Southern Baptist Convention 2010
The Combined Middle School and High School Choirs and Orchestras of First Baptist Jacksonville were invited to lead worship at this year’s annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The combined group is made up of almost 300 6th-12th grade students. This is a tremendous honor for our Student Music Ministry as they are one of the few non-adult groups to ever be invited to participate in a Southern Baptist Convention. The group performed selections by themselves and led worship throughout the Wednesday morning session on June 9.
To connect to Pastor Mac Brunson’s message from the Southern Baptist Convention 2010, please click on the image above.
The orchestra began the morning with an arrangement of the song “Everlasting God.” The choirs and orchestras then performed “End of the Beginning” with soloist, Bradley Stephenson, and a high school drama who acted out the words of the song. The next selection was “You are Holy” featuring Ian Love singing the solo, Emily Davis reciting Scripture, and a dance team. They concluded their first performance block with “Revelation Song” along with soloist, Katie Brantley, and Scripture Reader, Evan Brown. Later in the morning, Jonathan Welch and the group led the convention in singing “My Savior Lives” and “How Great is Our God.” Before Dr. Brunson preached the convention sermon, Charles Darus and the group led the convention in singing “Made Me Glad” and “It Is Well With My Soul.” The group’s final selection was “Psalm 24.” All 300 students then got to sit in a reserved section in front of our Pastor, with their Bibles, to listen to the sermon.
Our groups went down to Orlando on Tuesday, June 15, after a final rehearsal at the church in the Playhouse Theatre. Once they arrived in Orlando, they spent some time at the Mall at Millenia. Our Middle School Choir and Orchestra spent the night at the Central Florida Christian School which is a ministry of the First Baptist Church of Central Florida. The minister responsible for coordinating the group’s stay said he had been a frequent participant of the FBC JAX Pastors Conference. He said he wanted to do everything he could for our group of Middle Schoolers because FBC JAX had been so hospitable to him throughout his years of attending the Pastors Conference. Our High School Choir and Orchestra was hosted by the Aloma Baptist Church of Winter Park. Their pastor, Anthony George, grew up at our church. The church not only hosted the high school , but also fed all 300 students the next morning before they performed at the convention. After spending the morning at the convention, the students stopped by Downtown Disney before returning home on Wednesday night, July 16.
Our Middle School Orchestra is directed by Ryan Vickery. The Middle School Choir is directed by Associate Minister of Music Charles Darus. Jim Daniel is the director of the High School Orchestra. The High School Choir is directed by Associate Director of Music Jonathan Welch.
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Pictures courtesy of the Florida Baptist Witness.