Home Christian News CenturyMen Disbanding After 53 Years of Choral Gospel Ministry

CenturyMen Disbanding After 53 Years of Choral Gospel Ministry

“We did not let that overshadow what we were doing because our primary goal every time is to sing the very best music we can in honor of our Savior. And I think all the men held their emotions in check. It was great. It was like a normal concert that we would do.”

The CenturyMen also enjoyed the privilege of sharing the Gospel in word and deed in communities where it performed, Condra said, including at the U.S. Capitol and at Ground Zero days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It has performed numerous times on television and radio, including episodes of The Baptist Hour and Sounds of The CenturyMen, and in churches in the U.S. and globally.

The group toured England, Wales, Scotland, Germany, Austria, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Switzerland, Israel, Brazil, China, Russia, Poland, Cuba and the Czech Republic.

It has produced 13 recordings.

Fitzpatrick described his membership in the group as one of his “greatest joys and honors.”

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“The eternal impact we have had for the cause of Christ around the globe has been life-changing and life-giving for me and countless others,” Fitzpatrick said. “It has been a privilege to share the Gospel of Christ through song at home and through world-wide mission enterprises with this unique and immensely talented group of brothers.”

The group will live on through its music, available online, and has committed to establish a church music perpetual scholarship at Baylor University, Red’s alma mater, in the name of Red and The CenturyMen.

Charles Fuller of Little Rock, Ark., the group’s musical director and conductor, was the final president.

Condra and others are discussing fellowshipping together in the coming years, as the group afforded a unique opportunity for friendships and musical collaboration.

“I was kind of a little bit nervous about singing, ‘God Be With You Till We Meet Again’ for the last time,” Condra told Baptist Press. “Just thinking I may never see some of these guys again this side of heaven.

“I’ll see them again,” he said, alluding to a heavenly reunion.

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.