Singing On Fridays

Last Friday night, Erika and I grabbed some dinner at Zaxby’s (salads – very good!) and then headed downtown to the Randolph Avenue church of Christ for a Friday night singing. Most folks probably know we C of C’ers love to sing and about once a month or so, some folks from the area churches will get together and sing on Friday nights – also known as “Area Wide Singing”.

I had asked Erika earlier in the week if she wanted to go since I knew she sometimes went to the area wide singings and she readily agreed to come with me. This was my first time to attended a singing maybe ever, or at least in a long, long time. Our friends Janet and Deborah were also there and we saw a few other familiar faces as well.

The Randolph Avenue C of C is the oldest in Huntsville. I snapped a picture of the historical marker as we were walking in. Here’s what it says, “Organized as a Christian church, this is the original congregation of what is now the church of Christ in Huntsville. A gospel meeting was held in the courthouse in 1883, conducted by James A. Harding, evangelist and founder of Harding College and David Lipscomb College. This meeting marked the beginning of the church in this community and resulted in the donation of $1,800 for the purchase of the lot. In late 1886, 100,000 bricks were delivered to this site and construction began. The first gospel meeting was held in November 1889, at which time many new members were added to the church. In 1900, members began referring to themselves as the church of Christ.” Interesting information there.

The church is really a beautiful building and Erika and I agreed that it would be a lovely place to have a wedding, not that either of us are planning one any time soon. The stained glass is original, except for a few pieces that have been replaced, and the building in general has a lot of character and is really quaint and lovely, not to mention it’s been around for over 100 years!

As for the singing, it was great. The acoustics in the old building were wonderful. Most of the songs I knew and some I didn’t. Some of the song leaders were great and others just okay, but overall, it was a wonderful night of singing. We even got some treats afterwards – chocolate chip cookies and coke – it was like VBS all over again.

If you like singing, then you should know that the semi-annual Diana Singing is coming up the weekend of June 10-11. I have only been to the Diana singing once before, but am planning on going with the aforementioned Janet and Deborah and possibly Erika unless she goes with her mamma. About 4,000 people or so attend. I don’t remember it being that many people, but I guess it was. You can find out more information about the Diana singing here, and if you don’t have plans for next Friday, then come on out to the boondocks to sing some church hymns. It’s sure to be an uplifting time.