Kirk Franklin Finally Learns of His Biological Father at Age 53
Kirk Franklin, one of the most recognizable figures in the gospel industry, found out that the man he thought in 2020 was the father, who put him up for adoption, was not his father at all. Just a few months after meeting Dwight Allen, he died, and now a startling new revelation came out while Franklin, 53, was in the process of making his 13th album “Father’s Day.” Franklin learned that Richard Hubbard, who shares a 99.9% DNA match with him, lived in the same neighborhood he grew up in. With the cameras still rolling capturing all the intensely emotional moments, we witness the events unfold in “Father’s Day,” a documentary now posted to the songwriter’s YouTube channel. Father’s Day was the first meeting between the two, who share a striking resemblance, and then a full circle moment where Franklin himself seeks to reconnect with his own estranged son, Kerrion Franklin, now 35, whom he hadn’t seen in a decade.
Pastor Tony Evans is Engaged
Pastor Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, announced his engagement to Dr. Carla Crummie during a Sunday service on stage surrounded by his four adult children. The announcement came during a celebration service for Evans’ 74th birthday. Evan’s beloved wife of nearly five decades, Lois Evans, died four years earlier of biliary cancer. “As I come up to the fourth year of the loss of Lois, my wife of 49-and-a-half-years, it is a tender time, said Evans. “There are reminders everywhere of her life and her influence on me, my family, and this ministry.”
Donald Lawrence Dedicates “Power” to Twinkie Clark
Grammy-Award winning songwriter/producer Donald Lawrence has just released “Donald Lawrence Presents Power: A Tribute to Twinkie Clark,” an 8-track project that pays homage to her early solo work. Twinkie is known not just for her own strong vocals but also for her iconic songwriting skills and musicianship that has shaped the Clark Sisters’ sound until this day. Donald handpicked songs from Twinkie’s classic 1981 album “Power,” and recreated those musical gems with a new twist featuring Twinkie’s family members and guest artists including The Clark Sisters, Kierra Sheard, J. Moss, Yolanda Adams, PJ Morton, Sir the Baptist, and others.
Candi Staton Writes Song About 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing 60 Years Later
Candi Staton, 70s R&B diva, now born-again gospel songstress, has witnessed quite a bit in her 83 years on this earth, including the aftermath of the Klu Klux Klan’s bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL, on September 15, 1963. Staton still clearly remembers the tragic event that took place that Sunday morning and claimed the lives of four little girls as though it were yesterday. She said she recalls the moment someone came to the church and told them the nearby church had been bombed. As a teen, Staton toured the south in a caravan with a group called The Jewell Gospel Trio. This event shaped her life for decades to come, and now 60 years later she is revisiting those emotional memories in a song/soliloquy she penned “1963.”
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Sarah Jakes Roberts Makes the 2023 List for TIME 100
Once again Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts has proven that she’s more than just the offspring of the world renown Bishop T.D. Jakes. Jakes Roberts was named among TIME 100’s list of most influential people in the world — an honor that is bestowed to an elite list of emerging personalities who are shaping the future of leadership in arts, business, sports, sciences, and other disciplines. Jakes Roberts has made indelible strides as a businesswoman, mother, author, and community leader who strives to empower underrepresented communities. TIME will host its third annual TIME 100 event on October 24th to celebrate Pastor Jakes Roberts and all of this year’s distinguished honorees.
