Gladys Knight The missionary of Gospel music

 

GLADYS KNIGHT, EX-BAPTIST SINGS FOR MORMON UNITY: Singer is using gift
to minister to fellow Mormons

     Gladys Knight was speaking the universal language of music to unite
the races as the featured act in two concerts recently.  People did not
spend triple digits to see her perform at the Flamingo on the Vegas
strip.  She did not sing any of the songs that elevated her to world
class entertainer status.  On the weekend of May 20-21 the R&B darling
used the stage at the Suitland Stake Center in Suitland, Maryland as a
platform to share God’s gospel with 3,000 on-lookers, many who are her
sister and brothers in the Mormon Faith.

     Suitland Stake Center is the headquarters for 12 Morman
congregations in the DC, Southern Maryland area.  The Mormons sponsored
the “Fireside” concert as a community outreach effort that was held
purposefully to bring the races together.

     The Fireside Concert emerged from the free concerts that Knight and
her racially mixed, multi-denominational choir Saints Unified Voices
would offer in Las Vegas. (Singers were schooled on the basis of the
director’s beliefs, but accepting Mormonism was not a pre-requisite to
participation.) Joining the ranks of the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir,
as creator and director of SUV, they earned the golden statue at this
year’s 48th Annual Grammy Awards for the Gospel Choir of the Year for
their debut recording, “One Voice.”

     Although she has been an entertainer for five decades, the 61
year-old is now ministry minded.  She realizes she has a higher calling
as a singer and is so dedicated to the call she was not present at the
Grammy’s to receive the coveted award.  She and the 100 member choir
were preparing for an event. In an interview with The Meridien ( a
publication of the LDS church) she remarked, “ we count it our greatest
privilege to share the message of the restored gospel through music and
through the testimonies we bear during each fireside.”  Adds Gladys,  
“Everyone involved with this choir make sacrifices."

     The missionary of music has been a devoted member of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  since her 1997 metamorphosis.  Raised
Baptist, the seven time Grammy-award winning singer was converted by her
son Jimmy (who was introduced to the religion by a neighbor) and
daughter Kenya who Jimmy led to the faith after she became curious about
the scriptures he studied that were not in the Holy Bible. 

     The Walk of Fame honoree is one of a surprisingly increasing number
of African American converts, which now includes her husband William
McDowell whose upbringing in segregated North Carolina made him deeply
skeptical about Mormonism. 

     The singer had to confront the church’s history of racial
exclusivity before she committed to the scrutinized church organization.
She told the audience, “When I came to this church, I asked, 'Do y'all
like Black people or not?' "

     It was not until 1978, under prophet Spencer W. Kimball, that the
Mormon Church admitted Blacks into full membership, allowing them to
hold the priesthood, marry in the temple and receive the same privileges
as other members. Since then, the aggressive work of the bike-riding
missionaries to be inclusive, has contributed to the church in the
Washington area significantly.

     The Washington Post reports that Ken Page, president of the
Suitland Stake, said 20 percent of the 4,500 Mormons in his stake are
African American.

     In her testimony, Knight, 61, said: "I am grateful for the
missionaries on those bicycles. When they knock on your door, let them
in."