Troy Lilly, one of your favorite writers at GospelPundit.com, had a little chat that he wanted to share with you folks… I’ll let him tell you aaallll about it… Take it away, Troy!
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Over the weekend, I had the pleasure to spend an afternoon with a new friend. Many of you know her by face and name. Even more of you know her by voice. She’s been featured in a couple recent Goodies posts right here on GospelPundit.com.
I’m talking about the one and only San Franklin.
She was in the Washington, D.C.-area as a guest vocalist, and we talked about friends, music, and ministry for quite a while. In reality, though, “the interview” lasted only a few minutes. We spent the majority of the time catching up and clowning, as if we were old friends.
I came away from our meeting energized, having experienced a person who is both a dynamic singer and anointed minister with a contagious warm spirit. Some of her words will jump right off the screen.
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Troy: It’s great to get to talk with you. I know you’re very busy, but I’m thankful you took a few moments of your time to talk with me today – I really appreciate that.
San: I appreciate you having me…I’m not that busy (laughs)
It’s great to even be considered to sit down and talk to the audience, talk to you. It’s an honor and privilege.
Troy: So, what brings you to the Maryland/DC area?
San: I was here for Mount Pleasant Church and Ministries. Bishop Johnson in Baltimore, Maryland had a family and friends week – it was all week long and yesterday was the outdoor festival with Vanessa Bell-Armstrong, Lisa Page Brooks, Angela Spivey, myself, Bernard Harris…a lot of people.
Troy: The greats (laughs). Cool. I saw you tweeting because I do follow you on Twitter…
San: (Laughs)
Troy: And I know there are a few people who weren’t here. Tell me about some of your other friends, people that you’re close to in the area, who you didn’t get to see.
San: Oh, I didn’t get to see Jason Nelson, Pastor Nelson; I was supposed to go by his church this morning – he’s a very dear friend of mine…
Troy: Wow, love him!
San: Holla Walla, I didn’t get to see him. Who else? Well…Richard Smallwood (laughs) is a good friend of mine. He actually was in my hometown, Chicago, Ill., at the Edwin Hawkins Love Fellowship Conference.
I’m actually a native of that conference and of that church. You know, I spent 12 years with Bishop Hawkins and that whole movement, and I didn’t get to go to the conference this year because I’m in this area working, so…it’s been great, though, even though I didn’t get to see my friends here, the ministry opportunity was absolutely phenomenal.
Troy: Speaking of ministry, just talking with you earlier, that was something I actually got to hear more about – your opinions and your knowledge. So share a little bit more about what you know and your experiences in ministry versus just singing.
San: Well, something that probably most people don’t know is I’m an evangelist. I’ve been preaching for almost 20 years.
Troy: Wow!
San: Of course I started singing first.
Troy: Right.
San: And most people who minister or pastor, you start with the singing or the musicianship, and then you move on. But, I have found a way – thanks be unto God – to combine both. So when I sing I’m ministering Word, and when I’m ministering Word I end up singing, so they’re one in the same to me.
Whereas, you have some people who separate them – singing ministry and preaching ministry – they’re just one in the same for me, and it’s just ministry, period. So I try to make it an everyday part of who I am and not just when I get before the people or before an audience, but just a part of who I am everyday.
Troy: As it relates to the industry, with you having a ministering background, and with you blending the two pretty easily, what do you think of the state of the gospel music industry and do you feel everyone is able to do that as effectively as you are?
San: I believe in this season we are slowly but surely gearing the industry back to ministry, because I think we had taken the focus off of ministry. We were so focused on our look and so focused on our sound, and our riffs and runs, and the talent moreso than what’s behind the person who’s singing.
Troy: Yeah.
San: We have so many people who are behind the scenes, who are on the underground side of the industry that are really ministering to God’s people, you know, and they’re not always the ones who are elevated or celebrated necessarily.
Troy: Right.
San: There are people on the underground circuit that are laying hands and people are being healed and they’re ministering to people’s mental states and their emotional states and restoring people spiritually, but they don’t get the visibility that some “in the industry” get.
And so I think God is having to switch us back to ministry-minded people because we focus too much on talent which doesn’t destroy any yokes, it doesn’t break any bondages, you know what I’m saying, which doesn’t bring us to a state of wholeness, which is where I believe God wants his people.
Troy: Wow, yeah.
San: I think God has to shift us back to that because we’re losing…we’re…what do we say out on the Internet, “epic failing” (laughs)…
Troy: (Laughs) Yeah, that’s a Twitter thing!
