2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin,
and will heal their land.
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Pastor Tim 4/29/1948 - 1/2/2017
"Never Give Up - Don't Let Satan Win"
Marshall Hall was born on December 30, 1970 in Lexington, KY to a musical family - mother Alice, father Dale, older brother Mitchell, and younger brother Matthew.
His mother played piano at church, and dad was a singer. The family’s life was centered around the church and their faith. When Marshall reached high school in 1985, he joined the church youth group and attended the state youth convention. At the age of 14, he made a decision to follow Christ.
After high school, Marshall followed in his father’s footsteps and attended Anderson University in Anderson, IN. While singing at his church in Anderson, Marshall was approached by a local producer and asked to sing for a project at Gaither Studios. He never really expected to actually end up singing for a living, but about a year after graduating from college, he quit his job at a furniture store and began working as a studio singer full time. As a session vocalist, Marshall traveled frequently from Indiana to Chicago, Orlando to Louisville and to Nashville singing background vocals on records and jingles for several national clients, including McDonald’s, Long John Silver’s and Head and Shoulders.
During one session for Bill Gaither, Marshall was asked to join the Homecoming artists in Memphis, TN for a video taping. Subsequent videos followed for Marshall, including tapings in Indianapolis and New York City at Carnegie Hall.
He also found a spot as a back-up singer on projects for recording artists John Tesh, Clay Walker and Carman, among others. He has written songs for several Gaither videos, as well as for Salvador, Point of Grace, fellow Gaither Vocal Band member David Phelps and the Vocal Band.
In December, 2002, Marshall’s music lead him to another frontier - marriage to Sweetwater, AL native Lori Vick in April 2003. The couple have two daughters, Presley (born in 2006) and Allison Reese (born in 2008).
In 2003, he released a solo studio album, Wisdom of Fools which included 2 songs which were used by Point of Grace in their album I Choose You and Boundless in 2005 which included the old song from his former group.
In January, 2004, the newly-weds life would change again when Marshall received a call from Bill Gaither asking him to call Guy Penrod. From this phone call, Marshall began a one and a half month audition process to become the new baritone for the Gaither Vocal Band. He was a part of three of the Vocal Band's studio albums including Give It Away, Lovin' Life and Christmas Gaither Vocal Band Style. Marshall has been on the road with the Gaither Vocal Band from then until 2009 when he decided to leave the group to pursue a solo career and join the Mountain Park Community Church in Phoenix, AZ as worship pastor. Since 2009, Marshall has re-joined the GVB to fill in as Lead (2010, when Michael English recovered from back surgery) and Baritone (2013, when Mark Lowry broke his femur).
September 9, 2012 he began serving as Worship Leader at Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, CA where David Jeremiah serves as senior pastor.
“Thomas Dorsey's "Precious Lord" has been called "the greatest gospel song of all time." People around the world know it, sing it, and love it because of its profound message of hope and faith. Written in 1932, it continues to appeal deeply to new generations of listeners. Though composed by a young African American blues pianist, the song crosses the lines of race and culture. Everyone from gospel legend Mahalia Jackson to rock 'n' roll king Elvis Presley has recorded it.
Like so many great hymns of faith, the song was inspired by a horrific tragedy in the life of its composer. Thomas Andrew Dorsey was born in rural Georgia in 1899, the son of an itinerant preacher.
By age 12, Dorsey left school to become a professional pianist. He played at house parties throughout Atlanta's black districts.
In his early 20s, Dorsey settled in Chicago. There he played, sang, and published blues compositions under the name "Georgia Tom." Music critic Stephen Calt described Dorsey saying he "ranked as the most self-conscious, serious, and accomplished blues lyricist of his time."
In 1925 Dorsey married Nettie Harper. A year later, he experienced a nervous breakdown and was unable to work for two years. To survive, his wife took a job in a laundry to support them. At the urging of his sister-in-law, Dorsey attended a church service where he experienced a spiritual healing. That event, combined with the sudden death of a young neighbor, prompted Dorsey to commit himself more fully to God and Christian music. To mark his new life, he wrote his first gospel song, "If You See My Savior, Tell Him That You Saw Me."
In 1932 Dorsey accepted an invitation to become choir director of Chicago's Pilgrim Baptist Church, a position he would hold for nearly 40 years. As the Great Depression wore away at the spirits of Americans, Dorsey viewed his songwriting as an important ministry. He believed his songs "lifted people out of the muck and mire of poverty and gave them ... hope."
In August of '32, Dorsey was scheduled to be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting in St. Louis. At the time he and his wife were living in a little apartment on the South Side of Chicago. Nettie was pregnant with their first child. He kissed her goodbye and made his way to St. Louis for the revival. The next night, as soon as he finished playing, a Western Union messenger came up to the stage and gave Dorsey an urgent telegram. "I ripped open the envelope," he recounted later, "and pasted on the yellow sheet were the words: 'Your wife just died.'"
Dorsey believed his songs "lifted people out of the muck and mire of poverty and gave them … hope."
Dorsey remembered the evening as a surreal moment. "People were happily singing and clapping around me, but I could hardly keep from crying out."
Racing home, he learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. "I swung between grief and joy," he recalled. "Yet that night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together in the same casket." He managed to get through the funeral visitation and service. But when it was all over, he withdrew from family, friends, and even his beloved music. "I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn't want to serve him anymore or write gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well," he said.
In the midst of despair, a friend visited Dorsey and arranged for him to be left alone in a music room with a piano. "It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows," Dorsey recalled. For the first time in many days, he sat at a piano using his fingers to browse the keys. Soon, the young artist experienced a personal revival: "I felt at peace. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, one I'd never heard or played before, and words [for "Precious Lord"] came into my head—they just seemed to fall into place."
"Precious Lord" was an immediate and permanent hit. Dorsey himself said, "This is the greatest song I have written." He went on to sing and direct "Precious Lord" at churches and concerts around the world. To date, the song has been translated into 32 languages.
Dorsey died in January 1993 in Chicago, but his legacy thrives. With his innovative blending of sacred and secular styles, he is remembered as the architect of modern gospel music.
This article first appeared in July/August 2003 issue of Today's Christian. Used by permission of Christianity Today International, Carol Stream, IL 60188.
