The Nassau Guardian - www.thenassauguardian.com.com

There is a burning desire among local gospel musicians to light a flame in the hearts of all people but there are so many impediments that hinder the growth of their ministries outside the country. However, finding talent is not an issue for The Bahamas.

In some churches, music ministers are seldom encouraged or financially supported in their quest to take the gospel to the world. The church as a whole, is guilty of not putting its money where its mouth is. For too long and too many years, many musicians have received the infamous pat on the back for "ministering so well." But there are too many Bahamian musicians sitting on their talents in local churches of many denominations in this country, who are not being financially sponsered by their respective churches in displaying their musical talents abroad.

The lack of marketing skills or knowledge, also keeps the best of the best hanging in the shadows of the sun, sand and sea.

Leading By Example

Apart from having an excellent teaching ministry, Pastor Myles Munroe, founder of Bahamas Faith Ministries, is one of the few pastors who unreservedly supports the young gospel artists in his church. He has mentored such artistes as Landlord, Christian Massive, and Stefan Moss, the Bahamian who made history by winning a Dove Award earlier this month. Pastor Munroe has even pushed groups not in his church, such as Vision, who toured with him overseas. Several years ago, I had a conversation with Landlord, who told me of how he ministered in front of a crowd of some 100,000 people in Africa, having been invited by his pastor for an evangelical crusade. That opportunity alone opened many doors for him.

Over the years, Pastor Munroe has helped many young people to get off the streets and as a musician himself, he recognizes that music changes with time. He does not judge the way the youth of his church want to express themselves musically for the glory of God. I believe that through his ministry, he has helped many of his younger followers to realise their true purpose.

Other churches are now pushing their praise teams and choirs into the studios. Among them are Bahamas Harvest Church, Golden Gates, World Ministries, Living Word Ministries. Mount Tabor Full Gospel has even built a recording studio.

Will the consciences of other church leaders be pricked into helping the young people to develop a deeper relationship with God....make a special connection to God and the church? Are churches prepared to invest in the people that they are supposed to serve?

Higher Level

Bahamian artists are very late in launching out into the deep as most secular artists have done, leaving their full-time nine to five jobs, to pursue singing careers. However, the public perception of gospel musicians is greatly different from that of secular artists, whose talents are far more valued monetarily than those with faith in God.

Maybe it's time for more value to be placed on Bahamian gospel musicians, for they seek to promote the good news in an atmosphere that welcomes the presence of the Almighty God and the Holy Spirit, as they provide wholesome family entertainment without alcohol, half naked patrons and performers.

Yet, gospel artists get the shortest end of the stick, with local businesses pouring their finances into big time beer festivals, soca this and soca that and into secular events. Both secular and gospel musicians target both the hearts and minds of their listeners. It's up to the listeners to really decide if they want to be "drunk again" or "hold on to Jesus."

Putting the money where your mouth is

Pastor Clint Watson, leader of one of the nation's top gospel singing groups, Shaback, believes that the gospel music industry in The Bahamas is not receiving adequate support from business partners who could invest in taking it beyond the country.

Those in the industry he said, are not consistent or are not properly organized.

"There is a lot of natural talent that we find in Bahamian gospel artists, more than you would find in secular artists. But there is little emphasis placed on the industry where people are willing to invest the money. For example, when a secular artist would get paid to perform on stage to do one song for an event, people just expect gospel artists to do it for free. When you name a price, they get offended and think that you are trying to compromise the gospel industry but they don't recognize that it is a livelihood for many people."

He stresses that secular musicians need more financial support from the church.

"Churches are the biggest violators of not wanting to pay. Many people willingly give offerings and support concerts as we have experienced in the past. People gladly assist you but the majority of people will not. Because it is still a ministry at the end of the day, we will still say yes. But people take advantage of that and do not give you an offering for it. I have found that because I am a recording artist, because we recognize that we have to continue doing what it is that we do, we have to find other ways to fund the ministry. We don't want to stop doing what we do for people but we have find ways to pay the bills. We have to find means for sponsorship and other private citizens who buy into your vision."

Regarding his group, which was formed when its members were under 10, he observes that it is not readily supported as when they were children.

The group has completed two full compact discs (cd's), the first of which was funded by a local record label and with regard to the second one, Pastor Watson explains, "We were left on our own to do that."

He emphasises that The Bahamas has many talented gospel musicians but there are not many avenues to give exposure to them.

"We have what it takes to do it but we don't have the people who are willing to do it for us and help us get it done. Anyone that's good enough to take you international, it's going to cost you."

