| ||
| |
“Everybody has sung something written by Bishop Hawkins,” Bishop Wyatt I. Greenlee said about gospel icon Walter Hawkins, who passed away on Sunday. “Even if they didn’t know it was him.”
Hawkins, made famous through inspirational songs such as “Oh Happy Day,” “Thank You” and “Marvelous Thing,” passed away this weekend at the age of 61 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. And while the gospel music community around the world mourns the loss of a man who many see responsible for changing the course of gospel music with respect to being embraced by the mainstream, few would know of the strong St. Louis connection Hawkins had with more than one ministry.
“I started ministry in 1988 and it was through his wisdom and counsel that helped me set it up properly,” said Greenlee, founder of New Higher Heights Church. He and Bishop Flunder took me under their wing and allowed me to network with the right people – he was my pastor and a man of incredible wisdom and council.”
New Higher Heights operated under Hawkins Love Center Church Umbrella and he was instrumental in the process of their first church recording in 1993 – serving as producer of the project.
“A lot of people know him as a great singer but there was another side of him,” said Pastor Ralph Petty of City of Refuge Church. “He was a phenomenal preacher and teacher and impacted the lives of our members and visitors.”
Petty met the present day gospel patriarch at Hawkins annual conference in California back in 1990. For the next twenty years, Hawkins would serve as Petty’s spiritual advisor and father figure in the faith.
“People probably won’t believe this, but you could sit down and talk to him about anything,” Petty said. “And he would pour back into your life, giving you insight and wisdom.”
Hawkins returned to St. Louis every year for Petty’s pastoral anniversary and actively participated in the praise and worship – both through song and the preached word. Petty said that with every visit Hawkins touched lives and renewed spirits.
Greenlee also remained in close contact with Hawkins relying on his counsel and expertise as Greater New Higher Heights grew.
“He was also a great teacher of the word of God,” Greenlee said. “And he was one of the few people who saw god in everybody.”
Not everyone was as blessed as Greenlee and Petty to have a direct relationship with Hawkins in their respective ministries, but millions of lives have been and will continue to be impacted because of the legacy his music left behind.
“He will never be forgotten to his innovation and what he did to promote the word of God through music,” Petty said. “His style of writing and music was so relevant to our time, our age and situations we were going through. It spoke directly to what we were dealing with because he wrote out of his own experiences. Through his music people are inspired to hold on despite what it looks like right now.”
Greenlee – who relied on Hawkins musical expertise along with the late singer’s spiritual guidance – agrees.
“Plenty of commercials and others in the mainstream use his songs,” Greenlee said. “He impacted music on every level. And when he would come to town – wherever he would be – you couldn’t get in the door because it was filled with people from all walks of life. He was like a bridge – even in this city – and his music will go on, and on, and on and impact generations to come.”
Thankyou : Kenya Vaughn of The St. Louis American
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น