Pastor Milton R. Hawkins PresentsTemple of Deliverance Women’s Choir – Live
In the Sanctuary
Habakkuk Music (2013)
By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog
With a chorus of 200+ women and a parade of top female soloists, In the Sanctuary is a veritable injection of high-octane estrogen that engulfs the Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tennessee, with a traditional/contemporary blend of gospel music.
Women have been at the forefront of gospel from the beginning. Since most denominations, including COGIC, did not (do not) allow women to pastor, they had to find other ways to serve the church. For some, that meant evangelizing; for others, it meant making a joyful noise. For yet others, such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Arizona Dranes, it meant doing both at the same time.
What we hear on In the Sanctuary is the soundtrack to this phenomenon. The Temple of Deliverance Women’s Choir is a wall of sound supporting the lead vocalists who sell their respective songs. None of the lead singers are shrinking violets when it comes to aural force. Tamela Mann, gospel’s current “it” girl, renders “Have Thine Own Way (In the Sanctuary)” in her smart, direct, and ultimately bluesy manner. Memphis’s own Carla Tolbert Taylor propels the infectious single, “Everybody Praise,” while the hard-singing Lisa Page Brooks fronts the powerful “Keep Me All the Way.”
Among the males, Pastor Milton R. Hawkins, nephew of the late COGIC Senior Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson, serves as narrator and exhorter. The fine band includes J. Drew Sheard II on drums and Chicago’s Joey Woolfalk on bass.
The album finishes strong with the pulse-racing and optimistic “Breakthrough,” led with evangelistic ferocity by Karen Clark Sheard. Ten thousand P&W anthems linked together could not top the joyful exuberance of this kind of congregation rouser. It represents everything gospel is about, or at least should be.
A portion of the proceeds of In the Sanctuary will go to the Temple of Deliverance’s charity efforts, which have included, among other projects, support for victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Four of Five Stars
Picks: “Everybody Praise,” “Breakthrough.”
Written by : Bob Marovich
Bob Marovich is a gospel music historian, author, and radio host. Founder of Journal of Gospel Music blog (formally The Black Gospel Blog) and producer of the Gospel Memories Radio Show.
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