Ven Sherrod Photography
Wednesday, McDonald’s kicked off their 10th annual Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour, which heavily focuses on the importance of spreading love through giving. Particularly, the tour aims to spotlight Ronald McDonald House Charities — a nonprofit organization that provides housing for families of sick children during treatment. This year’s tour features gospel industry greats such as Donald Lawrence, Marvin Sapp, and Karen Clark-Sheard. We were able to speak with songstress Clark-Sheard regarding her involvement in this year’s program and the importance of serving.
MN: The McDonald’s Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour kicked off in your hometown, Detroit, this year. Is this your first time and what are you anticipating the most about this tour?
This is my first time being a part of the McDonald’s Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour, and I am excited that it kicked off in my hometown, Detroit. The support that we receive from our hometown is encouraging and exciting to us because we live here. When we’re in concert anywhere around Michigan, the support that we get is remarkable because we think that they’ve become accustomed to us, but the love that we still receive is still so amazing and encouraging. I’m excited. This is my first time on the McDonald’s Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour. I’m excited about joining up with the other incredible artists, and I’m expecting God to do amazing things. That’s what I am expecting most of all and looking forward to.
MN: In addition to being a recording artist, you’re a wife and first lady. Ministry requires both you and your husband to give so much of yourselves to people, but how do you find a way to keep something for yourselves?
What helps me to balance it out is that I have a great support system within my family and most of all, my husband, Bishop J. Drew Sheard. He certainly understands my ministry and is in support of me being an artist. He knows that we have to put in a lot of time, and he understands that. I think that what helps is that I also understand the role that I need to play as a first lady and pastor’s wife and as a wife period. I work to make sure that I measure up to my requirements as the first lady at our church. I think that what helps me is that I love to serve — either way it goes — as both a first lady and an artist. But to me, serving as a first lady is really like down time because I don’t mind consulting or counseling with members or serving the members or doing activities with the church — I’m over the women’s department. I enjoy all of that, so it’s sort of like down time to me as well. Being a gospel artist takes a lot more out of me. But with ministry overall, I have to make sure that every step that I make lines up with God’s purpose for me because I know that’s what He called me to do. So I try to juggle it all and put everything in its perspective place with each role that I play.
MN: You were on reality TV for a little while. How was your experience and are you interested in returning to the small screen?
It was a great experience for me — me and my children and my family. It was a great experience because it allowed us to minister to families. It was incredible, the response we got from families and other parents who pretty much related to our family. Many said, “You know what, I’m going through the same thing with my family as a pastor or a pastor’s wife.” It was enjoyable to know that there were parents out there who could understand that pastors and leaders experience real life. Those were real life problems. I would love to return to reality TV. My husband wanted to slow it down and stop it because he’s in the middle of doing so much with our own organization, so we kind of put it on hold. One day, at the appropriate time, we’ll go back. I would love to because I enjoyed the ministry side of it.
MN: Over ten years ago, you had a brush with death due to surgical complications and the development of multiple blood clots. In what ways were you different after this traumatic experience?
I believe that I was different spiritually and naturally. Spiritually, my faith got stronger, and I just had a greater respect for the purpose God has for my life. I began to take it more seriously because I knew that I encountered that for a reason. God was trying to pull out a purpose, and I believe that was a part of building my ministry. Many times, we pray for God to expand our ministry, but we don’t really know how He’s going to do it or how it’s going to transpire so we have to expect the unexpected —and that, I didn’t expect. I was in the middle of trying to get closer to God and in the middle of praying for that. Sometimes, God takes us through tests, and He tests us to see if we will give up on him or turn our backs on him. Going through things, people have many questions, like, “Why did I go through this?” But I was expecting something so why would I get mad when this is what I prayed for? You can’t always expect God to do things your way. That’s what helped me to see through the eyes of knowing that God will put you in hot water to bring out the flavor in your life. That made my ministry stronger, I had more confidence in myself, and my speaking ministry just grew. I never knew that one day I would be preaching the way that I am now. After that, I was just like, this is what I wanted to bring out. And now I can tell people, “If God can bring me out, he can bring you out as well.” In more than one way, I can say that God made a difference in my life.
MN: A couple of years ago, footage from COGIC’s Holy Convocation of a young man in St. Louis explaining that he had been delivered from homosexuality went viral. Do you believe that this viral video gave people a distorted impression of the Church of God In Christ?
They may have gotten the wrong perception of what we represent because we represent holiness, and the people of the world may not understand that this is what we teach and preach. I think it was just maybe sort of taken wrong. Mistakenly, people took it wrong. I believe that God can change you.
