Unity In Community: Area Choirs To Join Together For May 18 Concert

Tom Netherland/Special to The Bristol Herald Courier
Published: May 14, 2008

Unity. When all else seemingly fails to tighten bonds, then leave it to music. It makes sense then that churches employ music as they do.

“Music touches a lot of souls,” said Roy Matthews, president of Bristol’s Unity in Community, a group that works to solidify racial and societal bonds among community members.

Matthews hopes to pack the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol on May 18 when Unity in Community stages a concert featuring church choirs. Billed as “A Musical Extravaganza,” the event will feature six local choirs and a quartet. Some of the choirs are African-American. Some are white.

All were banded together with purpose.

“We want to give the message that all people are created equal,” Matthews said. “Everybody there will be blessed by music. We hope for a full house.”

Attendees will hear local folks in local choirs.

They include choirs from Bristol, Va.’s First Christian Church and Lee Street Baptist Church; Bristol, Tenn.’s Anderson Street United Methodist Church; Johnson City’s Thankful Baptist Church; Kingsport’s Central Baptist Church; Elizabethton’s Phillippi Baptist Church; and Clintwood quartet Soul’s Journey.

Each choir will perform two songs and then gather together for a grand finale. That final song will hammer to the heart the point of the show, Matthews said.

“It’s all about community,” Matthews said. “You don’t have to go halfway around the world to find great singers. We have them here in the community.”

Phil Wright certainly agrees. He serves as choir director and sings in the Anderson Street United Methodist Chancel Choir. He said the power of gospel music is something to behold when sung by a strong choir.

“It lifts one’s spirits,” Wright said. “There’s a strong message in the music.”

Perhaps consequently gospel music can serve as glue that binds when little else can or will.

“This powerful music just resonates with people,” Wright said. “We’re really looking forward to this show.”

Some organizations aim huge when trying to unite the entire country. That’s fine. However, Matthews and his fellow members of Unity in Community hope to build stronger bonds among folks of differing races and backgrounds here in the Mountain Empire.

There’s a good reason to do so, he said.

“If we can’t get along on earth, we’re going to get into trouble when we get to heaven,” Matthews said. “We are created equal. We ought to worship together. We ought to rejoice together.”

Perhaps the key to such togetherness centers upon understanding each other, or at least trying to do so. Wright will make the effort via the song “Hallelujah Praise Jehovah.”

“It’s unique in that it’s a Jewish-style song with a Christian message,” Wright said. “I thought it sounded neat.”

Perhaps the show’s music will help bridge a road to unity. Also, events of this nature can serve as gateways to gospel music and Christianity for those who do not attend church.

“You want to reach people,” Matthews said. “The Paramount may be the source to reach someone. We may reach someone who doesn’t go to church.”

IF YOU GO

What: “A Musical Extravaganza” featuring Thankful Baptist Church Male Choir, First Christian Church Choir, Central Baptist Church Choir, Anderson Street United Methodist Chancel Choir, Phillippi Baptist Church Choir, Lee Street Baptist Church Gospel Choir and Soul’s Journey
When: May 18, 3 p.m.
Where: Paramount Center for the Arts, 518 State St., Bristol, Tenn.
Tickets: Donations accepted
Info: (423) 274-8920
Web: http://www.theparamountcenter.com