The latest episode of Tokens, a theological variety show created by Lipscomb’s Dr. Lee Camp, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22 at the Downtown Presbyterian Church.
Lipscomb SGA announced Monday that it would sell tickets for a discounted price of $5.
The show, “Singing Down the Pain: The Civil War,” includes special guests Odessa Settles, The Whites, Buddy Greene, a combined male chorus from The Nashville Choir and The Greater Nashville Community Gospel Choir, along with the Most Outstanding Horeb Mountain Boys comprising celebrated Nashville musicians Jeff Taylor, Aubrey Haynie, Pete Huttlinger, Byron House and Chris Brown.
Kenneth Coca, a senior biochemistry major and cello performance minor, performed in last year’s show and is a musician again this year.
“I’m not one of the big wigs,” Coca said. “I’m just doing this for my own fun and to help out a good cause.”
Coca is playing cello in a quartet Thursday night with Joel Campbell, a junior music major, and two students from Belmont. He said he thinks Tokens is a good way to share the gospel message in a non-church setting.
“I really believe in the message,” he said. “They’re spreading the gospel of Christ through music. I think that’s something that a community needs.”
Thursday’s production serves as a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War and will feature themes from that era including “the longing for justice and peace, the slaves’ longing for freedom and the triumph over the auction block and the parents’ grief that their sons will no longer return from war.” The show will take place at Downtown Presbyterian Church, which was used as a hospital during the Civil War.
Coca said he thinks the show will contain educational and historical perspectives, as well as a Christ-centered message, “which tells us how we should act as Christians and how we should love our fellow man no matter what race.”
Tokens, which started in 2008, has featured some of Music City’s finest authors, performers and musicians. Each of the show’s episodes weave together music, author interviews, theology and political satire.
Camp says the show employs “hospitable theology” by mixing people and topics of discussion that most would never put on the same stage. The episodes allow historians, award-winning vocalists, activists, comedians and songwriters to share their skills, accomplishing the show’s agenda of “breaking down false dichotomies.” Camp says the show is compelling, sometimes irreverent and often provocative. “But always, I hope, honest.”
Coca said he would encourage students to come, especially since SGA is giving out cheap tickets.
“Any time you can incorporate some good music, educational values and your faith, I think it’s more than worth attending.”
For more ticket information, go to www.TokensShow.com or call 1-800-838-3006.