Congregational praise and worship and special music are a staple of each Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting and this year Southern graduate Dan Odle will play a leading role in the musical array.
Odle, associate pastor of music and worship at Highview Baptist Church’s Fegenbush Campus, will lead a brief session of praise and worship on Tuesday afternoon, June 23 and help Convention Music Director Scott Allred lead a more than 250-person combined choir Wednesday evening, June 24.
Odle, a master of divinity graduate, said he looks forward to the opportunity to participate in the convention’s annual meeting.
“I am excited that Louisville gets to host the Southern Baptist Convention and people get to see our city and the Southern Seminary campus,” he said. “Anytime you get groups of people from different churches gathering together, that brings excitement. The excitement comes from seeing that God is working in churches all over the country. It is a reminder to me that great things are happening all over the place that are advancing God’s Kingdom.”
The five-minute session on Tuesday will begin at 4:25 p.m. and Odle, a master of divinity graduate, said he plans on leading people in singing “Before the Throne of God Above.”
On Wednesday, the Paul Boloche Band will combine with a choir of more than 100 from Highview Baptist and more than 150 from Hunter Street Baptist Church of Birimingham, Ala., where Allred serves as minister of music, to lead people in worship and provide special music throughout the evening.
Boloche is a popular contemporary Christian worship leader and songwriter. He is the author of “Open the Eyes of My Heart” and co-author of “Above All.” Boloche co-writes with a number of artists, including Michael W. Smith, Brenton Brown and Lincoln Brewster.
Odle said the evening will be a great opportunity for the members of the Highview choir.
“We get to join with something that is bigger than our choir and be a part of the convention,” he said. “Most of our choir members have never been to the convention.”
In addition to his worship leading role at Highview, Odle teaches music courses at Boyce College, Southern’s undergraduate institution, and will begin teaching at Southern this fall in the seminary’s new School of Church Ministries.