At African-American churches all over Boston, Sunday service is more than a time for prayer and reflection. It's a time for spiritual infusion, led by the pastor and built on a scaffolding of gospel music. And gospel, as any music director worth his salt will tell you, means good news. Many churches in the Pentecostal, Baptist, and African Methodist Episcopal tradition, like Holy Tab, have several choirs that share musical duties throughout the month. The choirs may be for men, woman, both genders, teens, children, or seniors.
Smaller choirs specialize in, say, spirituals and anthems.
Churches often restrict the choir to members of the congregation. At Holy Tab, he says, the choir is drawn entirely from the members. Patterson teaches and conducts choirs for the Cambridge public schools, the Cambridge Community Choir, and the professional gospel group The Patterson Chorale. It's the one time you have everybody in the church doing the same thing. It unifies all the minds and settles them to receive the spoken word.