A First Look At The First Baptist Chorale

Barbados undenyably has exceptional talent and we were exposed to this at the 'Praise in Paradise' event with Dr Bobby Jones and friends. I must admit that I have not seen a choir or chorale perform in a long while, however when I gazed upon the First Baptist Chorale they made a statement from their very appearance alone. Dressed in dominant colors of black, red and white, they commanded your attention and certainly grasped mine. 

Little did I know that I was about to be wowed by symphonic voices that projected about the hall. I was certianly impressed as well as blessed by their ministry. We later caught up with the group's leaders to get an understanding of what they are about. Read on to see how they began and what sort of impact they would like to have in the area of Gospel Music in Barbados and around the world.

GG: Can I have your name and the name of your group?

Steven Leacock: My name is Steven Leacock and the name of our group is the First Baptist Chorale.

GG: How did you all begin this group?

Steven Leacock: We began more or less as the young adult choir of the first Baptist Church here in Barbados.

GG: How many years have you been functioning?

Steven Leacock: The ministry has been going on for quite some time but this particular group for the last 5 – 7 years

GG: Was this a branch of something before?

Steven Leacock: It evolved from time to time because people left, people have moved on and so on

GG: Where is the church located?

Steven Leacock: We are located on Constitution Road Bridgetown.

GG: Is there anyplace where we can find videos or pictures of you on Youtube etc?

Steven Leacock: We have our own video, as this group had done it’s premiere concert last year

GG: So is it available on DVD and what’s the name?

Steven Leacock: Yes and it’s called ‘God Is Here’

GG: When was this done and how can we get it

Steven Leacock: September 25th 2010 it was recorded and if anyone would like to get a copy you can get it at the church or any member of the chorale.

GG: Is it available online for any international folks that may be reading about you now?

Steven Leacock: It’s the Firstbabptistchurch.bb.org

At this point Pastor Lee Quoi was intorduced to me and gave some thought provoking points on the state of Bajan Gospel music and the event 'Pasie in Paradise'

GG: Tonight’s event is geared toward increasing tourism, how important do you think it is to be a part of tonight’s event?

PASTOR: I don’t think that it’s absolutely important. The Board of Tourism is looking at it from a secular and financial perspective, but from the church perspective we don’t have to go by their perspective. This is 'Praise in Paradise' and we are participating because we want to be able to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ through whatever medium God sends. We don’t question for example when people go on pilgrimage to Israel. The Israeli government doesn’t even believe that Jesus is the Christ, but they welcome people who come. This is an opportunity for us to play our part in bringing people to our country and when they come, we’re not banking that they come for Bobby Jones, we’re not banking that they come for the other international artistes, we’re banking that what they experience in Barbados, with the ministry in Barbados is that they’re enriched, and that when they go back they are refreshed, revived, and restored. That truly there was Praise in Paradise. If we didn't praise God the way we should then they wouldn’t have experienced everything that they’ve experienced.

GG: I come from a country where concerts are dwindling, and I’ve observed a small crowd here tonight, despite that I have enjoyed the worship. How do you all prepare for the ministry that you all have displayed here tonight?

PASTOR: Well again we stay focused on the ministry aspect of it rather than the entertaining and performance aspect of it. Now I am  not one that believe that we should ignore the entertainment and performance aspect of it because that is important, but you cannot minister without there being some ‘performance’ and you cannot minister without it affecting people in a particular way. It has to be enjoyable so therefore that is important, but it's what you make as your primary focus and your primary focus is ministry and you do it in a fantastic way. When you perform it well you make sure that the people have benefitted spiritually, mentally, and physically in every respect. 

GG: What is your hope for the international guests when they come? What would you like them to say about what they have seen here?

PASTOR: I want for when Bobby Jones and company come, that they are so pleased with what they have experienced in Barbados that they would want to come back for that experience and not to assume that they brought the sunshine and then took it away with them. I want them to experience the Christianity, the level of worship that is here. That here have people that worship and love God as well, and that we do it differently perhaps than what they do in the United States. Here’s another branch of the church that worships God in their own culture and context, and that they want to come for that. That they're going to say ‘I gotta go to Barbados to experience with the saints there. They way they worship God, we want that!’ That’s what my prayer is, that they come to experience that level of worship and praise and not to just come and bring a show.

GG: OF course…, and to take that back with them?

PASTOR: Na uhhh…, they not taking that back with them. I want them to take back what we gave…

GG: The anointing..?

PASTOR: Because I’ve been looking at this for a long time and it’s oh so clear to me that when you do what you do like Bobby Jones does for so long and constantly, it is so easy for what is precious to become mundane and routine and lose its depth. So it’s important for them to come where people are not on that bubble. Where people are not looking for their name in the charts and they're not interested in being the best in the eyes of the entertainment world.

GG: To operate in that same zeal and servitude as us, not so?

PASTOR: Exactly! 

GG: Last but not least, what message do you have for the Babardian government after this?

PASTOR: Again what I think the Barbadian Government needs to do, is involve the church leaders that have the concepts of the spirituality intact. I want them to work with those groups. There is no reason why this could not be bigger and better and grander, and I think it’s because they have miscalculated. In the secular world you have an event you make it look good, you advertise it, wonderful, and you think that it would go from there… NO! What you want is to work with the church and the church leaders. Not everyone but the ones that are aware of the specific genres of music that are going, so that they can bring that value to what you’re doing. Church is different than anything else. You cannot just advertise in church and they just pop out. Today churches are huge, and they have their own internal stuff and therefore to get them to come to an event it has to be important for their shepherds to release their flock for that! I think that too many times that we assume that if we advertise they would come, NO! You got to interact with the ministers and build a network so that there can be a mobilization across the board, and if that happens I believe that it would be much better than it is right now.

GG: I guess this is something that we can adopt throughout the Caribbean...

PASTOR: And we are not going to secularize what we are doing, because secular means that you take out what is sacred and what is left is secular and we ain’t doing that. We want it as sacred as it can be. We not watering down the message, we not watering down the image and we are unapologetically talking about Jesus!

Written by :

Esther James

 

Features - Music