Word to people,” The Messengers member Jerry Owens said.

Nearly 500 people are expected in attendance, The Messengers member Steven Murray said, and they hope that this concert will be the beginning of several annual events to pull the community together through faith and music.

“We want to make the world a better place than we found it,” Murray said. “They can come in sad and leave glad.”

The Messengers gospel group is made up of nine men from various churches in the Stillwater community. The group originally began as the Inspired Gospel Singers and later became The Messengers in 2008. Their drummer, Bobby Thomas, died last July, and the group’s trip to his services in Louisiana has inspired lots of their music and songs, Owens said.

Murray said that the last time there was a large gospel concert open to the community of Stillwater was in the late 60s. Most gospel concerts now are held privately in churches, he said.

“This generation needs to know what brought them here today,” Owens said.

Several members of the group said that they hope their gospel music can be spiritually therapeutic to people.

“Hopefully, this can help people in the street who might be having problems,” Darroyl Garrett said.

“There might be a word or part of that song that soothes you,” Owens said.

“If you can touch one or two, three people, we have accomplished our goal to bring the Word of God to them,” The Messengers member O’Neal Smith said.

Gospel music groups performing in the concert include The Messengers, The Friendly Oklahoma Jubilees of Tulsa, Back Porch Gospel Singers of Yale, Tangi and Submission of Oklahoma City, Elder Azel Higgs and Sons of Oklahoma City, Flying Clouds of Cushing and others. The concert is expected to last into the evening, and food and refreshments will be available.

Halfway through the concert, awards will be presented to legendary and outstanding gospel singers. The event is open to the public.

“We want everybody to know, to see and to feel what this is about,” Owens said. “We’re out here, because the Lord wanted us to be here.”

Call 405-762-2880 or 405-624-0525 for tickets or information.

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