|
 In August 1983,
a small, unknown gospel singing group from Gordon County was
about to take the stage for its first appearance with the Rev.
J. Bazell Mull. The group
had just recorded its first album - Unworthy, But Chosen - at
Dawn Records in North Carolina and was scheduled to open a
program that would feature The Primitives and The Singing Cookes,
two of the finest and most popular gospel groups in the country.
As nervous and scared as they
were, the mistakes were few, the crowd receptive, and the event
a great success. The
Singing West Family went on to appear all across the Southeast,
spreading the gospel through song. A few years later, the
group disbanded, and everyone went their separate ways.
The lead singer for the group, Brenda, passed away unexpectedly,
and thus the opportunity for a reunion was gone forever.
 Yet, God wasn't totally finished
with the singing ability of one member of the group. Tim
Wilson, who wrote almost every song the group performed and
recorded, and who also provided the tenor part for the group,
had married and moved away to Chatsworth. There he became
very active in his home church, Mt. Carmel Baptist, where today
he holds several offices and has served as a deacon since 1989.
He and his wife, Angie, began to
sing regularly in their home church but refused to leave their
services to sing at other churches who repeatedly requested for
them to come. "I just didn't have the desire to travel and
sing anymore," Tim said.
In 2006, however, the desire and calling began to return.
Tim, his wife, and their nephew, Toby Westmoreland, started to
sing together and began to frequent revivals and homecomings
whenever possible. Soon
Tim and Angie's two children, Jennifer and Jordan, joined the
group. The engagements increased, and everyone began to
realize that they needed a name for the group. A few days
later, a brother deacon approached Tim at the business they own
together and said that he had a name for their group, Simply
Forgiven. The title was
perfect. It described the group's feelings and their
knowledge that only by God's grace are they forgiven and that
they are nothing special or better than anyone else, just simply
forgiven. Armed with a
new name, several new recordings, and a special anointing from
God that you can feel at each of their appearances, this group
is excited about its future. "We just want to be where God
wants us to be and accomplish what He has for us to do.
Simply Forgiven will travel whenever and wherever God leads us." |
