Smokie Norful Presents The Victory Cathedral Choir | Debuts at #4 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums Chart
NEW DEVOTIONAL SERIES
Worship
& A Word
AND
NEW CHOIR ALBUM
Smokie Norful presents The
Victory Cathedral Choir
Victory Cathedral Choir debuts at #4 on
Billboard’s
Top Gospel Albums Chart
Worship
& A Word
AND
NEW CHOIR ALBUM
Smokie Norful presents The
Victory Cathedral Choir
Victory Cathedral Choir debuts at #4 on
Billboard’s
Top Gospel Albums Chart
|
Smokie Norful Merges
Artistry & Church Ministry
 Nashville, TN(April 15, 2010) EMI Gospel artist and GRAMMY winner Smokie Norful boldly merges the two halves of his career—artistry and church ministry—with the release of two new projects, the innovative devotional series Worship & A Word and the debut recording of his church choir Smokie Norful presents The Victory Cathedral Choir. Both projects are available in stores and online now. While the tradition of the singing preacher has a long history in the African American church, Worship & A Word marks the first time a major Gospel artist has married his role as an active pastor to his artistry on the same album. Each installment in the series contains a full-length sermon along with a bonus studio recording, which is reflective of the sermon’s theme. All sermons in the series were recorded live at Victory Cathedral Worship Center, the thriving Chicago-area church founded by Norful in 2005. “When I started pastoring five years ago, I literally took off from the music industry for almost 2 years because my main focus was building the church,” Norful reveals. “My natural love, gift and anointing for preaching grew to the point where that’s really what I wanted to do. I thought music was the only thing I was made for, but this was what I was really made for. In order to combine both ministries I put together this model.” |
3
Powerful Installments
Powerful Installments
In keeping with the truly unique nature of the
project, three installments of the series—“The Myth Of Unmet Needs,”
“Matters Of The Heart” and “According To Your Faith”—were released
simultaneously through TreMyles/EMI Gospel, the joint label venture
owned by Norful and the company that has been his recording home for
more than a decade. Each devotional carries a retail price of $5.98.
To
further celebrate the success of Norful’s church ministry, TreMyles/EMI
Gospel has also released Smokie Norful presents The Victory Cathedral
Choir. The high-energy, 10-song collection, which debuted at #4 on
Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart, was recorded live in Chicago. The
project captures the essence of the Sunday worship experience at the
ministry’s two locations—the West Suburban and South Campuses of
Victory Cathedral Worship Center.
Norful’s vision for his
church choir is steeped in the rich tradition of Chicago’s legendary
choral ensembles, with one major exception: “Most of the Chicago choirs
have been community-based,” says Norful. “The Victory Cathedral Choir is
distinct in that these are regular, lay-choir members who are not
professional singers. The majority of our singers are regular
churchgoers who do not have a professional musical background. They’re
just excited to be able to serve in the ministry.”
In fact, the
commitment to service is a core ideal for the choir. Members of Victory
Cathedral Choir are required to serve in other auxiliaries in the church
in order to be eligible for the choir. Their participation extends to
meal and clothing programs with shelters for the homeless and battered
women, as well as ongoing outreach efforts to college and high school
students and their faculty in the communities surrounding the church’s
two campuses.
“The reality is they are not just a choir who
sings. This is a choir who serves,” Norful says. “That dynamic is very
exciting for me as a pastor. What a wonderful thing to be able to marry
both of my passions—music and ministry—without comprising the
integrity of either one in any way.” 
project, three installments of the series—“The Myth Of Unmet Needs,”
“Matters Of The Heart” and “According To Your Faith”—were released
simultaneously through TreMyles/EMI Gospel, the joint label venture
owned by Norful and the company that has been his recording home for
more than a decade. Each devotional carries a retail price of $5.98.
To
further celebrate the success of Norful’s church ministry, TreMyles/EMI
Gospel has also released Smokie Norful presents The Victory Cathedral
Choir. The high-energy, 10-song collection, which debuted at #4 on
Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart, was recorded live in Chicago. The
project captures the essence of the Sunday worship experience at the
ministry’s two locations—the West Suburban and South Campuses of
Victory Cathedral Worship Center.
Norful’s vision for his
church choir is steeped in the rich tradition of Chicago’s legendary
choral ensembles, with one major exception: “Most of the Chicago choirs
have been community-based,” says Norful. “The Victory Cathedral Choir is
distinct in that these are regular, lay-choir members who are not
professional singers. The majority of our singers are regular
churchgoers who do not have a professional musical background. They’re
just excited to be able to serve in the ministry.”
In fact, the
commitment to service is a core ideal for the choir. Members of Victory
Cathedral Choir are required to serve in other auxiliaries in the church
in order to be eligible for the choir. Their participation extends to
meal and clothing programs with shelters for the homeless and battered
women, as well as ongoing outreach efforts to college and high school
students and their faculty in the communities surrounding the church’s
two campuses.
“The reality is they are not just a choir who
sings. This is a choir who serves,” Norful says. “That dynamic is very
exciting for me as a pastor. What a wonderful thing to be able to marry
both of my passions—music and ministry—without comprising the
integrity of either one in any way.”
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purchase Victory Cathedral Choir and the Worship & A Word series :
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