San: When it comes to ministry, you know what I’m saying, we #EPICFAIL (laughs)
Troy: (Laughs)
San: So I think God is trying to get us back to a place in ministry where we’re effective and relevant.
Troy: What’s going on at home for you, back in Nashville?
San: Back in Nashville I’m Minister of Music at a church called Perfecting Faith Ministries with Pastor Dale Jones. It’s a great church. In this season it’s a great place for me to call home. It’s always good to have somewhere you can come and be settled.
Other than that…I’m working on my project. Everyone says, “when is your project coming out, when is your project coming out?”
Troy: Yes, we want to know.
San: And I want it out just as much as everybody else does. I told God years and years ago, if I cannot produce a project where someone puts it on and is instantaneously healed of a disease, or a worry or broken relationship, then I don’t wanna record. Everybody’s making music…everybody’s putting out a cd…I want to be able to minister and make a difference in somebody’s life.
God spoke to me and said that “every song on your project will speak to you” relating to somewhere I’ve been in my life. Like the single “Arise”… I was listening to that song after coming out of a divorce, thinking I had failed…I remember the words of the song ministering to me: “Today is the day of a new horizon, there’s new life.”
Troy: Yes.
San: For my project, for me, I want to meet the needs of God’s people. I want to be relative and transparent. People are looking for someone to say “I’ve been where you are and I understand, I feel your pain, and I can get down there with you.” Because that’s what I want to do, it’s taking me a little longer produce than I would like.
Troy: Well, it sounds like it will be worth the wait.
San: I hope so.
Troy: We appreciate that. Sometimes with people coming out with stuff back to back, we question the consistency…
San: Yes, yes (laughs).
Troy: We appreciate you letting it be a slow, churning process for the better end result.
San: I think it’s like ice cream…
Troy: (LAUGHS)
San: (Laughs) You know what I’m saying – I love sweets! But I say that because you can get ice cream, but if you know anything about homemade ice cream, old time, down South…
Troy: Grandma’s ice cream (laughs) mmmm.
San: Grandma’s ice cream where you have to put it down in the bucket and put the salt on the ice, and you have to churn that thing, and sometimes your arm gets tired from turning, but when it comes out it’s the best thing you’ve ever tasted in your life.
Troy: I can’t think of a better analogy than that. Last thing.
What advice would you give to someone who’s trying to nurture their ministry and let that lead, and avoid being persuaded by the pressure of the industry to just put something out?
San: To anyone in the industry…that’s been in the industry for years waiting on God to move, or just came in the industry waiting on God to move (laughs), it goes back to the old formula. Seek you first the kingdom of God and [all] of his righteousness, and everything else will be added unto you.
Troy: That’s right!
San: And I think transparency is the key. Being true first to yourself. As long as you remain transparent to yourself, it’s easy for you to be transparent to others. I think transparency brings about GREAT ministry.
Troy: With that I’ll say I was blessed to be in your presence for this short period of time…
San: Aww. Thank you.
Troy: I want to thank you again for sitting and talking with me candidly and openly.
San: Aww, thank you for having me.
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I really enjoyed that interview! Shout-out to Troy for makin’ it happen and for doing an impeccable job on it!
Were you familiar with San’s ministry? (you should be– I featured her last month!)
Here, I’ll help… peep this video–
Talk to me! What do you think?!
The vibe is like a good ol’ church service or midnight musical someplace. And that’s refreshing to me. In this musical season, where so much music seems almost created for the sake of crossover or mainstream appeal, it’s cool that artists are still filling the need for a choir that is gonna KILL the vocals and leave folks slain in the aisles.
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Before the honoring went down, Dorinda Clark-Cole came to the stage to perform her hit single “Take It Back,” which received a BMI Song Of The Year award (songwriter, Derrick Starks). You already know that Dorinda brings it like none other and I was on my feet before I could even finish my salad.
The McClurkin tribute performances were great, but I wish they had done some more songs for him– they could’ve dug a little deeper into the New York Restoration Choir days, pulled some more tracks from the Live In London album, or even focused a little more on songs that he’s written for other artists (like, “This Is The Gospel Of Jesus Christ” for Hezekiah Walker or “It Is To You” by Byron Cage). Still, awesome job and I’m glad he was honored for his great contributions to the game.
After that, Yolanda Adams couldn’t even regain her composure to introduce the next performance– BeBe & CeCe Winans singing “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power.” They just came on stage and took us to new heights, followed by Mary Mary’s staggering performance of “We Are Not Ashamed.”
