SHSU’s NAACP will hold its annual Gospel Explosion on March 11 at 7 p.m. in the Lowman Student Center Ballroom.
“This year’s explosion is different because we have not had every protestant denomination represented in past years,” said Tiffany Thomas, chairperson for the event.
Thomas said that in past years the explosion has been geared to target the African-American community.
“Usually the event is traditional old-fashioned black gospel,” Thomas said.
Thomas said the Gospel Explosion is usually held in February as a celebration of Black History Month. She said due to the busy agenda this month, the group decided to wait and host it in March.
“This is another reason we decided to include other religious groups,” Thomas said.
Thomas said the NAACP is in the process of trying to contact about 20 organizations that have not been updated. The group has extended the invitation to seven other groups including Chi Alpha, a Christian fellowship and the Baptist Ministry. The group is currently waiting for confirmation.
Organizations that are certain to participate include the SHSU Praise Dance team, Huntsville’s Heritage Choir, St. Paul’s United Methodist Choir and a number of individual acts.
“In previous years the event has featured talent and then is formulated to a kind of worship Sunday,” Thomas said.
This year the event will open with a dramatic skit and end with a speech from a minister.
Thomas said one goal of the NAACP event is to bring together the many different religious organizations on campus.
“We want to form a relationship with other religious organizations,” she said. “We all believe in the same thing, yet we are split up.”
Thomas said the event is not intended to convert anyone to another religion; it is only to celebrate their own believes and learn the similarities and differences from other religions.
“We can come out and see the different ways people worship,” Thomas said.
Students who have attended the gosoel event in the past said the evening always presents diverse religions in an entertaining way.
“I really enjoy the Gospel Explosion,” graduating senior Mical Roy said. “There is no certain agenda. There are so many different ways to interpret religion and they do a great job of conveying all those messages.”
There will be no charge for admission to Gospel Explosion. Students, faculty, staff and community members are all welcome to attend.