Bahá'í Gospel Choir in the Second World Congress - 1992

Original Singers:

Adrienne Ewing-Roush, Sandy Simmons, Van, Sean, Cookie and Kim Gilmer, Sharon Dixon-Peay, Georgia Sanchez, Gloria Haithman, Charles & Sandi Bullock, Darlene Simonds, Kay Yoder, Ernestine Atkins, Pricilla Triplett Abercrombie, Clyde Herring, Ladjamaya Mahoney-Green, Sharon McCord, Myrna Brown-Forte, and Martha Banda.

As We First Formed

Who would have thought that gospel music would be so acceptable today in our glorious Faith. Gospel Choirs have been formed throughout the country and our music has spread throughout the Baha’i world. Little did we know that when we received those enthusiastic calls from Julie Doris and Priscilla Triplett back in 1992, telling us that a decision had been made to present African-American Gospel music at the Second Baha’i World Congress at the Jacob Javitts Center in New York CIty, that it would really happen OR that it would be accepted!

As I recall, several of us met in Wilmette with Tom Price at the home of long-time Baha’i, Sylvia Parmalee, to review possible music that might be converted to the gospel style. Julie Doris, Priscilla Triplett, Ernestine Atkins, Kay Yoder, and I were among those privileged few who gathered there to sing all day. Practically every song we sang, we rejected as sounding “too corny” when changed to the gospel format. After a day of endless rejection, we left there with no better clue of what we would do to fulfill the requirement to give a concert at World Congress. After that unforgettable day, I received a call from Tom Price asking me if I would conduct the gospel choir. I immediately answered “NO!” However, I did tell him that I would be happy to assist a better qualified person. Tom reminded me that there was no more time and that I would be more able to do it than he would be. He already was trying to finalize a 400-voice choir and complete music that was still being written. Finally, I agreed to do it!

It was then just over two months before World Congress was to begin, and we still had no real clue about what music we would use. We tentatively selected only three songs: "Love Me", "Queen of Carmel" and a new version of "If We Ever Needed Love". Two initial rehearsals were scheduled to identify potential singers. The first was held at the Louis Gregory Baha'i Institute in Hemingway, SC, and the other was to announce a first meeting of the potential gospel choir during the already scheduled Greenlake Conference in Wisconsin. Excitedly, singers began to gather at gathered at both sites. I was only able to go to Greenlake. Georgia Sanchez of Los Angeles later wrote about the experience at Greenlake. Several new persons arrived and we all were excitedly meeting each other for the first time. We were also excited about what our task was. By now, we had a couple of songs we would try to learn. Our first performance at Greenlake on Saturday afternoon was a disaster!! We were embarrassed but even more determined that we would make things right that evening when we were supposed to sing all of our songs.

With prayers and determination, the evening performance was greater than anything we could have imagined! And now we were ready to go on to our preparation for World Congress. While many of us knew each other, there were still many new faces as we gathered from over the country in New York to learn songs and prepare for our Tuesday night concert at World Congress.

Van Gilmer