Extravaganza: new ways to worship

People young and old stood up, clapped, danced, sang or just listened to the songs, worshipping God in their own way during Sunday's Gospel Extravaganza in Martin Chapel.

Martin Chapel was filled with a unique mix of worship as a variety of people participated. The music ranged in volume and style, including traditional gospel, contemporary gospel, praise and worship, and what has come to be known as holy hip-hop: rap, R&B and other music appealing to young people with lyrics for Christ.

The extravaganza started off with a reading of Psalm 24, followed by a prayer by Derrick Henderson. After a worship band came up and led the audience in singing a couple songs, Henderson introduced his wife, Lisa, who performed a prophetic praise dance which Melody Pannell explained as "God speaking through the ministry of the dance." Pannell, director of Multicultural Services, said that Lisa would likely prepare for the dance but that the actual dance would be led by the Holy Spirit.

The program included Oak Grove Baptist Choir, EMU's Gospel Choir, Hoshama's Music Management Artists and the Northeast Community Choir.

The celebration ended with a dance performed by two female members of the J.C. Motions. J.C. Motions (Jesus Christ in Motion) is a dancing ministry at JMU, part of Crown Ministries International. CMI, started by a JMU graduate, sponsored last year's Holy Hip-Hop after party, and EMU has maintained connections with the ministry. Last weekend junior Zonia Cofer attended a Crown Ministries annual conference in Virginia Beach entitled "The Maze of Grace."

Around 75 to 80 people attended the two-hour-long event, and almost half of them were program participants. This is a significant decrease from the 300 who attended last year's Gospel extravaganza.

Pannell said the decrease might have something to do with a decrease in the number of choirs and the number of people in EMU's gospel choir. She also said that the event has traditionally not been well attended by EMU. They often have more turn out from the broader Harrisonburg community, bringing people onto EMU campus who might not come otherwise.

"People who were coming actually represented JMU more than EMU," Pannell said. Multicultural Services is trying to encourage more EMU student participation in such events which promote cultural awareness.

The fifth annual Gospel Extravaganza carried on the theme of this year's African American history month celebration, "On Christ the Solid rock I stand." Any choir that has participated before is re-invited, especially those with strong connections to EMU such as Oak Grove Baptist.

According to Pannell, the Gospel Extravaganza is a tradition at many African American schools, and usually involves a lineup of choirs and singers.