








{"id":8374,"date":"2015-06-17T13:24:56","date_gmt":"2015-06-17T17:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.gospelflava.com\/?p=8374"},"modified":"2015-06-17T13:24:56","modified_gmt":"2015-06-17T17:24:56","slug":"celebrating-rev-clay-evans-90th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/celebrating-rev-clay-evans-90th-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Rev. Clay Evans 90th Birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.gospelflava.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Clay-Evans.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-8375\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.gospelflava.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Clay-Evans-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"Clay Evans\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a>You cannot mention Chicago Gospel without a mention of the Godfather of Gospel Preaching, the Rev. Clay Evans.\u00a0 For some 5 decades, the What A Fellowship Hour reached thousands of home weekly via radio and television and featured the preaching of Evans and the melodic sounds\u00a0 of the 200 voice Fellowship Baptist Church Choir.\u00a0 We were on hand for his 85th birthday (check out the photos <a title=\"Rev Clay Evans Birthday Celebration\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gospelflava.com\/gallery2\/v\/loudella2010\/?g2_page=1\">here<\/a>), and this weekend everyone is all excited as friends from across the country gather to celebrate the 90th.<\/p>\n<p>Producer\/Singer\/Songwriter and Fountain of Life Records CEO Pharis Evans Jr. (who features his famous uncle on his new single All My Help) shared these sentiments, &#8220;Reverend Clay Evans is a religious icon&#8221;, says master producer\/songwriter and Fountain of Life Records CEO (and nephew) Pharis Evans, Jr. &#8220;He is an inspiration to so many. A man of great wisdom, candor and great humor, he motivates us to keep moving and trust God with everything. At 90, he can go into any church, anywhere on the planet on any given Sunday and simply say, &#8220;My, My, My&#8221; or &#8220;Can I get a witness&#8221; and the church will go in. &#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Fountain of Life is preparing for the reissue of some early recordings of Rev. Evans and the choir as well as a previously unreleased track.\u00a0 In the meantime, catch the spirit of Fellowship in the following throwback clip.<\/p>\n<div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_79954\"  width=\"1060\" height=\"795\"  data-origwidth=\"1060\" data-origheight=\"795\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ijJIPWtpuj8?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;disablekb=0&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You cannot mention Chicago Gospel without a mention of the Godfather of Gospel Preaching, the Rev. Clay Evans.\u00a0 For some 5 decades, the What A Fellowship Hour reached thousands of home weekly via radio and television and featured the preaching of Evans and the melodic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,31],"tags":[2641,41,2109,2321,38,2324,94,2642],"class_list":["post-8374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artist-news-and-updates","category-life-status-births-and-obituaries","tag-all-my-help","tag-chicago","tag-fellowship-mb-church","tag-fountain-of-life-records","tag-gospel","tag-pharis-evans-jr","tag-rev-clay-evans","tag-what-a-fellowship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13648,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/reverend-clay-evans-passes\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":0},"title":"Reverend Clay Evans Passes","author":"Gregory Gay","date":"December 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Tributes have been pouring in from around the globe as Gospel music lovers remember the Reverend Clay Evans, who passed away on Wednesday, November 27th at the age of 94. Evans, a native of Brownsville, Tennessee relocated to Chicago during his formative years and joined the Lux Singers where he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Events&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Rev-Evans-gives-direction.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Rev-Evans-gives-direction.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Rev-Evans-gives-direction.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Rev-Evans-gives-direction.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Rev-Evans-gives-direction.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7507,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/pharis-evans-jr-takes-us-to-the-fountain-of-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":1},"title":"Pharis Evans Jr Takes Us To The Fountain Of Life","author":"Gregory Gay","date":"July 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Grammy, Stellar and Dove award nominated singer\/songwriter\/producer Pharis Evans, Jr. has greatly impacted the landscape of Gospel music writing and producing chart topping hits for The Williams Brothers, Stevie Wonder, DJ Rogers, Kelly Price, Bobby Jones and NSC, Stephanie Mills,\u00a0 Yolanda Adams, Bishop Paul Morton, the Canton Spirituals, Bishop Neal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Artist News and Updates&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Artist News and Updates","link":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/category\/artists\/artist-news-and-updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"PEJ1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.gospelflava.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/PEJ1-1024x575.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9931,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/happy-birthday-reverend-clay-evans\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":2},"title":"Happy Birthday Reverend Clay Evans","author":"Gregory Gay","date":"June 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"GOSPELflava joins others across the country wishing a Happy 91st birthday to the Gospel music legend and iconic pastor, preacher civil rights leader and humanitarian, the founding pastor of Chicago's Fellowship Baptist Church, the one and only Reverend Clay Evans.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 It wouldn't be enough to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Life Status (Births &amp; Obituaries)&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Life Status (Births &amp; Obituaries)","link":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/category\/life-status-births-and-obituaries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Clay Evans","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.gospelflava.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Clay-Evans-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11340,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/get-ready-for-new-music-from-curtis-fondren\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":3},"title":"Get Ready For New Music From Curtis Fondren","author":"John Burton Jr.","date":"September 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Curtis Fondren is widely known for his mastery of the drums.\u00a0 In over three decades, the Chicago native has played for the Chicago Gospel hitmakers including Reverend Clay Evans and the Fellowship Baptist Church Choir, Dr. Charles G. Hayes and the Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer Choir, Rev. Maceo Woods' Christian\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Album Releases&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Album Releases","link":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/category\/artists\/album-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Curtis-Fondren-Get-Ready-e1505234540127.jpg?fit=500%2C331&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11994,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/the-last-blues-preacher-tells-life-story-of-gospel-legend-reverend-clay-evans\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":4},"title":"The Last Blues Preacher Tells Life Story Of Gospel Legend Reverend Clay Evans","author":"Gregory Gay","date":"May 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The worldwide ministry of Reverend Clay Evans gets a close look in The Last Blues Preacher, a new biography penned by communications scholar and current events observer Dr. Zach Mills. \u201cReverend Clay Evans is an icon, not only in Chicago but all over the world,\u201d noted Michael Evans, Clay Evans\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Artist News and Updates&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Artist News and Updates","link":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/category\/artists\/artist-news-and-updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/IMG_3788.jpg?fit=640%2C763&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/IMG_3788.jpg?fit=640%2C763&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/IMG_3788.jpg?fit=640%2C763&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3213,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/tuesday-throwback-please-touch-somebody-rev-clay-evans-and-the-fellowship-baptist-church-choir-of-chicago\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":5},"title":"Tuesday Throwback: Please Touch Somebody &#8211; Rev. Clay Evans and the Fellowship Baptist Church Choir of Chicago","author":"Gregory Gay","date":"October 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 httpv:\/\/youtu.be\/UenKGcNkDO8 \u00a0 It should be duly noted that this author is a firm believer that nothing beats an original.\u00a0 Let the record reflect there are some exceptions.\u00a0 Rubenstein McClure and The J.C. White singers introduced us to Lord Touch Somebody via their 1977 release Reflections of Divine Love in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.gospelflava.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/RODLJCW-300x291.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}