What started as a Victoria church's effort to record a CD to raise money for a downtown shelter has now won a national award.
Kingdom Come, a disc recorded this year to raise money for Sanctuary Youth Centre, was granted a Covenant Award as the Special Events Album of the Year by the Gospel Music Association of Canada.
The award was presented Nov. 7 to the recording group Worship Victoria, at a ceremony in Burlington, Ont.
Worship Victoria is a group of musicians and worship leaders from a number of parishes. They came together in the spring with the idea of producing the album as a fundraiser. Twenty churches were approached with the idea and all agreed to help.
The result is Kingdom Come, a diverse mix of formal liturgy, con-
temporary music, traditional hymns and charismatic songs.
Fraser Campbell, music director at New Life Community Fellowship in Victoria and executive producer of Kingdom Come, said he was surprised to win the award, since Gospel music from Western Canada has some trouble getting recognition nationally.
"The centre of Canada, after all, is in Toronto," Campbell said with a laugh.
But he was always confident in the quality of the music and the musicianship on Kingdom Come.
That opinion has been backed up in recent days by a great number of compliments from people who have listened to it since the awards.
Since its release last spring, the album has raised about $6,000 for Sanctuary Youth Centre. Kingdom Come can be purchased at the Christian Book and Music Centre, 3082 Blanshard St.
