A sound with swagger

By Bogdan Mohora

The unique sound and ‘”swagger” of the of New Life Tabernacle’s Mass Choir has been effectively getting people, especially young adults, inside of the church doors. Recently, even busloads of international tourists have been showing up mid-service to hear the infamous choir at 1476 Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

With a bishop who is also a recording artist, there’s no arguing that music is one of the foundations of New Life Tabernacle Church’s ministry. The Bishop Eric Figueroa, his wife Doreen and their daughter Anaysha have all recorded gospel music albums.

“My first time seeing New Life was at a concert, they were singing and I was just really blown away by the choir and their performance,” said Devon Brown, who is now the assistant director of the youth choir.  “So, I came one Sunday morning and it was amazing. I just felt like they’re not just a show but that this is how they act 24/7.”

Youth and Associate Pastor Dr. Angela Moses sees the choir and music as powerful tools to educate the younger members of their congregation about hard work, discipline and how to work together.  According to Dr. Moses, around 95 percent of children raised in the New Life Tabernacle community end up going to college.

“If one person is off the whole choir is off.  It’s one voice, one sound.  There’s so much to learn through music,” Dr. Moses said.  “I use it as a vehicle to teach young people of how to make it in life.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 at 4:12 am. It is filed under Bogdan Mohora, Multimedia, News, View From NYC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.