Stay Prayed Up (2021) - full transcript

Welcome to the main event.

If you guys love church, this
event, really churchy, so...

And if you guys just wanna watch for fun

and check up on like how
your friends are doing,

most of your friends
might even be in there.

Heavenly Father.

We are gathered here again.

Yes, God.

Thanking you for your many, many blessings.

Yes God, Thank you.

Lord, You have been so good to us.



- Thank you, Lord.
- Yes, Lord.

Down through the years,

You have brought us this
far, and you never left us.

And we can't praise You enough.

Now as we go today in an
adventure that's new to us,

get in the midst, oh God.
- Yes, God.

And help us to do Your will.

We know that You're able,

and we know You can.
- Yes.

Strengthen us, oh God.

Look down on little old me, God.

Yes, yes.

Give us all that love we have inside of us

for one for another.



Do things for us, Holy Father.

We'll be so very, very, very careful

in giving your name the praise.

In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Amen.

♪ I'm gonna walk through
the streets ♪

♪ Of the city ♪

♪ Where my loved ones
have gone on before ♪

♪ I'm gonna sit down on
the banks ♪

♪ Of the river, oh lord ♪

♪ And I won't be back no more ♪

♪ All my troubles and my
triumphs will be over ♪

♪ Yes, it will ♪

♪ And I won't have to cry
no more ♪

♪ Oh yeah ♪

♪ I'm gonna sit down on
the banks ♪

♪ Of the river, oh yeah ♪

♪ And I won't be back no more ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Through the streets
of the city ♪

♪ My Lord ♪

♪ Where my loved ones has
gone on before ♪

♪ We're gonna sit down ♪

So many people call her
Mom, Mae or Mother Perry,

because it's a part of her.

- Try G.
- Try G?

Uh-uh.

I don't know of any that will go up to her

and call her Ms. Perry,

Nuh-uh. Mom got to come out
because mother is what you feel.

♪ On before ♪

♪ I'm gonna sit down ♪

Now, switch it over to
C, switch it over to C.

If I want run, I'll run.

If I wanna jump out, I'll jump.

Whatever the Lord say do.

Now I'm not a show off when
it come with dealing with God,

He's got to be in the midst

or I need to go somewhere and sit down.

♪ On the banks, woo ♪

♪ Of the river ♪

♪ Oh yes ♪

Come on, yeah.

♪ And I won't be back ♪

♪ No more ♪

- We sing in a C.
- Yeah.

I mean that, did you hear that though?

I mean, you heard that, Angela.

I know. I know you gotta
hit that C.

I knew it was C.

No, no, no, it wasn't that one.

- Yes, it is.
- It wasn't that one.

- It was-
- The first one we sung

was in C.

- Okay.
- I like that.

I like that too.

Yeah, I like that song.

- Yeah.
- I like that song too.

When we go out and sing
I don't mind singing songs

and take some songs from some other people,

but I'm starting from where I, you know,

I want to do that, I
mean, from back yonder.

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Look at the people ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Look at the people ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Look at the people ♪

♪ Standing at the judgment ♪

♪ Got to be tried ♪

They were very powerful
singers, those three ladies.

Sister Ethel Elliott had the highest voice.

The next voice down was
Sister Lena Mae Perry,

and their aunt, Sister Bennett,

she had the lowest voice.

And that was some beautiful
three part harmony.

They were consistent in the songs

that they chose to sing,

which were the old hymns.

And they will put their little twist on it.

And you knew, okay,
this is The Branchettes.

♪ I can see my mother, oh ♪

As time moved on,

Aunt Mae sort of drifted off from us,

but Ethel and I kept singing.

♪ You know that sin has left ♪

♪ A crimson stain ♪

♪ Woo, child, He washed it ♪

When the Lord says move,

feel like some fire get under your foot.

You just can't sit still.

You gonna holler.
You're gonna jump.

Whatever comes forth, you do it.

And it makes me feel all light.

Just feel like I can take wings and fly.

♪ All ♪

♪ To Him I owe ♪

♪ You know that sin ♪

I belong to a noisy crew.

Shouting and foot stomping and clapping

and praise the Lord,

A church gospel noisy crew.

- Try it, just try it.
- Test a line or two?

Okay.

Can anybody talk
about Wilbur without smiling?

He loves to play piano.

He loves music.

