Very few words in the English language have the ability to cause nervous sweats, hypertension, dry throat and sleepless nights with the impact the word "change" can generate. In many cases, change is resisted, avoided and dreaded at all costs.

However, in recent months, there have been examples that offer evidence that change is sometimes good, especially in the world of Southern Gospel concert promotions ...

1.) Bob Brumley's annual Albert E. Brumley sing was in danger prior to this year's event. The multi-day sing was being bounced around from location to location (through no fault of the promoter, by the way) in recent years and it was getting harder for audiences to make long range plans. Even when plans were finalized for the 2006 edition of the event, changes forced another move a few months prior to the first on-stage note.

Bob knew that if he didn't get this event locked into a venue - not to mention in one city - he was going to have to do some heavy-duty work to keep what has become a monster event from turning into a typical singing. After all, moving a sing from location to location has been known to completely kill some events.

Finally, after working out an agreement with the Civic Center in Lebanon, MO, Bob realized that he might be onto something good. The venue was nearly perfect for what he does ... the city of Lebanon got behind the event by offering support Bob had never encountered in previous cities ... the fans loved it all.

While no one can predict the future, it would take a bulldozer for Bob to consider moving the Brumley sing at this point.

2.) A situation nearly identical to this is taking place even as we speak. Twila Roher and the folks at Garden Spot Promotions will be hosting a huge multi-day event in Lebanon, PA, this Labor Day weekend. (Maybe "Lebanon" is the key word in all of this!) Formerly held in Kempton, this event is one of the most-widely attended concert series for Southern Gospel music in the Northeast. Twila saw the need to move the event a year ago and she immediately started searching for the right place. Just a few miles down the road, she found Lebanon and it's Expo Center and before long, she knew she had hit on a winning combination. As with the case of Brumley's Lebanon, Lebanon, PA, has gotten behind the event - even to the point the local media is touting the concerts at every turn. While it's still a few days until the event itself, early indications point to a successful four-days of singing.

As we see, change is not always bad. I can give you other examples, too. One that hits close to home is Singing News. While we're still making many enhancements, things are definitely on an upswing. The magazine is looking better, the content is stepping up and as a whole, we're very pleased. Southern Gospel artists experience change on a regular basis and while a personnel change has many risks with it, many times the net result is a better sound or something along that nature.

So is change always an ugly word?

Hardly. Many times, it's one of the best things that can happen.