More than 2,000 worshippers gathered together to give praise, honor and glory to God last Saturday, February 6, as they celebrated the 25th annual Gospel Sing event at Azusa Pacific University. Pastor Albert Tate, from Fellowship Monrovia served as the host for the night as he ushered in a series of amazing performances.

APU’s Gospel Choir and Gospel Worship team welcomed Ty Snow and Xtreme Purpose, Greater L.A. Cathedral Choir, Lorenzo Johnson, UMOJA Step Team, VFO Dance Group and Michael Henderson, spoken word artist, to present Gospel Sing.

Tate repeatedly asked the audience if they were ready for some church, and by the audience’s reaction the entire evening, they were.

This year’s theme, unchanged for the past three years, was “Sounds of Unity.” The theme has it’s roots in Scripture as it is based on Palms 133:1 which reads, “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.”

Aaron Hinojosa, the acting executive director for the Student Center of Reconciliation and Diversity has been involved in the tradition of Gospel Sing since it’s origin in 1988 when he participated in the first show with his church. Hinojosa gave the opening prayer asking that the audience would step into the Spirit.

“It is important that we keep Gospel Sing a tradition, not only for our students of color on campus, but for the entire campus to recognize the rich history of black gospel music,” Hinojosa said.

Sophomore biology major DeSaree’ Scobey has been in Gospel Choir for the past two years, and it has been a fulfilling experience for her. Last weekend, the Gospel Choir performed at the Salvation Army singing praises in a room filled with people who have truly felt the hardships of life.

“We ran into some of those soldiers on the streets of San Francisco and they [said] you blessed me so much, and I feel so motivated to recover. Just the confirmation that we get from our performances lets us know that we are doing our job,” Scobey said.

Gospel Choir goes on tour right before the Gospel Sing event with the hopes of and intention that the same energy that they gave on tour will be brought right back to the stage at APU. Each and every performer and performance brought an extraordinary amount of energy, talent and excellence to the Felix Event Center Saturday night.

Themes of reverencing God, rejoicing in his presence and letting Him completely and utterly rain on you echoed in the lyrics throughout the songs.

“It was so good, because I just miss being able to have ethnic worship, because that is what I’m used to. That’s what I grew up with, so I Ioved seeing it. I was immersed in it and the music was great,” freshman acting major Alicia Hithe said.

Hithe wasn’t the only person who was immersed in the music and the Spirit. The musicians welcomed the audience to come and dance with them in front of the stage and many people did. Students, children and adults were out of their seats, hands in the air and feet moving as fast as the tempo.

Spoken word artist Michael Henderson saw Gospel Sing as a night of celebrating God, celebrating music, celebrating black history, multiculturalism and unity.

“In gospel music, God is seen as a rock. He’s seen as a shelter. He is seen as a way maker, and that really showcases the history of a people who have struggled to make it. It shows the struggle in how we praise God,” Henderson said.