Jeff Snyder

Jeff Snyder has sung with several famous touring Southern Gospel groups but now serves as the worship leader at Valley Forge Freewill Baptist Church in Elizabethton.

To be faithful until the end...

Early musical calling leads Snyder through many different doors

* Story by Ivan Sanders & Photos Contributed *

For anyone that has taken time to visit Valley Forge Freewill Baptist Church, one of the first things that jump out as the service opens is an almost angelic voice that comes from a gentleman who stands near the piano and presents an invitation to those that have gathered to rise and lift their voice in song.

To those familiar with Southern Gospel music, it doesn’t take long to identify the voice that has been heard over the airwaves and on television singing with some familiar groups within the genre and that voice belongs to Jeff Snyder.

And although not native to Carter County, Snyder has quickly fit in as the music director at the largest churches in the county after taking over for another well-known Southern Gospel singer in Loren Harris who now sings with The Kingdom Heirs — the long-tenured Dollywood gospel singing group.

Snyder was born and raised in Owensboro, Ky., which, according to Snyder, is about the size of Kingsport and is located in the western part of the state, just below Evansville, Ind.

He was brought up in a good Christian home and by today’s standards, Snyder admits that his family didn’t have much but his home was loving and happy.

His parents didn’t argue in front of the children and always made sure that the children felt secure in their little home.

Snyder’s father was the song leader of the church they attended and the family was always there.

“It was almost like being a pastor’s kid,” Snyder admitted. “Whether it was Sunday school, Sunday morning services, Sunday evening services, Wednesday night Bible studies, Saturday night prayer meetings, revivals, or camp meetings, we were there and involved.

“There was no negotiation. Since Dad was the song leader, my brothers and I were recruited to sing for services often. We had some great services in that little Wesleyan church.”

The church that the Snyder family attended was a city church so there was a lot of outreach to the local housing projects where buses or passenger vans would bring in children and some adults as well.

For the young Snyder, it was a great time in his life and when he was 12 years of age, the church was in the midst of a youth revival at the church with the evangelist being a Korean gentleman who was attending Bible college in Cincinnati at the time.

The evangelist presented his powerful testimony of being raised in an orphanage and being adopted by a

Christian couple in the states where he eventually gave his heart to the Lord.

Snyder said at that point that even though he had been in church for much of his life, he realized that he was a spiritual orphan and ended up giving his heart to the Lord that night and in doing so told the Lord that he would do whatever He wanted the young Snyder to do.

It was just a few years later in a camp meeting in Louisville, Ky., that Snyder surrendered to a call of music ministry and set his sails to prepare for that calling.

In the fall of 1997, he enrolled at Kentucky Mountain Bible College and earned a degree in biblical studies and in 2001 transferred to God’s Bible School and College in Cincinnati, Ohio to study music.

Snyder had been exposed to the Southern Gospel genre in the family home where there were several vinyl albums of very recognizable groups like the Kingsmen Quartet, the Bill Gaither Trio, the Imperials and many more.

Having been exposed to that music, Snyder found himself falling in love with music at an early age.

He reflected on how he loves the “in your face” message that Southern Gospel music offers. Snyder also likes the newer styles too, but felt like the fact that you don’t have to listen to a gospel song long before you know what the message is about is what impressed him.

After college, Snyder would go to singing full time with a group called Crystal River based out of Kodak. Joining the group brought the young man to East Tennessee where he fell in love with the area and has never wanted to leave.

It was during this time that Snyder found another love of his life, Melissa, while traveling with Crystal River. They met during a concert in Jonesborough.

During this time, the confirmation was made to Snyder that Southern Gospel music which he enjoyed singing was a natural progression to sing in the gospel music field and fulfill the call God had on his life.

Over the years, Snyder has had the privilege of touring with some of the top names in the Southern Gospel music industry.

While singing with Crystal River, all the members were single at the time so Snyder said that they would tour for weeks at a time due to not feeling obligated to rush home constantly and they had a fun time doing their tours.

But according to Snyder, as life naturally progresses everyone ended up getting married and starting families which proved more difficult for the group to do a three-week tour in Florida during the winter months.

He soon joined The Bowling Family which was the first time Snyder had traveled with a family group. During that time of touring with the Bowling Family, a lot of attention was garnered in the gospel music industry.

“The Crabb Family had just disbanded and all eyes were on the Crabb siblings to see what they were going to do in their separate ministries,” Snyder said. “We were a new group, but Mike and Kelly were already veterans so we were able to do some bigger venues and have a busier schedule than most new groups.

“Radio was very kind to us. Our freshmen album, Faith To Believe, had four #1 hits on it, which set a record at the time. The biggest song off of that recording was “Your Cries Have Awoken The Master.” They still sing it in concerts today.”

After his time with the Bowling Family ended, Snyder connected with another popular family group in The Greenes, which for the singer was a dream come true.

Snyder had grown up listening to the group so it was a full-circle moment for him when he received the phone call that they were extending an invitation to join the group.

A devastating time came for Snyder when Tony Greene went to be with the Lord in late 2010. After Greene’s passing, Snyder retired from full-time touring.

It was during his time with The Greenes, however, that one of his greatest memories was accomplished as the group had the privilege of singing at The Brooklyn Tabernacle in Brooklyn, N.Y., which was a bucket list item that he was able to check off.

“I had always been a fan of their choir, but meeting Pastor Jim Cymbala and having lunch with him in his office was a pretty neat experience,” Snyder said of the experience. “We did a concert there and sang with the choir.

“I will never forget singing a song

One of Jeff Snyder’s dreams would to be have his own group one day when his children are old enough to possibly travel and sing with him. Pictured are (L-R) Snyder, three-year-old Jonah, wife Melissa, eight-month-old Ruby, and seven-year-old Ezra.

