“Then Sings My Soul In Ocean Grove” Interview
Upcoming Event: Then Sings My Soul to perform at Ocean Grove’s historic Great Auditorium!
Date: July 24, 2022
To reserve your seat, call Bob Neff Tours directly at 717-397-0000 Monday-Friday 12pm-4pm. Don’t wait; the deadline to reserve your seat is Tuesday, July 5th.
Vocalists: Bryson Buffington, Sarah Poague, Kat Prickett and Ric Zimmerman. Featuring Katrina King on piano.
Location: The Great Auditorium, Ocean Grove, New Jersey
Website/Social Media links: www.thensingsmysoulpa.com
For more info about Ocean Grove/Great Auditorium: https://www.oceangrove.org/
FB: ThenSingsMySoulPA
IG: @thensingsmysoulpa
Good morning, Kat! Thanks so much for sitting down with me. We loved your performance at our annual Preview this year. How has this year been since then?
2022 has been a busy year already! Since seeing you all in January, we’ve performed our program a dozen times at locations across Lancaster and York. We also had another “first” – our first bus group! Thanks to Bob Neff Tours, in May, we hosted a church group at my family business (The Red Caboose Motel in Strasburg, PA, where Then Sings My Soul all started in 2018) of 33 folks from Louisiana who came to have dinner at Casey Jones’ Restaurant, followed by Then Sings My Soul. We just love sharing these stories and music with people from all over!
What is are you working on now for TSMS?
We are busy gearing up for an exciting summer of shows at numerous outdoor venues, tabernacles, camp meetings and hosting more bus groups [see our schedule here: https://www.thensingsmysoulpa.com/show-dates]. But we’re really excited about our upcoming appearance in Ocean Grove, New Jersey on Sunday, July 24th!
What is most special about this opportunity?
In just a few weeks, we will be headed back to Ocean Grove, New Jersey, where we performed last summer at the Bishop Janes Tabernacle. This time, we will have the distinct honor of being the opening night camp meeting musical guests in the historic Great Auditorium, where Billy Graham himself preached on 3 separate occasions throughout his ministry. Ocean Grove was also an important part of the life of Fanny Crosby, who wrote many of the hymns we sing in our program. Great is Thy Faithfulness and Blessed Assurance were written right along the Pilgrim Pathway running directly in front of the Auditorium. What a special place and time to be a part of this awesome history! We are also excited to have David Branham, our Regional Director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association attend. He will be speaking during the second half of the program, sharing an update on the ministry. We will also have a special video message featuring Ron Shea, son of George Beverly Shea.
The Great Auditorium was constructed in 1894 and is mostly unchanged. Originally, the Auditorium could accommodate an audience of almost 10,000, before many sections of smaller, wooden seats were replaced in later years with cushioned, theater-style seating having armrests; at present it can seat 6,250 persons. The Auditorium’s acoustics, resulting from its barrel-vaulted wooden ceiling, have been widely acclaimed; famed conductor Leonard Bernstein once compared it to Carnegie Hall. Illuminated signs, possibly some of the oldest surviving of that type, flanking the organ’s pipe work, proclaim “Holiness to the Lord” and “So be ye holy,” a reflection of the emphasis at camp meetings, along with the illuminated Memorial Cross, placed on the Auditorium’s front facade at the end of World War II.
How did this come about?
Last year, we were a part of the Gospel Music Ministries Summer Series in the Tabernacle right next door to the Auditorium. The Program Director attended our concert, and the rest was history! We were contacted at the beginning of the year and asked to present our entire program as the opening night musical guest for the start of Camp Meeting Week. What an honor!
How can we attend?
Bob Neff Tours has so graciously organized a bus trip to help get people from Lancaster to Ocean Grove! It will be a special day – including the 10:30AM worship service, an exclusive behind the scenes tour of the Auditorium, free time to explore “God’s Square Mile at the Jersey Shore” and a meal on your own, ending the evening with our concert in the Great Auditorium. Tickets are just $99/pp for roundtrip motorcoach transportation. To reserve your seat, call Bob Neff Tours directly at 717-397-0000 Monday-Friday 12pm-4pm. Don’t wait; the deadline to reserve is Tuesday, July 5th. Bring a friend! You are, of course, welcome to attend on your own. The evening concert begins at 7PM and is free to attend.
What is next or coming in the future?
I’m very excited to share that we will soon have a permanent location at the Red Caboose Motel, in which groups from all over the country will be able to come and experience original, inspiring musical programming, specifically Then Sings My Soul, in our beautifully restored bank barn circa 1800. This space will seat up to 200. We anticipate this opening in June 2023. Stay tuned! And, we’re already starting to book performances for 2023; so if you’re interested, please reach out to us at 717-288-7942 or LeePproductionsLLC@gmail.com.
Three words…
God
Loves
YOU!