










{"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_46162\"  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":"closed","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":9931,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/happy-birthday-reverend-clay-evans\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":0},"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":13648,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/reverend-clay-evans-passes\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":1},"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":11340,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/get-ready-for-new-music-from-curtis-fondren\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":2},"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":7507,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/pharis-evans-jr-takes-us-to-the-fountain-of-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":3},"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":10219,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/reverend-clay-evans-hits-billboard-chart-with-what-a-legacy\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":4},"title":"Reverend Clay Evans Hits Billboard Chart With What A Legacy","author":"John Burton Jr.","date":"September 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Chicago Gospel sound is celebrated in What A Legacy, a new retrospective CD celebrating 50 years of recordings from the inimitable Reverend Clay Evans and the Fellowship Baptist Church Choir.\u00a0 People have taken a liking to the disc as it makes it way onto the Billboard Top Gospel Albums\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\/2016\/09\/Clay-Evans-Slider.png?fit=1024%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Clay-Evans-Slider.png?fit=1024%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Clay-Evans-Slider.png?fit=1024%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Clay-Evans-Slider.png?fit=1024%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10313,"url":"https:\/\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/reverend-jesse-jackson-celebrates-what-a-legacy\/","url_meta":{"origin":8374,"position":5},"title":"Reverend Jesse Jackson Celebrates What A Legacy","author":"John Burton Jr.","date":"October 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson was on hand to celebrate the CD release of What A Legacy, a new commemorative CD featuring vintage recordings of Reverend Clay Evans and the Fellowship Baptist Church Choir of Chicago.\u00a0 The disc has instantly become a fan favorite, making its home into the\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\/2016\/10\/Clay-and-Jesse.jpg?fit=640%2C430&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gospelflava.com\/v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Clay-and-Jesse.jpg?fit=640%2C430&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, 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