Wilbur plays.

He plays.

♪ You got to trust Him and
give Him time ♪

♪ Oh, no matter how
long it takes ♪

Even as a small child,
I saw pianos in my sleep.

I think that was a message from God.

♪ Don't you worry ♪

♪ I said He may not come
when when you want Him ♪

♪ But He's right on time ♪

We didn't do "Come
By Here, Good Lord," did we?

We have not done that one yet.

Yeah, that one knows
about "Victory's Mine."

Yeah.

And the other one, "I
Don't Feel Noways Tired."

'Cause I'm still bumpin'.

That's right.

The first time I met her, we
were singing within 20 minutes

of meeting each other altogether.

And she was teaching me parts.

♪ Ey, ey, ey, ey, Lord ♪

Anytime we're on a stage,
no matter where we are,

she will bring people to the altar.

She will invite something out of people.

She's taught me how to follow her.

I love him. He can sing.

And he falls in line with
the rest of the children.

Uh-huh.

But when we wind it,

we got to be sort of wide open, you know?

- Oh yeah.
- When we wind it.

Yeah.

I approached Sister Perry at one point

about let's make a record together.

Would you be willing to
make a record with me?

I love how she responded,
"That'd be fine."

♪ Jesus is real to me ♪

♪ Oh ♪

It changes there,

but we do the same thing.

♪ Oh yeah ♪

You don't have to say, oh, then.

You're down here.

♪ Real, real, Jesus is real ♪

Okay. Let's try it again.

Angela Kent is one of North Carolina's

absolutely foundational gospel singers.

She's just a powerhouse,
just a phenomenal singer.

♪ Whoa, yes ♪

♪ He gave me the victory ♪

Angela has known Sister
Perry for most of her life

and her presence and her
personality are just essential

to bringing that third part.

♪ That is why I love Him so ♪

♪ He's so real to me ♪

I love this. This is great.

These aren't any of the tunes
I wrote down and I love it.

I just am totally into it.

Once we decided it was a live record,

we talked about a lot of things.

What did you say?
What did you play?

We talked about honoring the
other Branchettes, obviously,

we talked about places and
rooms she's been in her life

and we would go back to,

well, where does the name
The Branchettes come from?

Long Branch Disciples of Christ.

It really makes me feel good

when I come up in this driveway.

Because this is my stomping ground.

We had a wonderful family.

We had singing parents, singing family.

♪ Were you there ♪

My sister, my brother and I,

we made our own music in the yard,

back up in a corner somewhere.

I would have a shoe box and
my sister had the foot tub.

We laughed, we frolicked,
we had a good time,

but we knew what we had to do.

At some points we had to fill up a barn

of tobacco the same day.

And it was a certain way

that the tobacco had to go on that stick.

Put it on that string and,

oh, could I do it.

♪ Tremble ♪

♪ Tremble ♪

♪ Tremble ♪

We thought it was hard, but it wasn't.

It was just part of life.

My grandmother and my
aunt were members here

at Long Branch Church.

There was elderly seniors
that taught us so much.

Three little kids knew
what three-part harmony

because we've heard it so much.

We knew that we were gonna
have to sing at church.

They called us then The Bennett Three.

We pops up, goes down there
to the front of the church.

And we would start singing.

And they would be just, you know,

clapping their hands and
some singing along with us.

And I heard, I heard my grandma say,

"Tear it all to pieces!"

♪ Come on,
you and me ♪

♪ And have you ever
seen a man like Jesus ♪

♪ He's a mystery, a mystery ♪

♪ Oh, have you ever
seen a man like Jesus ♪

♪ He's a mystery, a mystery ♪

As time moved on,

they wanted us to be in a sunshine band,

the little children's choir, okay?

And they'd take us every weekend

from church to church singing

and we would sing our little hearts out.

We were so glad to get in there.

'Cause the little choir
that came from this church,

we were bad.

We were bad.

♪ Made the blind to see ♪

♪ But then He remembered me ♪

♪ But have you ever
seen a man like Jesus ♪

♪ He's a mystery,
a mystery, oh ♪

♪ Have you ever seen a man
like Jesus ♪

Is that your senior picture?

Senior class picture.

- Okay.
- I loved school.

I really loved to go to school.

And that is Lena Mae Bennett.

Valedictorian class of 1957.

