Kanye West Performs Sunday Service Concerts at Youth Conference in Pigeon Forge

Jason M. Reynolds

 

Rapper-turned-Christian evangelist Kanye West brought his Sunday Service gospel worship service to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, on Sunday in two performances for a youth conference.

West was a late addition to Strength to Stand youth conference, which was held from Saturday through today, The Charlotte Observer said.

WATE said 20,000 people were expected to attend the service with “enhanced security” at the LeConte Center.

The event’s organizer tried to contact West months ago when a previous headliner was unable to perform, the station said. Some time later, West contacted him and said he would perform. The first performance sold out, so a second show was added.

The Observer said this of West and the organizer:

He has been making headlines the past two months by professing his Christian reawakening, including a series of appearances — called the Sunday Service Experience — at some of the nation’s biggest churches.

Strength to Stand, a Christian nonprofit based in Alabama, says its Bible Study Conferences are designed to “challenge your students to go beyond the surface of casual Christianity and bring them into a lifetime commitment to Jesus Christ.”

The conferences are for students from grades six through college, Strength to Stand says on its website.

Strength to Stand also said on its website:

Remember the game, hide and seek? Nothing is more precious than a parent looking for a toddler that is hiding in plain sight simply because the child closes his or her eyelids. Something cannot be hidden when it is in plain sight. In I Peter 5:10, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” These incredible traits are not hidden, but in plain sight! Through this year’s conference, your students will understand how the hidden is made plain. Shame is given away to RESTORATION. Doubt is replaced by CONFIRMATION. Human weakness is transformed into His STRENGTH. Insecurity is now overshadowed by CONFIDENCE.

Just as God walked through the garden in Genesis 3 calling those He loves, He still calls you and I today. He calls us out of hiding to be hidden in Christ. There is no hide and seek game being played in the will of God, the power of God, or walking in His presence. Nothing would thrill us more than for you and your group to join us this winter for the Strength to Stand Student Conference. It is time for us to understand that which is hidden is in plain sight!

West’s concert trended on Twitter.

Gwendolyn Ducre of WVLT tweeted, “‘STEPPING OUT ON FAITH’ Kanye West’s Sunday Service setting the tone for the Strength to Stand Youth Bible Conference at the LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge this morning. @wvlt”.

One audience member, missionary Trey Bailey, tweeted, “Sunday Service with @kanyewest in Pigeon Forge.  Amazing worship and powerful testimony!!”

Another concert-goer tweeted, “’Jesus is Born’ is such an incredible album! The Sunday Service Choir is BOMB! I’ve been jamming to this masterpiece all day long. #turntforJesus #KanyeWest #SundayServiceChoir @kanyewest”.

Journalist David French tweeted, “Just got out of Kanye’s Sunday Service in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (words I never thought I’d type.)

It was glorious.

It’s not Kanye-centered. Not at all. It’s God-glorifying from start to finish. I’m grateful I got a chance to see it.”

French’s wife Nancy – a best-selling author in her own right – echoed her husband’s sentiment, tweeting, “All in all, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, marked by earnestness, art, exuberance, and surprising joy. #JesusIsKing”

 

– – –

Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
Image “Sunday Service” by Nancy French.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          

Related posts

Comments