When tourists are in Nashville and in pursuit of some spiritual nourishment, it's not uncommon for them to hear: "Child, you need to come over to Born Again Church and worship with us!" The Born Again Church's reputation for dynamic Bible-based teaching by Pastors Horace & Kiwannis Hockett and the reverential worship by the Born Again Church Choir precedes it. It's that spirit of excellence in ministry that has led many of the music industry's biggest stars, from Amy Grant & Travis Tritt to Donnie McClurkin & CeCe Winans, to have this stellar choir back them on their recordings. After almost two decades of ministering to thousands in the background, the choir has now taken center stage with their debut recording project "CeCe Winans Presents the Born Again Church Choir" on Pure Springs Gospel/EMI Gospel Music.

To understand the choir, one must first understand the Born Again Church’s founders. In 1973 Pastor Hockett held a master's degree in drama from Tennessee State University under one arm and his new bride Kiwannis (a.k.a. Pastor Kitty) in the other when he took his first teaching job in Fayetteville State University's drama department. Around the same time, Hockett began to look at his life-long Christian faith differently. "After going to church all my life, I just realized how far I still was from the truth," Hockett recalls. "I grew up in church and knew a lot of Bible stories but it wasn't a practical kind of thing." Then, he learned that living a principle-based life affected how he lived that life. "When I saw how it was working for me I decided to share this same gospel to others. It wasn't a new gospel," he says. "But it was a new revelation."

As he was teaching his college courses, Hockett saw an opportunity to disciple students through theater. He started writing one act morality plays. "Sort of a sneaky way of preaching the gospel," he laughs. However, after four years, the Lord started dealing with him about returning to Nashville to start a church.  "I was on the senior track and had a couple of other university job offers, so I had to convince my wife that this was the lord talking," he laughs. It didn't take long though. The Lord spoke to her as well and two hours later she was in agreement. Hockett called his father-in-law who was pastor of two churches. They started the church in his home in East Nashville on August 8, 1978 with eight people. "They were all relatives," he cracks. By January 1979 they moved into a small building on Lillian Street. "It had three pews on each side," he remembers. Although, the ministry was growing, Hockett was forced to take an outside job to provide for his wife and two young sons. He eventually found a great teaching position at Tennessee State University's drama department. "That was after going on food stamps, working as a part time salesman at J.C. Penny," he remarks. "God gave me favor out there and because I was on campus and working in theater, I think that God used that to attract so many young people to the ministry."

From the beginning, the ministry boomed with the rhythm of young, zealous college students. The church started a van ministry that picked the students up from campus on Sunday mornings. After the morning worship service, the church fed and fellowshipped with them. It was an immediate family atmosphere. Four years later, the church relocated to a building on Charlotte Avenue that seated 400 people. After four years there, they moved on to Pearl Cohn High School before they built their current structure for which they owned the land a decade before they raised the money to start construction. In October 1993 they finally moved into the 800 seat sanctuary that also includes a children's care center.

Initially, music wasn't central to the worship service at the church. In the beginning was the Word and nothing else. But, eventually, music became the catalyst to usher in the Holy Spirit and prepare the congregation for the Word. "We started out playing records," Pastor Kitty reminisces. "We had an old piano. We bought some drums. My sister, myself and a couple of others started a worship team. Then we started using accompaniment tracks." The services were very loose and spontaneous and open to a move of the Holy Spirit. Current music minister Manoah Collins first came to the church in 1981 and can testify to the relaxed atmosphere.  "I just brought my saxophone to church one day," he recalls. "The services back then we had maybe twenty people. It was intimate and very free. I just went up and played along with what was going on and have been doing it ever since." Pastor Kitty picks up the story. "The church was really packed,” she explains. "And as more people came and showed an interest, we just decided to form a choir. By the time we moved to Pearl Cohn High School we had a major choir. Not only did we have senior minstrels, but we had junior minstrels. Many of the musicians we have now grew up here as little children... Like Elijah `DD' Holt? He started playing with the drums before he was even a teenager. And now he is the head musician. Our minister of music, Minoah Collins, was in the Aristocrat Band at TSU and was a sax player. Derek `D.D.’ Richardson was once one of the choir directors here, he was a part of that band and now he's over our sound ministry."

The choir grew fast and had strict guidelines about its members living a Holy life. "It attracted those artists who were on the road to worship here where they could have a true worship experience and a pure sound," Pastor Kitty adds. "I remember when Ann McCrary [from Bobby Jones Gospel TV show] became a part of the church through the music department." The choir members fast every Saturday in preparation for Sunday morning worship. They even have Bible reading and worship prior to their weekly rehearsals. "It's to make sure that you are a vessel for the Lord," Pastor Kitty says.

The anointing the choir possesses brought them attention from professional singers throughout Nashville. Gospel stalwarts such as Dottie Rambo, Carman and CeCe Winans have all been backed by the choir over the years. In fact, Winans was one of the people who really encouraged them to record their own album. “She just kept saying I think it’s time they did something,” Pastor Hockett recalls. Since Winans was a Born Again church member and owned her own record label, Pure Springs Gospel, they knew she wasn’t joking. After a couple of years of talking about the idea, they begin working towards it in 2002. Initially, the biggest problem was figuring out what songs would be sung. Collins sighs, “We went through this period of trying to find songs that would fit Born Again.” Sesily is more direct. “It was challenging,” he says. “We had a whole batch of songs we were going to do in September 2002 and we tried to work them, but they just weren’t us so we just went back to the drawing board and erased all of except maybe two of those songs. And we had already learned about twelve songs, but we dropped those and found some new ones. A lot of the songs that are on the project are no where near where they were when we first got them. We began to arrange and make things fit our choir but it’s something we enjoy doing because we have a passion for it.”

The resulting project shows the passion and anointing of the Born Again Church Choir. The project rocks with up tempo praise numbers such as “Exalted Praise” (Jerrod Woods), the hand-clapper “Breakthrough” (Gayle Mayes), the Caribbean loop of ”It’s Already Done” (Steve Crawford). There are tender yet dramatic moments such as “Delight in Your Presence” (Dadra Crawford-Greathouse), “Pass the Gates” (CeCe Winans), “It’s All About You” (Israel Haughton) and “Isaiah” (Denotra Sneed). There’s the Old School doo wop groove of “Holiness is Right” (Desmond Pringle) and the sweet song of surrender, “Overtake Us” (Demetria Slayden featuring Pastor Horace Hockett). The album closes with another Island-flavored ditty, “Offering Song” (Steve Crawford). It’s an album that will rejuvenate the saints with the powerful praise and draw unbelievers by the powerful singing and the intoxicating rhythms.

When asked whether he’d like to see this project lead to stardom for the choir, Pastor Hockett doesn’t mince words. “I don’t think the world needs another gospel album,” he smiles. “I think this one album is enough. We have enough great songs in the church, but if it’s the will of the Father and only then, would I like to see it go any further than that.” Sesily says he’d like to see the project go gold, “But, first of all, I want it to be a blessing to everyone that hears it,” says Sesily. And if that does happen, Pastor Kitty says they will remain humble. “Our church is across the street from an auto graveyard called Abernathy’s Truck Salvage,” she giggles. “Seeing that as we go and come keeps us humble.”