TWO weeks back I listed my gripes with the SA Music Awards gospel nominations and now it’s time to look on the brighter side.

That side is Worship House’s Project 7 – It is Well with My Soul being nominated for Traditional/ Contemporary Adult African DVD and Best African Contemporary Gospel Album.

Worship House is one of the few gospel outfits that has tapped into the winning formula of indigenous music and rhythm, which is a breath of fresh air.

The nomination could not have happened at a better time for the group as they host their annual Christ Worship House conference and the recording of their first live album, True Worship.

The group’s lead vocalist, Shemaih Makota, talks about the group’s excitement about the nominations and their future.

“We see (this) as a big honour as it is the second time we have been nominated for the Samas and we have received two nominations.

“We knew that we were on the right track with Project 7, we had great expectations, but the way it was received has superseded those expectations.

“To begin with, Worship House is a very big family. We have songs in Zulu, Tsonga, Sotho and even in Shona (spoken in Zimbabwe). As a group, we cast our net wider than just sticking to Venda. We don’t want to be known as the Venda gospel outfit from Limpopo.

“We want to be versatile and diverse like our beautiful country,” says Makota.

The band is part of the Worship House church in Thohoyandou, under the leadership of Pastor Isaac Dagada. It was established in 2003.

In those eight years, they have won three Crown Gospel Awards. They have hopes that 2011 will be the year they take home their first Sama.

“Our pastor thought we needed to expand our ministry and include the underprivileged. Most of the people in the group come from underprivileged backgrounds.

“We believe that God wants us to do more than just focus on the spiritual side of things. We also establish relationships with people from other parts of the world. On Project 7, a guy came all the way from Atlanta, US, to sing with us. And that’s amazing,” said Makota.

Speakers from all over the world will descend on Thohoyandou for the church’s week-long conference, which ends on Sunday, including Prophet D Graham from Atlanta, Bishop P Ndlovu from Zambia and Pastor C Chidzaru from Malawi.

“We believe that God brings people to us from around the world to fulfil his vision. As we record our first completely worship album on Sunday,we will be doing just that.

“We are trying to incorporate people who compose their own songs. We are striving for excellence and we can only do that by being creative in our field,” elaborated Makota.

The Samas are about honouring musicians who excel in their genres and Worship House does just that.

See this video by Worship House