The sound of banging drums, clapping hands and joyful praise filled Lipscomb’s Allen Arena once more as the Dove Awards returned to campus for their 46th ceremony.

The event, hosted by Christian hip-hop sensation Lecrae and MercyMe frontman Bard Millard, made its grand return to Nashville last year after spending time in Atlanta and chose Lipscomb as its new nest.

University president Randy Lowry addressed the show crowd by sharing a thought he had – that, 123 years ago, Lipscomb once used to be the farm of school founder David Lipscomb.

To Lowry, the ground that Lipscomb founded his school on now holds a new purpose.

“I don’t know what he had in mind, but he could not have possibly have imagined this evening with this entertainment and this worship and this crowd in this place,” Lowry said.

In the audience was Lowry’s 95-year-old father, whose attendance was applauded by the crowd.

The Dove Awards being hosted on Lipscomb’s campus holds even more significance because the group that runs the show, the Gospel Music Association, now calls the university their home.

With a year of hosting the event under Lipscomb’s belt, the school – including its security team – was better prepared to deal with the ins and outs of hosting such a massive undertaking.

Lipscomb’s Assistant Director of Campus Security Patrick Cameron provided some insight into how the security staff was better able to facilitate the ceremony.

“[Having already prepared for a Doves show] really helps,” Cameron said. “We were very fortunate to experience it last year, so we kind of worked out a lot of the bugs we had last year, and so it gave us a good idea of what to expect from a parking standpoint, from a shuttling standpoint, and particularly from a staffing standpoint of how many folks we would need.”

To Lowry, the event being on Lipscomb’s campus just shows how the Lord works.

“Isn’t it amazing how God works in amazing ways,” Lowry said.

Show performers included Lecrae, for KING & COUNTRY, MercyMe, Newsboys, Wayne Haun, Andy Mineo, Ellie Holcomb, KB, Trip Lee, Natalie Grant, Mandisa, Erica Campbell, Tedashii, Kari Jobe, Karen Peck & New River and 1 Girl Nation.

Presenters included Amy Grant, Pat Boone, Danny Gokey, Bill Gaither, Hezekiah Walker, David & Tamela Mann, Karen Kingsbury, Jason Crabb and Capital Kings.

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Hillsong United wins big during ceremony

For the awards themselves, Hillsong United swept each category it was nominated for.

The group, based in Sydney, Australia, won Best Artist and received the Doves’ Lifetime Achievement Award.

Their song “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)” earned the Song of the Year award along with Contemporary Christian Performance of the Year, Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year and Worship Song of the Year.

The song peaked to the top of the Billboard U.S. Christian chart, made 83rd on the Billboard Hot 100 and was a top song over Christian airwaves.

“We were just a bunch of kids from the youth ministry that were told God’s got a big plan for your life, and whatever you’ve got in your hand, do it for the glory of God,” Jonathon “J.D.” Douglass, a worship leader and percussionist in Hillsong, said.

In other major categories, Ellie Holcomb won New Artist of the Year, God’s Not Dead took home Inspirational Film of the Year, Andy Mineo’s Never Land got Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year, Mandisa’s Overcomer earned Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year and Kari Jobe’s Majestic took home the Praise and Worship Album of the Year.

Chris Tomlin won Songwriter of the Year, and Ed Cash won Producer of the Year.

Holcomb said her victory came as a surprise.

“I didn’t even expect to be nominated, so, honestly, I was a little shell-shocked to say the least,” Holcomb said. “Honestly I can’t stop crying. I think just because I’ve gotten to see glimpses in my own life of music having an incredible impact, of being a covering over me. And to think that somehow I may get to be a part of that story is so humbling and so exciting to me.”

Mineo shared a little about the background of his winning effort.

“The thing that inspired my project Never Land was, for a lot of it, my childhood,” Mineo said. “I always try to connect the music that I making to things that I connected with when I was a child. Peter Pan was a big influence, and so that’s why a lot the elements inside of the artwork had the Peter Pan alligator and the feather and all that stuff.

“I guess the idea that Never Land was a place where you would go, you would fly away, but you had to be a child to go there. You had to believe to go there. That childlike mentality keeps us dependent on God, and that’s something I always want to have people reminded of.”

Karen Peck & New River won Southern Gospel Song of the Year for “Revival.”

Peck said that the song brought up old memories.

“We are very honored about the song,” Peck said. “We had the privilege of sitting in a room and talking about the old time tent revivals. We grew up singing at those old time tent revivals. We’ve been praying this year that God would just let revival happen in this nation.”

Erica Campbell, of the group Mary Mary, took home the award for Traditional Gospel Song of the Year for her track “A Little More Jesus.”

Campbell shared a little bit of information into her time as a solo artist.

“It’s amazing and exciting,” Campbell. “It’s challenging, and I’m enjoying it. I feel like I’m growing in my faith, especially standing on my own. I used to always pick songs with someone and we pray together. Now it’s just me, all me. I kind of have to tap in in a different way, and really make sure that I’m connected.”

MercyMe won Short Form Video of the Year for “Shake.” The group was also honored for their hit song “I Can Only Imagine” going double platinum, which means it sold two million copies.

Millard, also a co-host of the evening, said the milestone was expected. However, the in-show award was not.

“They told us a couple of weeks ago that it would happen,” Millard said. “I didn’t know that was happening tonight, so we were genuinely shocked that they were doing that kind of stuff. It’s pretty amazing.

“That’s like I said out there, that if somebody had told me that was ever going to happen, that I would be a part of that, that’s a dream come true. I’ve been a fan of Christian music my whole life, so to have something like that happen with a song you wrote is pretty insane. Surreal is a good word.”

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For a full list of winners click here.

Additional reporting by Logan Butts 

Photo galleries and carousel photo of for KING & COUNTRY credit: Erin Turner

Video credit: Brianne Welch, Janice Ng, Brianna Langley, Aaron Schmelzer and Turner