Divided We Fall

FAM Records CEO Mark Cartwright feels that Bahamian gospel music is alive and growing, having featured some of his local artists on BET and The Word networks, which has a viewership in the tens of millions.

Artists under the FAM Record Label are now securing the rights to perform at major events throughout the U.S. he declares.

" I always knew that this was the vision God gave me. Everytime I felt like walking away, God used someone to speak into my life. The motivating force was being sure that this was what God has given me. I knew for sure...there were no maybes. I was positive that this was the mission God gave me. As far as I am concerned, we are in good shape despite the lack of support from Government agencies."

He opines that local gospel artists need to be more unified in their quest to take Bahamian music to the world.

"We are at the point where we are now being exposed to masses of people from different denominations all over the world and the only thing that can stop us, is us. We have to unite. I feel that we have the gifts and talents and anointing that will rival the gifts and talents of anyone. You can call the best of them. The challenge is to get all of them on one page, so that we can move as a united force. My vision for the country as far as music is concerned, is to establish The Bahamas where people flock to record instead of going to Nashville or anywhere else.

" It can't just be one gospel group that makes it. It has to be a whole group of us...producers and singers.... all the groups have to continuously put out quality music. I am a kingdom citizen but God placed me in The Bahamas. I have a passion for Christ but I also have a passion for music; so I combine that to market to the world. It's up to us as people of God to get together and do what we have to do because we are on a higher level than the secular artists."

Hands To the Plough

Tony Russell, director and tenor singer of another sensational gospel group, Harmonious Praise, expressed to the Guardian that gospel artists who sacrifice will get to the places that God has prepared for them to minister.

The journey to international ministry, he feels, will not come easy for everyone who puts his hand to the plough.

His group's first engagement was in Naples, Florida, in 1997 when it was called upon to assist an American Seventh Day Adventist Church with fundraising for the building of a new edifice. Group members sacrificed and paid for their own accommodation and plane tickets and never requested any form of financial commitment from the church. Afterwards, that church "fell in love" with the group and now invites it to host concerts in Florida under its full sponsorship.

That initial concert led to the group being asked to minister in other parts of Florida, then in Alabama, Michigan, Chicago, and Jamaica. Yet it had no recorded music to leave behind, in any of the places. The group recorded its first CD single Due Season in 2004 and is currently working on a full album.

Mr Russell adds that artists have to make themselves known throughout the local community as well and this support will launch them into international ministry. "Trust me, if Bahamians love you, they will support you," he says, noting that Harmonious Praise has ministered in some of the Family Islands, including Long Island, Exuma, and Grand Bahama... " with more to go."

He acknowledges that some performers are more fortunate than others. "Some artists have more support than others, when you look at it from a national level. Individual churches support their own people sometimes. In terms of it going to an international level, I think we have the talent and the knowledge but we need more exposure, our mindset needs to change about our ministry and being professional about it."

" We are developing and we are going somewhere. But in order for us to grow even further, we have to change our concept and our mindset about ministry and not just accept anything, to say you have a product on the market. No. You can't just accept anything. Marketing plays an important part and we need people who are serious and have the knowledge about distributing our music worldwide, not only on the local market scene. In order for you to be recognized, you need to have people who can expose you all over the world. And of course, your product has to be sayin' something."

World Explosion

Deep in the heart of gospel music, Farreno M. Ferguson, CEO of Caribbean Flava and Ntymes Productions, feels that the state of gospel music in The Bahamas has grown intensely over the past few years, with regard to content and production to the extent of "even beating out the secular music. The Music is great. As an avid Music listener, I can say that gospel music in The Bahamas far surpasses gospel music in other parts of the region and with the right marketing, we can see an explosion on the world stage."

He suggests that some churches probably can't afford to take on the burden of funding the production of local artists within their memberships.

" But I think that they are doing the most they can. But we can't just sit in the islands and expect the people to come to us. We have to go to the people ...you know, hustle...show them you have what it takes."

Bright Future

The talented producer and engineer Oswald "Osie" Bowe, believes Bahamian gospel music is now finding its way into the international scene.

"There is something special happening in the Bahamian Gospel world. There is more attention being given to it on an international scale than the secular, in that gospel artists have been seen on international TV. As footage from the biggest annual event Fam Fest has made its way to the World network, you can say that while most artists in the Bahamas favour help from the Government, the gospel artists in the country look to God to plough on for them."

Mr Bowe reasons that the mandate does not start with the government's help but help directly from the Lord.

"Right now, there are more church recordings going on than secular ones and the Bahamian churches support and fund these projects. The future looks bright for Bahamian gospel music," he said.