The Mount Horeb Missionary Baptist Church of Newbern will host The Love Musical Night of Praise Saturday. The event will welcome the public out to enjoy the vocal stylings of gospel singers from around west Alabama.

“I’ve only had maybe a month-and-a-half working on it,” said Joshua Congress, organizer of the event. “We were sitting there one night, and the idea just came to mind.”

This is the first event of its kind in which Congress has been a part of organizing. While conceptualizing the night was a task in and of itself, Congress said putting together the logistics of the evening brought new challenges.

“With a love musical, you can show you love someone through song and music,” said Congress — who cites his father, the Rev. James Congress as his inspiration — of the event’s unique approach. “You have all the thoughts in your mind. It is actually just getting it all together (that is tough).”

Congress said the key to putting together a successful event was simple.

“In all of it, we had to put God first in everything,” Congress said.

With that in mind, Congress and his fellow organizers chose to gear a great deal of their efforts toward attracting young people to take part in the event.

“Our main focus was on our youth,” Congress said. “We’re trying to deal with our youth and trying to get everybody together because we need to be together. We need to be on one agenda. It’s to get us together.”

Final preparations for the night began Thursday, when organizers conducted the first half of a two-day workshop. That workshop was designed to teach the Love Musical songs to the individuals who will comprise the Love Musical Choir.

“We invited seven different churches in the community,” Congress said of those invited to be a part of the choir.

In addition to the Love Musical Choir, Saturday’s festivities are scheduled to include 10 acts.

Included in that group are The Raby Singers of Linden, The Brown Sisters of Tuscaloosa, The Angelic Voices of Greensboro, Ethel Billups of Gallion and Flora Johnson of Demopolis.

“I was familiar with The Raby Singers and The Angelic Voices,” Congress said of compiling the list of performers. “A pastor gave me the number for The Brown Sisters. Once we talked with The Brown Sisters, we just connected like that and went from there.”

In addition to the participating vocalists, the event will welcome Chris Smith of The Rising Sensation as its musician.

“I want to give thanks to Mrs. Dorothy Lewis and our minister, Mrs. Arlene Gracie,” Congress added.

The event, which will also provide dinner, will begin at 7 p.m. There is no charge for admission, but donations are encouraged. Those seeking more information are asked to contact pastor James E. Carter at (334) 624-0550.