20 September 2011

By Raymond Billy | ResonateNews.com. 

KILGORE, Texas — Attendance at this year's Christ Fest at Kilgore City Park was lower than previous years, according to organizers. But at least one of the bands performing at the event seemed oblivious to the turnout. To hear The Hubbard Family tell it, their target audience always has been and always will be an audience of one — the person for whom the event is named.

“I can't see him, but I can feel the presence of Christ in a real, intimate way,” said Emmylou Hubbard, 24, a singer-songwriter and guitarist for the band from Bullard.

Most in attendance at the event — a spiritual-revival-meets-evangelism-meets-concert gathering sponsored by the nonprofit 33 The Ministry — seemed to share the sentiments expressed by the band. Members of the quintet often spoke and sang as if they were emissaries at a Billy Graham outreach. They offered words of admonishment and hope to those who have not put their faith in Jesus.

“Jesus invites us to come try him for a while,” said Emmylou, invoking Christ's invitation in John 1:39 before singing “Come and See,” which she wrote.

Lorianne Hubbard, 19, sang “My God is Real,” a southern gospel classic, a performance in which she manifest considerable voice-control skills.

Pedal steel and lead guitar player Jerry Hubbard, the patriarch of the family band, echoed his daughter's offer to “give Jesus a try” later during the group's hour-long set. He referenced his days in the rough-and-tumble world of mainstream concert touring in California, Texas and Las Vegas. He said he's thankful to have been saved from the emptiness — a void often filled with drugs and alcohol — that he found in that music scene.

“If you go back in time 15 years from today, being in a place like this playing this kind of music is the last thing I'd be doing,” Jerry said. “I could be playing all kinds of music and my daughters could be playing all kinds of music. But I thank God that he saved me and I'm up here honoring him instead of where I could be,” Jerry said before playing his testimonial “East of San Antone,” written only days prior to Christ Fest.

Those who took in the event did so while lounging in lawn chairs, strewn on blankets on the park's grassy field or sitting at picnic tables under its pavilion. As they watched The Hubbard Family showcase their signature southern gospel and bluegrass stylings, Robert Adams, founder of 33 The Ministry, spoke of his hopes for the future of Christ Fest.

“The vision I see going forward is this place filled with booths from churches of different denominations and different races. I want to see a diversity of people fellowshipping together,” Adams said. “Denominations are manmade. Part of the vision is to bridge all of these denominations.”

Adams said The Hubbard Family's song selection was indicative of this year's Christ Fest theme: “Let go, let God.”

“With everything going on in our society financially and weather-wise, it's beyond our capacity to fix. We just need to let God handle it,” he said.

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