Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

LIFT EVERY VOICE

The Music and Ministry of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
An 8000-member church better have a choir to be reckoned with, and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir are special indeed. For over 26 years, they have provided a foundation for the ministry of the Flatbush Avenue church and released numerous Grammy and Dove award-winning albums and videos to boot. Their latest release, GOD IS WORKING: LIVE, offers 11 inspiring songs of praise recorded right in the Tabernacle. Carol Cymbala, the founder and musical director who started the church with her husband, Pastor Jim Cymbala, talked to Karl Hagstrom Miller about the choir's origins, its repertoire, and praising God with song.

Barnes & Noble.com: How did the choir get started at Brooklyn Tabernacle?

Carol Cymbala: My father had this little church down here on Atlantic Avenue, and it was struggling. He asked my husband and I if we would come and take it over. So my husband left his job, and I left my job, and we went full-time to take over this little, struggling church. We had about 20 people in the church -- a very difficult situation. I started my little choir there, and when I started I had nine voices. Most of the people in that choir could not sing. But as the church grew, the choir grew. Through the years the choir has grown along with the church. We went from about 20 people to about 8,000 people in the church after about 28 years.

BN: What role does music play in the Brooklyn Tabernacle's ministry?

CC: Well, the purpose of it is to lead people to God and to worship God and to praise God. That's why we sing on Sunday. Many times when we finish singing a song, the church breaks out in praise and worship to Him. And they are moved towards God. They become conscious of God and who He is, and they become conscious of His love for them. That's why we sing -- that's the purpose of it all.

BN: How do you go about choosing songs for the choir to sing?

CC: We do black gospel music, we do traditional music, and sometimes some classical pieces. I listen to a lot of music, and if I hear a song that I feel sounds like the choir to me -- like the choir could sing it -- I'll usually take that song and I'll teach it to them. I listen to all kinds of music. I might listen to a black gospel album. Or I was at a music conference a few years back and heard a beautiful classical piece, and I brought it back home. I took that piece and another song and another song, and I made a medley out of it. I also write some of the music.

BN: What kind of musical experience do most of the members of the choir have?

CC: Most of them don't have formal training. I have a few that do -- I have one young man that sings for us who is a graduate from Juilliard. But most of them don't, including myself. I have no formal training.

BN: Is there a particular service or performance by the choir that stands out in your memory?

CC: Well, we've done Radio City Music Hall. We did three performances there at three different times. We did Madison Square Garden in 1996. We have a video from there. That one stands out, because we were able to reach a lot of people. When we did Madison Square Garden we were able to reach out to 3,000 homeless people, so that was a very, very special event for us.

BN: Who are some of your favorite Christian artists?

CC: Three guys that I really enjoy listening to are Phillips, Craig, & Dean. I don't know how you would classify their music - it's contemporary. They are really nice; I enjoy them.

BN: Have you had any tension or conflict between your Christian mission and working in the recording industry?

CC: No. It's been wonderful. We've recorded for Word and for Warner Alliance, and they've always given me the liberty to do as I pleased, which has been a real blessing. I know a lot of people don't have that liberty. There's that control, but we've always been able to do what we wanted to do. I've been able to call the shots, which has been wonderful. You're free to express what's in your heart.

BN: What can we expect on the new record, GOD IS WORKING: LIVE?

CC: I think it's full of life, and the message is very uplifting: God is working even now. We are really looking to God and depending on Him to provide for us, and He really is providing. So when I was preparing to make this album, I wrote the song "God Is Working" -- "God is working even now/Though we often don't know just how/God is working even now." We just see what He is doing, how He is providing. Its really miraculous.

BN: Any plans for the choir on the horizon?

CC: We are going to be doing a new video in May. That will be done here in the church, so we are looking forward to that. And I am working on a Christmas musical right now. We will be recording it, and that will be ready around Christmastime. It will be narration and music with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Singers, a smaller group. The only reason why we do all this is to lift up Jesus -- to see people come to him. We see it every week. We see people come through the doors who really have an encounter with Jesus Christ, and their lives are changed. We have testimony after testimony of what God can do in a life when you surrender to him. That's the purpose. It's the only reason why we sing.

Karl Hagstrom Miller