Rev. Luther Barnes and the Restoration Worship Center Choir The Favor of God Shanachie Entertainment (release date: September 9, 2016) www.shanachie.com By Bob Marovich Decades ago, Luther Barnes breathed the Red Budd Gospel Choir into life at the church his father, the late Reverend F. C. Barnes, founded in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Today, Luther has a new choir, a new church, and has followed his father’s footsteps into the ministry: he is now the Reverend Luther Barnes. As Founder and Pastor of Restoration Worship Center in Rocky Mount, Barnes proudly showcases the singing of his church choir on The ...

By Bob Marovich Rocky Mount, North Carolina, an hour’s drive from the state capitol of Raleigh, is neither rocky nor mountainy. The population is a modest 60,000, but the town looms large in gospel music lore as the longtime home of one of the genre’s most important family dynasties: the Barnes Family. The dynasty began in 1959 when the Reverend F. C. Barnes founded Red Budd Holy Church in Rocky Mount. Generations of Barnes family members have worshipped at Red Budd and enriched the church’s music ministry as singers, directors, songwriters, and musicians. Barnes and the Reverend Janice Brown put Rocky ...