Prison choir lifts spirits

WCYB – GREENE COUNTY, Tenn. (WCYB) - Music and faith have become regular activities for some prison inmates at Tennessee's Greene County Workhouse.

The facility is now home to a women's gospel choir.

The six-month-old program is lifting spirits with song. Women learning and practicing gospel music, and performing as a group.

Prison chaplain Reverend Clarence Gammell brought the idea forward.

"Thirty-five years of working with them, this is one of the best things I feel like we've done from a religious standpoint," the reverend said. "Song is a gift from God, it's part of our make up. I think in worshipping God and connecting with God, music and singing is such an important part of that."

One song is accompanied by gestures, movement choreographed by Eureka Jordan. It's one of the pieces they even get to perform outside jail, in churches and for special events.

"It's just a great feeling," Jordan said, "that we can come out and sing in front of everybody, praise God in front of everybody."