Gospel music spans generations for Christ

Not all of gospel music is the hokey back-porch thing you think of. It’s kind of the wrong stereotype,” said Grant Frederick, who attends The Baptist Church at McAdory, McCalla.

But Frederick, whose favorite style of music is southern gospel, isn’t your run-of-the-mill quartet fan. He’s 17 years old and the pianist for 4given Quartet.

Then there’s 80-year-old James E. “Buck” Smith, a member of First Baptist Church, Oak Grove, in Bessemer, who’s been singing southern gospel music for 50 years. He is currently with The Royal Masters, a quartet he organized in 1970.

That’s because gospel music is for all people of all ages, said Shannon Knight, a member of the Daryl Williams Trio and associate pastor and worship leader at First Baptist Church, Guin.

“In churches in general, there are four, five and six generations of [people], and not every age group will like the same approach in gospel music,” he said. “The message never changes but our styles have to. … You’re cutting out a great group of people to minister to by having a one-track mind.”

But the message has to be clear, Knight added, because ultimately gospel music is another opportunity to share the gospel.

“In most churches, you have a speaker and an audience, but in a singing, they become participants in the worship,” said Ken Mostella, a member of the group New Life and director of missions for Sulphur Springs Baptist Association. “The thing I enjoy the most about singing in a southern gospel group is how the words of the music and the music itself make people clap their hands (and) tap their toes, and it brings a smile to their faces. The most important thing is to present Christ through our music.” 

For people both inside and outside the Church, Smith added.

“The biggest impact it has on me is the opportunity to share the gospel with people who normally don’t go to church but will go to singings,” he said. “That’s the biggest reason I’ve stayed in it locally for so long. There are so many people who don’t hear the Word, and I’ve seen a lot of people come to the altar and be saved.”