By Megan Young
Associate Editor
Kris Smith, Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB) director of worship ministries, and Elizabeth Knight, Mississippi Baptist All-State Youth Choir and Orchestra (MBASYCO) event coordinator, joined “Around the Table” host Tanner Cade, MBCB director of communication services, to discuss how MBASYCO is about more than just music.
Leaders and students alike agree that the Mississippi Baptist All-State Youth Choir and Orchestra is more than a summer music camp. It is a weeklong test of endurance that rewards participants with worshipful hearts and lifelong godly friendships.
Founded in 1991, MBASYCO is an auditioned group of high school students who are active in the worship ministries of Mississippi Baptist churches and recommended by their church leadership. Students participate in a three-day rehearsal camp followed by a six-day worship concert tour designed to strengthen them musically and spiritually.
This summer, 80 students arrived at William Carey University in Hattiesburg on Monday, June 9. After just a few days of rehearsal, they hit the road Wednesday night for a concert tour across the state — from West Point to Biloxi — concluding with a home concert at First Church in Madison on June 16.
“My husband and I are products of the choir,” said Knight. “So I tell the kids on the first day, you’re going to meet your lifelong friends, you’re going to grow skills. Even if you’re not a musician as a profession, you’re going to grow leadership skills and learn how to worship.”
Nurturing those life skills and cultivating a heart of worship in the next generation is just as important as the practices and performances, according to Smith.
“We have a really special group of seniors this year,” said Knight. “Kris had an idea to take them Saturday night and do a little special dinner with them and just spend some time speaking some words of life into them. And I think they really enjoyed it. I think that kind of made this trip a little extra special this year.”
“They’re going into college, they’re going to experience challenges,” said Smith. “So I wanted us to be able to speak into that and say, stay rooted, stay grounded, be true to who you are and what you know to be right.”
MBASYCO provides students with the opportunity to be surrounded by peers from churches across the state who share similar musical interests, helping build a godly foundation of community in their lives.
“They may not be in a church that has a student choir or they may be in a small church, and so they don’t have like-minded young men and women that are around them that are investing in them and sharpening them,” Smith said. “So when they come to something like this, they’re able to use their gifts and talents that the Lord’s given them to be a part of something that’s greater than themselves.”
“You get to make Christlike friends with people that don’t live where you are,” said Lillian White, a senior from First Church in Summit. “I love getting to worship alongside other teenagers that love the Lord as much as I do.”
The fast-paced experience of MBASYCO and the friendships forged during the week help prepare students for college.
“I always have a backbone of friends here that I could probably text even if they live on the other side of the state and they would be praying for me,” said Lee Cain, a senior from First Church in Wiggins. “That’s a really big thing in college. It is a new experience and it’s different and we really don’t know what God’s going to do in our lives, but we have people along the way praying for us and encouraging us in a godly manner.”
The MBASYCO tour ended with a home concert at First Church in Madison. As in previous years, the performance concluded with an invitation for MBASYCO alumni in the audience to join the choir. Some alumni even had children on stage.
“We have a second generation of All-State students in this choir now,” said Smith. “I just love that. That’s just a thread that’s weaved across the generations.”
To listen to the full “Around the Table” episode, click here.
