Why was Heavenly Melody originally begun? A: Believing that music is one of the most effective channels for communicating God’s love of people, Doris Brougham and Leland Haggerty formed the Heavenly Melody Singers in 1962. Her hope was that through this team of musicians, more people could personally experience the touch of God’s love in their lives. How are the singers for Heavenly Melody selected? What are the requirements? A: The Heavenly Melody Singers are mostly recruited through referrals. Each candidate is examined based on two criteria. First, the musical training and potential of the candidate are examined. Secondly, and more importantly, is the examination of the candidate's Christian life. A firm foundation in the faith and commitment to dedicate his life to God's service is absolutely necessary. The Heavenly Melody Singers are missionary musicians for Christ. They have to be prepared to share the essence of their faith through music at any time. Are all of the Heavenly Melody Singers full-time workers? A: Yes! Due to the nature of the ministry, they have to put all their effort into it. The Heavenly Melody Singers often have travel to various places for weeks at a time to perform concerts. Upon return to the ministry center, they write songs, record albums and have local concerts and rallies. What changes have Heavenly Melody's productions experienced in the past 20+ years? A: The primary mission of Heavenly Melody's productions has always been to evangelize and share the good news of Christ's love for people. From this perspective, there hasn't been a big change in Heavenly Melody's productions over the years. But there have been changes in content and form. In order to relate better to younger audiences, Heavenly Melody has written songs of encouragement to young people using contemporary styles of music. They have performed their own specially prepared crossover songs on university campuses as pre-evangelism outreach. This has been a focus in recent years. What are Heavenly Melody's expectations and hopes for the future? A: Over the past 40 years, Heavenly Melody has had many singers leave and new ones join, but as a group it is still guided by a mission-minded focus and a goal of professional excellence. Under God's guidance, Heavenly Melody's prayer is to continue fulfilling the mission of sharing the good news of Christ's love. Through their music, they aim to touch more souls within the Chinese community throughout the world.