SouthernGospelBlog.com

For several reasons, I’ve recently been contemplating switching to a new graphic design for this website. I wanted to move to a three-column format, wanted a way to highlight the featured article, and, most importantly, wanted it to be immediately obvious which contributor had written each post. So I spent the weekend re-writing this Wordpress theme and thought I would give it a try. A few specific comments:

• No, I’m not going anonymous; I simply moved my picture to the “about” page.
• You can find a link to the featured article in the upper right-hand corner.
• This site appears to display properly in current versions of Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. If you use another browser and notice that it does not display properly, let me know.
• This theme was originally written in Dutch. I don’t know Dutch and translated each line of code word by word. If you notice a line that doesn’t make sense, or a Dutch line I missed, let me know and I’ll fix it.

Before rendering a final verdict on whether this design is a keeper, I’ll wait to see your comments, both as to whether you like it and as to compatibility.

The Collingsworth Family recently sent out a press release announcing their annual Florida tour, starting later this week, and their 2008 schedule. Highlights of their 2008 schedule include appearances at Gaither’s Texas Homecoming (Dallas, TX), Gaither FamilyFest (Gatlinburg, TN), GaitherFest (Myrtle Beach, SC), Singin’ in the Sun, the Gatlinburg Gathering, and concerts promoted by Twila Rohrer’s Garden Spot Promotions and Jim Lawson’s Gospel Gathering.

Notably absent from that list is a mainstage appearance at NQC. They are one of the (possibly the) highest profile groups not currently appearing on the main stage; they record with one of the main Southern Gospel labels (Crossroads) and are appearing at many of the highest-profile events in Southern Gospel outside of the convention. So if a slot opens up, I would encourage NQC’s Board of Directors to consider inviting them.

The Watchmen Quartet, one of the most popular West Coast Southern Gospel quartets, performed their final concert a few days ago. It was covered on the front page of the Orange County Register, which reader BH tells me is California’s fourth-largest newspaper. The online version of the article includes video and audio clips and is worth checking out.