The Word Network will premiere Stellar Award winner Stephen Hurd’s half hour musical television special, “O That Men Would Worship,” on Friday, April 13, 2012 @ 9:30 p.m. EST. The concert was filmed live at First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Upper Marlboro, MD where Hurd is the minister of music. “My goal is to get men and especially men of color to realize that worship is not a feminine sport,” Hurd says. “In this season, I feel we should come together and lift up a sound that has the power to change families and strengthen communities and help brothers to get a glimpse of what real worship is. I think when men see other men worship it gives them freedom to worship without feeling emasculated.”
Throughout the broadcast, Hurd is seen leading the congregation in song and sharing the stage with his musical peers such as Jason Nelson, Deonte Gary, Anthony Brown and Anthony Evans who was recently featured on the NBC televised singing competition, “The Voice.”
It’s not only a television special. Fans of the special can buy the live recording, “O That Men Would Worship” in Walmart and online at iTunes and Amazong mp3. The CD was released a few weeks ago and debuted at #8 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart. The current radio single, “Let’s Celebrate” is a festive tune with a Caribbean flavor and a male ensemble vocal approach that harks back to the days of Fred Hammond’s `80s era group, Commissioned.
Although, Hurd began recording albums in the late 1990s, his first national CD release was 2004’s A Call To Worship (Integrity Music) that featured the Caribbean-styled radio smash, “Undignified.” The 2006 My Destiny (Integrity Music) CD featured the hit singles “Great Praise (The War Cry)” and “Destiny” while his 2008 Top 10 Stellar Award winning CD, Times of Refreshing. (Integrity Music), featured the radio single, “Amazing.” Check www.thewordnetwork.org for local cable listings.
