Friday, April 7, 2000

Minister Janice Stoney gives voice to her faith

Michelle Christenson/Caller-Times

Janice Stoney (left), music minister at Rising Star Baptist Church, plans to open her own school to share her song with others.

Janice Stoney, 39, may be minister of music at Rising Star Baptist Church, but others say "voice from heaven" would be a more accurate description.
   "Her voice is truly anointed," says the Rev. Mark Stewart, who signed Stoney to lead the choir shortly after he became pastor of Rising Star's congregation of 200 nearly three years ago. "When she sings, people feel a calmness come over them. And it is the humbleness about her that enables her to reach so many people from different walks of life."
   Under Stoney's tutelage, the church choir has grown from a fledgling group of eight to a devout membership of 40. And when Stoney commands the microphone for one of her solos, audiences know that the Gospel music they're about to hear is the kind that "will reach deep into their souls" and make them weepy, Stewart says.
   Marg Cowser, housing director for Naval Station Ingleside, first heard Stoney sing six weeks ago when she attended Rising Star for the first time. Stoney also performs for audiences of different faiths, locally and elsewhere, including San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Washington, D.C.
   "Her talent is outstanding," Cowser said. "She puts her whole heart and soul out there when she sings. Because she is a very spirit-filled person, she's able to sing from that level and I love that. I know I feel like I receive a blessing just by hearing her sing. I'd say she is divinely inspired."
   Stoney credits her father for teaching her the beauty of lyrics and melody.
   "I remember him sitting out on the porch singing 'Stood on the Banks of Jordan' as I sat next to him," Stoney said. "He had such a smooth tenor voice I so loved."
   Stoney was just a child when she started mimicking her father's crooning. It didn't take long for her parents to realize that their child had discovered a natural talent.
   "My mother would have me listen to Mahalia Jackson's records," Stoney said, pulling out an old record album of Jackson's. "She'd say, 'Jan baby, can you sing this?' "
   Stoney would listen intently, then belt out the vocals, a gift that earned her admirers early on. Among them was her Shaw Elementary teacher, who encouraged her at age 5 to give her first public performance at the school.
   Two years later, she blew away audiences at Calvary First Baptist Church with solos like "Another Day's Journey." So talented was she that at age 7 she was directing the children's choir at Calvary.
   During her 13 years working with local day care centers and five with the Corpus Christi Independent School District, singing always has remained a part of Stoney's life. But it has taken her 30-plus years to realize that such a talent should not play second best to other life endeavors.
   This summer, Stoney begins classes at Del Mar College, where she plans to earn a music degree. Her goal: To one day open up her own school, giving lessons to children who share the same love of singing.
   "Now that I've gotten older and understand that this is a gift from up above," Stoney said, "I want to do more to teach children how to sing and to love the talents that have been given them."
  
 

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