Jeff Snyder belts out one of the popular songs made famous by The Greenes during a concert.

Jeff Snyder leads one of the largest choirs in Elizabethton as the worship leader at Valley Forge Freewill Baptist Church.

One of the album covers that Jeff Snyder was able to be featured on with The Greenes. The title of the album was ‘Hallelujah’.

called “Without The Cross” and looking over my shoulder to see that big choir backing me up. It was simply amazing!

“Also, it’s worth mentioning that while I was with Mike and Kelly Bowling, we did a couple of Gaither Homecoming videos and sang a lot on TBN’s Praise The Lord program, so those were really neat experiences as well.”

When asked what was one of the most challenging parts of being part of a touring group, Snyder said it was definitely the time being away from one’s family.

He went on to add that it seemed like everything was planned on the weekends when most gospel groups are busy touring from town to town and church to church so being out caused him to miss out on a lot of things.

One thing that Snyder was most proud of was that he never had to leave his kids as he and Melissa didn’t have their first child until 2013 after he had already come off the road.

Snyder had met Harris when Harris was traveling with The Perrys where they would see each other backstage or at the record table after concerts. That is where the two made the Tri-Cities connection.

He knew that Harris was heavily involved with his church so he and Melissa started attending the church in 2007 where they fell in love with it.

Snyder said in the early going that he was still touring so he wasn’t able to attend as much but after coming off the road they began to attend on a weekly basis and really became vested in the church.

The church would have Snyder sing a lot and as a result, he began forging friendships with the people at the church.

It was in the early fall of 2016 that Harris and Snyder were scheduled for a revival in Florence, S.C. During the drive to South Carolina, Harris informed Snyder about the opportunity that he was given to sing with the Kingdom Heirs, which automatically generated concern on Snyder’s part for the church since Harris was leading worship there.

Snyder told Harris something interesting at this point.

“I told him not to mention my name to anyone,” Snyder recalled about the conversation. “I was not interested in leading worship and singing again on a regular basis. God had other plans.

“Pastor Randy (Johnson), a couple of weeks later, was preaching on the disciples cleaning their nets, and Jesus coming to them and saying “launch out into the deep.”

“It was like the Lord was reprimanding me that morning, and saying ‘Jeff, you have been cleaning your nets long enough. It’s time to launch out into the deep again.’ So here I am. Four years later and still leading worship at Valley Forge. Never tell God you aren’t going to do something!”

Being a gospel singer and singing a song about the Christian walk is comparable to being a preacher delivering the most important sermon ever preached.

Snyder was asked what was the most important thing that he tries to do when selecting music, especially for the solo project that he recently completed.

“If a song speaks to me, I know it will speak to others,” Snyder said. “How am I supposed to minister to someone else when the song doesn’t minister to me first? So that’s a big deal for me.

“Also, I want the song to be theologically and biblically sound. Just because it sounds cool and the music moves me, doesn’t mean the words do not matter. The message matters to me more than the music itself.”

As far as leading a large church as a music director, there are challenges that have to be handled just like in any other position or job.

Snyder said that Valley Forge FWB was a unique place to serve because even though there is a large congregation, there is also a huge number of volunteers that help to shoulder a lot of Sunday morning’s load.

There is a lot of planning that goes into the music because, according to Snyder, if you are going to have a mission you better have a plan.

He has a very simple philosophy when it comes to worship leadership.

“Don’t leave any room for the devil to get in on the service,” Snyder stated. “When you get up there, know what you’re doing and where you’re going.

“This gives the Holy Spirit liberty to move in the service. Many times, God will come in and change the plan, and I love it when that happens.”

Snyder said that having a large choir really helps out when leading worship. He also said that he and the director of ministries, Gina Johnson, try their best to communicate with all of the musicians and choir members on a weekly basis.

Technology has made that task much easier as with one text message, a thousand people can be reached at one time, which is a blessing in communications.

As a side, Snyder was asked if he could sing a song with any group that had ever taken a stage to sing Southern Gospel who that would be and why.

“I love this question,” Snyder replied. “I would say the group would definitely have to be the Happy Goodman Family and the song would be ‘Just Any Day Now’. Why? Because I would get to sing with Vestal!”

He was also asked what it was like to work with a character like Tony Greene, who was known to be

Jeff Snyder hamming it up with Tony Greene of The Greenes.

able to make people get on the floor and belly roll with some of his tales, especially on the Bill Gaither Homecoming videos, recalling especially one of the most requested stories from Greene which would be his Jingle Bells tale.

“He was one of the funniest people I have ever known,” Snyder added. “On a serious note, Tony and I had a routine that I will always cherish. On Sunday mornings, after John (our driver and piano player) and I would set up, Tony and I would have coffee and toast for breakfast before the others on the bus would wake up.

“We would sit in the front lounge of the bus and talk about the news, politics, and spiritual things. He was a great boss to work for and I miss him every day.”

In closing, Snyder was asked if there was anything special he would like to do in the music industry should God open the door with health and life.

Snyder shared that he would like to have his own group one day, possibly a family group with his children.

“Melissa and I have three kids, Ezra (age 7), Jonah (age 3), and Ruby (8 months). I am praying that the Lord will give our children a love for Him and a love for music,” Snyder continued.

“Ezra is already showing signs of a great singing voice, so I can see where the Lord is already leading in that direction. I joke to my wife all the time and say that it would be a great retirement plan to travel the country on a tour bus and sing for Jesus!”

But even Snyder doesn’t know what plans God holds for his future and what the plans may be. He only remembers a day and time that he promised God that he would do whatever it was that the Master had in store for his life.

One thing Snyder is sure of and that is that until the Lord returns, he wants to be found faithful in fulfilling his calling.