By Sharell Lockhart

The Bahamas Brass Band (Grand Bahama Segment) has enriched the lives of persons at home and the world over for more than 50 years with their soul-stirring, gospel music ministry.

Over the years the band, a ministry of the Church of God of Prophecy (COGOP), has evolved from its humble beginnings in the quaint settlement of Pineridge, Riding Point, to its now world-famous status.

Four ministers of the gospel, Bishop Hermis Ferguson, Bishop James R. Cooper, Pastor Frank Cunningham and Bishop Alvin S. Moss, constituted the band in 1925 and it is made of two segments, Grand Bahama and New Providence.

Pastor Barry B. Morris, director of the Bahama Brass Band (GBS) along with assistant director Billy Dickenson and several members, recently made a timely donation of food supplies and presented a check of $1,000 to the Grand Bahama Children's Home.

Standing on the principles of the Bible, Pastor Morris and the band sought to go beyond their publicly recognized ministry of music and evangelize to the orphan, widowed and poor by providing help and assistance that is key to their spiritual and physical survival.

"The Bahama Brass Band has been an institution serving Grand Bahama for more than 50 years and over those years we have been serving in the ministry of music and evangelic outreaches throughout the length and breadth of Grand Bahama and The Bahamas.

"We have also served throughout the Caribbean, east coast of the United Sates of America, Canada, London, and this year we were fortunate to have a groundbreaking trip to Swaziland, Africa."

According to Pastor Morris, while the band is a Christian, spiritual entity, it is also a social entity that is concerned about the less fortunate in the community and The Bahamas.

"The band over the years have been doing goodwill for many charitable institutions inclusive of the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Rand Memorial Hospital and a list of others of whom we would have rendered service to or helped to raise funds for," Pastor Morris said.

Graciously the band has adopted the Grand Bahama Children's Home, and every year during the band's annual concert, funds are raised and a portion is given to the Home.

As a matter of fact, Pastor Morris said throughout the year efforts are made to assist the Home and the children.

"What we do is we try to remain abreast of the needs of the Home and see how best we can be of service to them and of course as such we are here giving food items to them and a check to sponsor them and help to relieve their operating cost as best we can," promulgated Pastor Morris.

He also thanked the Grand Bahama community for always supporting the band and their efforts and he noted that it is through the support of the community that the band was able to make the charitable presentation to the Home.

Every January The Bahamas Brass Band has its concert and for the past two years Grand Bahama has enjoyed a battle of the bands so to speak betwixt the Bahama Brass Band and the Royal Bahamas Police Force Band at the Church of God of Prophecy.

Subsequently the January 2013 concert will be a foot- stomping, hand-clapping, soul-healing time for the Grand Bahama community as the band plans to make the make the concert bigger and better than years before and raise even more funds for the Grand Bahama Children's Home.

"The children that live here are very important to us and we want to make sure they have the best that they can possibly get.

"Circumstances being what they are with children being left alone and abandon for any number of reasons here at the Home, it is imperative that the band and community come around to provide as best of a balance as we all possibly can for these youngsters as is our intent here today," Pastor Morris declared.

"This donation today is not the first or the second for the band and it most certainly will not be the last.

"We are going to keep coming and do our part to positively impact the lives of all of the children that live here," Pastor Morris affirmed.

Assistant administrator of the Grand Bahama Children's Home Inzzie Jones said: "Thank you so much to the Grand Bahama Brass Band for your kind gesture of both the food items and the check.

"Everything is timely and we are very, very much appreciative of it."

Jones disclosed that while this is her first year at the home, it is noted that this is not the first time the band has made contributions and loan their support to the home as they have been doing so on an annual basis.

Assistant director Dickenson revealed that the band has a slate of activities scheduled for the remainder of the year proceeding into 2013 and the band hopes to be working in conjunction with Urban Renewal in the very near future.

"On October 7 of this year we be hosting a healing service so we ask the community to come out and be blessed as we endeavor to keep them updated and informed of our events as they draw near.

"We also want to remind the Grand Bahama community of our annual concert slated for January 2013 which will be great as we will have both the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Royal Bahamas Defence Force Bands participating and we plan to have a weekend packed with activities so we entreat the public to look out for these events," Dickenson conveyed.