|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Singing AlongDespite Numerous Changes, Singspiration Hums Along
By Elizabeth Herring
Singspiration, a Homecoming tradition stretching back more than sixty
years, may not be as well known as the parade or bonfire, but it is
dear to the hearts of many alumni who gather in Seventh and James
Baptist Church each year to join in on the sing-along.
"He wants you to mount up with wings as eagles, And soar above the
stormy seas, To live above this sinful world, And know His company,"
can be heard every year as the audience congregates before the bonfire
on the Friday of Homecoming and sings the Singspiration favorite, "He
Wants You to Fly," by Jimmy Owens.
 Hymns,
gospel music, contemporary praise, and worship all blend together as
participants in the event raise their voices in song. Various members
of the Baylor community--including the Baylor Religious Hour (BRH)
Choir, directors of past BRH choirs and Singspirations, and an alumni
choir--lead the music. But to Dick Baker '50, former BRH director and
founder of the choir, the audience is the most important part of
Singspiration.
According to Baker, Singspiration's foundations come from the Youth
Revival Movement, which began at Baylor in 1946 and sparked revivals
across Texas in the early 1950s. The spiritual reawakening fueled
different worship and service opportunities on campus, and the original
Singspiration meetings (like the one pictured) were unrehearsed and
spontaneous worship times that occurred on Friday nights after students
had finished their weekly Friday night missions, Baker said.
The Singspiration we know today started a few years later as a time
during Homecoming for students who had participated in the original
Friday night missions and singing to come together again in "memory of
days gone by," Baker said. Singspiration's first Homecoming sing-along
drew about forty people in the late 1940s or early 1950s, but the
crowds quickly swelled to more than three thousand participants,
crowding into the Rena Marrs McLean Gymnasium.
When Word Records--founded by former BRH choir member Billy Ray Hearn
'54--was located in Waco, its recording artists were often part of
Singspiration. Frank Boggs '48, Word’s first recording artist, helped
lead the singing at Singspiration for many years. He recorded
twenty-four albums with Word and helped to compose Baylor's fight song.
The service has always included the BRH choir, which is celebrating its
sixtieth year this year. Past BRH directors through the
years--including Kurt Kaiser, Ron Bowles, and John Lee--have returned
to lead the singing.
Attendance at Singspiration remained very high until the 1970s, when
the attendance began to fall below one thousand. In 1972, Singspiration
was moved to Seventh and James Baptist Church. Although the move was
made to ease the set-up scramble that took place before the event in
the gymnasium, it proved more convenient for many. BRH student members
who also participated in Pigskin could come and go from Singspiration
and participate in both Homecoming events. Some students joined the
chorus still wearing their costumes from Pigskin.
When Baylor discontinued a campus Wednesday night service, featuring
the BRH choir, it inadvertently lowered Singspiration participation
because BRH was no longer a well-known Baylor Wednesday night staple
with students. Then, in 1995, the program had to move again, this time
to First Baptist Church because Seventh and James was renovating its
sanctuary.
In 2003, Brent Edwards, the Baylor Network's director of the global
network and special projects, took the reins of Singspiration and
relocated the concert back to campus and its old location at Seventh
and James. Since then, participation has been on the rise once again.
|
|
|
|
|
.jpg)
