4/12/07

For Crystal Vance, the ministry is in the music
By Cathy Gilbert

Submitted Photo

Manning native Crystal Vance is a veteran of southern gospel music and now has her own CD, “Jesus in a Song.” Vance will be in performance during the Striped Bass Festival.

Singing since she was a small child, Crystal Vance has always felt the call to worship through music.

“I guess I started singing in my church, the Home Branch Baptist Church,” the 28-year-old said. “Mama would put me in talent shows and I was in ‘Annie’ in the third grade.”

Vance, the daughter of George and Pauline Bryant of the Home Branch community, is a 1996 graduate of Manning High School and furthered her education at Charleston Southern University and Central Carolina Technical College, where she earned an assoicate’s degree in nursing. She now works in administrative nursing with Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

Even as young as she is, Vance is a veteran of gospel music performance.

She was with a Christian band called “The Covenant Keepers” and then sang in a southern gospel trio, called “Southern Grace.”

“I owe a lot to being in both those groups,” Vance said. “They both helped me to grow and I learned so much performing with them.”

But Vance said that God led her to strike out on her own and see if a solo career was for her. Creating her first CD was part of that adventure and Vance can now be heard on “Jesus in a Song,” recorded at New Vision Studios in Lugoff, S.C.

“The CD was sort of my way of introducing myself as a solo artist,” she said. “Mom really pushed me to do it and I am so glad!”

Vance said she really considers her musical gift to be her ministry.

“I’ll go just about anywhere that God opens a door for me,” she explained. “I’m not an entertainer; I try to minister to my audience through my music.”

Vance has been married for four years to Tim Vance, who is a public works supervisor for the Sumter County Public Works Department. Together they have two “dog children,” Dixie and Josie, who appear with Crystal and Tim on the liner notes of her CD.

“Tim has been so supportive of my ministry,” Vance said. “He really stood with me when I decided to leave the trio, which was a hard decision to make. I knew I had been given a voice to use and Tim helped me find the way to use it to His glory.”

Vance said she is an admirer of Bill Gaither, a gospel writer and performer for over 50 years.

“Gaither gets so many people involved in his music ministry that it has become legendary.”

Vance makes no pretense of stardom or great fame.

“To appeal to people, you have to be real,” Vance explained. “That’s what I try to do. I’m just a country girl.”

Nevertheless, Vance does not close any doors on a potential fulltime musical career.

“If God should open the door and give me the opportunity, I would certainly give it a try,” she said.

Vance will be in performance at the Striped Bass Festival on Big Saturday, April 28. Her CDs are available for sale at Ram Bay Auction located between Manning and Summerton on Hwy. 301. To hear samples from “Jesus in a Song,” log onto Vance’s website, www.crystalvance.com.