The reaction from New Yorkers traveling the subway was one of surprise when the CenturyMen — a 100-voice, all-male choir of Southern Baptists that includes five Alabamians — serenaded them during a tour Oct. 1–9 that also included stops in Washington, Baltimore, Richmond and Willamsburg, Va.
“The New Yorkers absolutely couldn’t believe it,” said Bill Mallory, a member of the group and music minister at First Baptist Church in Chalkville.
Along with Mallory, Alabamians represented in the CenturyMen are Brad Bradford, Calvary Baptist Church, Dothan; Don Lingle, First Baptist Church, Andalusia; Chris O’Rear, First Baptist Church, Pintlala; and Walter Rogers, First Baptist Church, Talladega. Mallory said John Leland from First Baptist Church in Opelika also sang with the CenturyMen prior to his death last year.
Traveling around the city was complicated because of constantly changing barricades in Manhattan streets following terrorist attacks in the city Sept. 11, but it ended up providing opportunities to sing in subways and other opportunities to witness about Jesus Christ.
“The song, ‘Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,’ caused subway riders’ faces to light up, and many applauded,” said Lee Hinson, assistant professor of church music for Midwestern Seminary and a CenturyMan. “That kind of thing happened all of the time.”
To accomplish the performance, their first on a subway, Mallory said the CenturyMen split into groups of approximately 30 each that sang in different subway cars.
The tour might not have happened if not for the determination of the men in the choir. CenturyMen president Paul Clark said the tour had been planned for two years, with the men expressing commitment rather than fear in the wake of the attacks.
“Initially, I had questioned whether the guys would go, flying in from all over the country, but it was a momentary lapse of faith,” said Clark, worship and music specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Convention. “Instead, there was a stronger determination than ever to go there and declare the gospel in song.
“The timing, indeed, was providential,” Clark said.
Rogers agreed, saying the opportunity to minister to New Yorkers following the attack was even more relevant after the attacks. “To me, the people-to-people contact was more important than seeing places I’ve heard about all my life,” he said.
For Rogers, the trip marked his first visit to New York. And although he had heard residents of the city are often cold, he was pleased to find the people very open.
Mallory, who had previously been to New York, said he also noticed a politeness about New Yorkers that was different from his last visit there. “We were well received,” he said.
“They (New Yorkers) couldn’t believe we would send someone in to tell them God loved them,” Mallory said. “With the tragedy, they received it as encouragement and they received it as love.”
Hinson said the timing couldn’t have been better for singing the gospel message in New York and Washington.
“We sang to a lot of lost people, and we also sang on the steps of the Capitol to a number of representatives,” Hinson said. “There was not a huge crowd there because of security, but the experience was moving to me because I realized that had that fourth plane not gone down in Pennsylvania, the building behind me flying the American flag might not have been there.”
“There was just an overwhelming sense of God’s timing,” Rogers said. “There was a constant awareness that we were there for a special reason.”
Hinson pointed out that the CenturyMen often sing in places Southern Baptists don’t normally go. For example, the group sang in an off-Broadway gospel show and a couple of minutes on the CBS “Early Show.”
“I believe the audience of the off-Broadway show sensed that it wasn’t just music to us — it was the gospel,” Hinson said. “We weren’t just singing about a sentiment, we were singing something we believed.”
One night, a few CenturyMen got close to Ground Zero and sang for the rescue workers.
“They were spotted by a news crew and made the local late-night New York City news,” Hinson said.
Another small ensemble of men sang at a fire station down the street from the studio where they spent 12 hours recording a new CD. Hinson said it was a unique time to be in New York. “People were very open to talk about spiritual things and even open to hearing the gospel,” he said. “We were constantly having conversations with people.” The CenturyMen’s appearance on the CBS “Early Show” also resulted in several calls to the station requesting information about the group. The CenturyMen is an audition-only male choir made up mostly of Southern Baptist music ministers. Its last recording was nominated for a Dove Award.
(TAB, BP)
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