Speechless...

did the emcee at the How Sweet The Sound event at Scottrade Center tonight really announce that Faith Baptist Church's Celebration Choir won the large church choir division? And did that same choir really win the award for best overall choir of the entire competition? And did that same choir really win the people's choice award, voted via text message? This is my parents' church choir, a conservative Southern Baptist church choir from Festus, MO. Competing in a field of mostly black gospel choirs, no less.

Yeah, it really happened that way. The roof at Scottrade Center was raised a few feet tonight due to the massive amount of praise lifted to God tonight. The atmosphere was positively electric all night long. Black gospel music was in full, full effect and it was beyond uplifting.

I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my four eyes. My dad's (all-Caucasian) church choir really took home the gold tonight. God did a miracle right before my very shocked eyes. Just speechless am I tonight. They were the very last choir to perform and when they launched slowly into Andrae Crouch's classic anthem, "Soon And Very Soon," something came over the crowd. That song is practically the black gospel music national anthem, after all! As the song developed into a faster rhythmic tempo, something akin to a moving of the Spirit took over. Director Michael Nickelson ripped off his tailed-tuxedo jacket and the crowd went wild. The choir fed off the crowd and just went for broke. The arrangement of the song included the rarely-performed verses of the song, which moved one of the judges to his feet in appreciation. The audience ate it up and just went wild when the song was done.

I knew they'd done well and would have been pleased if their night ended right there. But then the awards were handed out at the end of the show. When the emcee announced their win of the people's choice award, I really wasn't too surprised. The audience really loved them. But then they were announced as the best large church choir winner for the St. Louis region. And then they were announced as the overall winner of the competition.

And I stood there next to my mom, with my mouth hanging open. I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. Every choir there was outstanding. I've always had a great appreciation for the African-American style of praise singing. My hat is off to the choir for turning in a grand whopper of a performance tonight. Mom and I made our way over the dasher boards to hug my dad afterward And by the way, I'm really, really proud of him right now.

The best part is, God was praised. Loudly and continually throughout the evening. The performing choirs did nothing of their own volition, but all were Spirit-inspired and their praises were directed upwards.

They now will head to Detroit's Joe Louis Arena for the national competition in November.

And I can't believe I just wrote that.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that each choir director was brought, American Idol-style before the 3 judges to have their performance critiqued. This made me very nervous at first, until I saw that the judges only said positive things about each choir.