Pastor Donnie McClurkin. Photo| Courtesy.
By Male Marvin & News Agencies
American gospel music legend and Pastor Donnie McClurkin is celebrating his 60th birthday.
Born November 9, 1959, the internationally acclaimed music minister took to social media the very last moments before he clocked 60, saying “to God be all the glory.”
To commemorate such a monumental year, he is holding an all-star tribute concert featuring legends like CeCe Winans and Kirk Franklin.
Others are Tasha Cobbs-Leonard, Kierra Sheard, Erica Campbell, and Jonathan McReynolds.
McClurkin, who pastors Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport, New York, is the creative force behind classic gospel songs like “Stand” and “Speak to My Heart.” His latest single, “There is God,” was released earlier in September and was written as a message of hope, emphasizing that God can be found in everything.
As he turns 60, this birthday is particularly significant for the pastor after he survived a serious car accident at the end of last year when he blacked out while driving.
Now, with a renewed appreciation for life, he is celebrating his new year in a big way. The concert will be held at the renowned Greater Allen AME Cathedral, in Jamacia Queens.
During a recent interview with press, Donnie was asked if he has any thought of retiring from singing or from preaching anytime soon.
He answered: “In another 10 years or maybe 20 years. Singing is something that’s marginal for me now. I do it when I want to do it. I do it when it’s convenient to do it, and I do it when it has a purpose, if it’s going to bring somebody to a greater understanding of who Christ is. I don’t do it just for the entertainment aspect of it any longer. I am selective in what I do.”
He also revealed that he now sings less in the U.S. than he does in Africa and Europe.
Early Life
McClurkin was born in Chester, South Carolina in the United States of America. When he was eight years old, his two-year-old brother was hit and killed by a speeding driver.
Soon after the loss, McClurkin experienced family turmoil due to the loss of his brother, and shortly thereafter, he was a victim of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of his great uncle, and years after that by his great uncle’s son.
McClurkin, in 2002, told a Christian website that, due to the sexual abuse, he had struggled with homosexuality. “McClurkin believes he “turned” gay because of childhood molestation, but was able to reverse his orientation through will and prayer.” He also said that he had rejected that “lifestyle”: “I’ve been through this and have experienced God’s power to change my lifestyle. I am delivered and I know God can deliver others, too.”
In 2015 he spoke out against same-sex marriage in response to the U.S. Supreme Court making it legal nationwide.
McClurkin’s listing as a headlining performer for then-Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign stirred controversy because of his views on homosexuality. As a result, McClurkin was removed from the performance roster but he still performed at one of the concerts.
Two of his sisters dealt with substance abuse problems, and that’s when the young McClurkin found solace in his going to a church; and, also through an aunt of his who sang background vocals with gospel musician, Andraé Crouch.
By the time that he was a teenager, he had formed the McClurkin Singers, and later he formed another group, the New York Restoration Choir, with recordings from as early as 1975.
In 1991, a sharp pain and swelling, followed by internal bleeding led, he says, to his being diagnosed as having leukemia. The doctor suggested immediate treatment, but McClurkin, who was then 31, decided to take his own advice. “I tell people to believe that God will save you,” he says, “[and] I had to turn around and practice the very thing that I preached.”
He was ordained and sent out by the Winans in 2001 to establish Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport, New York, where he is now Senior Pastor.