Lena Mae Bennett,

valedictorian.
- Yes.

We rehearsed in daddy's corn patch.

And we start singing this
little song that my, I think,

my granddaddy had taught
us, something like.

♪ We are rolling ♪

♪ We are rolling ♪

Now, little bitty children.

♪ We are rolling in
this unfriendly world ♪

♪ We
are rolling ♪

♪ We are rolling ♪

When we got ready to get in daddy's car,

we knew exactly where
we were supposed to sit

to make that harmony.

♪ We are rolling ♪

Coming on highway 70 towards Smithfield.

We saw this sign and we had
heard people talking about it,

but it had three great big
Ks: K-K-K.

♪ We are rolling ♪

With us being kids,

We didn't really know what it meant.

And we didn't talk about that.

It was a sense of fear.

There were some Klansmen in our community.

Some families had told us,
they was afraid to go outside.

Somebody said they gonna
come to their house.

We couldn't do that much about
it. All we could do was pray.

♪ We are rolling through
this unfriendly world ♪

I hope this record finds
people wherever they are,

somewhere in their life in a crazy way.

If it's the right person,
it's gonna change their life.

I grew up in a tiny town
in Northern Wisconsin,

called Chippewa Falls.

And everyone went to
confirmation on Wednesday nights

and we sang songs like.

♪ As the deer drinketh for
the water ♪

You know, and that's
like, that was the vibe.

I feel like music finds you

and it either grabs you
or it doesn't, so yeah,

it's a little funny that of
course gospel music came into me

through the form of
the movie "Sister Act."

You know what I mean?

I mean, that's just, if I'm being honest.

♪ Happy day ♪

♪ Oh happy day ♪

♪ Oh happy day, yeah ♪

♪ Oh happy day ♪

A multitude of voices all
together at the same time,

like harmony, but not just like,

♪ Harmony ♪

Like harmony! You know?

Just going like all those
things shaking and vibrating

at the same time, you know?

Like, do I have a choice?

No.

♪ Oh happy day ♪

Oh, oh my God.

Oh, she looks so good.

♪ Hello ♪

- Wow.
- Hey!

- Hey!
- Come by here.

Come by here.
- How's everybody?

You look absolutely gorgeous today.

Thank you, thank you.

- How you doing?
- Hi, sweetheart.

- How are you doing, mom?
- I'm good, how are you?

- Good.
- Good to be here.

- It's good to be here.
- Oh.

Oh, a handshake, huh?

Just a little handshake?
- Yeah.

Well, so what'd you think?

I said, I didn't know we
had to get all this stuff

in this little place.

I told Chris, the engineer.

I said, "When they walk in
the room, you hit record."

'cause when you get The
Branchettes into a room,

you never know what's gonna
come up, and sure enough,

Wilbur sat down and had recorded

an entire album's worth of
material in a half hour,

it was the first thing that happened.

♪ Someday I'm gonna
see my Lord ♪

♪ Walk around the
heavens, spread the news ♪

♪ Put on my shiny golden shoes ♪

♪ When my Savior calls me home ♪

♪ Well, you'd better get
ready for that great day ♪

♪ There with my angels
I will always stay ♪

♪ Heaven's gates will open
wide for me ♪

♪ When my Savior calls me home ♪

Wilbur is really deep in music.

I can think of a song.

He can tell me exactly
who sang it and the words.

♪ You must have the Holy Ghost ♪

♪ If you expect to join
the heavenly host ♪

♪ Put on my shiny golden shoes ♪

♪ When my Savior calls me home ♪

That's a good one.

That's a great song,

it was sung by the Walker Sisters

of Raleigh, North Carolina.

If there was the right promoter

or something down in this area,

they would have been pushed
to the top a long time ago.

Some people get breaks
and some people don't.

Oh yes.

Hi sugar, how you doing?

All right, "Walk The Streets Of The City,"

let's do one in G first.

I thought I sung that in C because it was,

you know, we had a little
conflict over that one.

- We got-
- With this one?

- Nope, sorry. Wrong key.
- Na-ah, that's not it.

No, it's not.

Gotcha!
- Is it G?

Let's find out, what is it?

Woo, hold tight.

I told you to rest, easy does it.

- Yeah, no, no, no.
- Yeah, listen to mama.

We've been.

When you continue to,

you gotta breathe
everybody's got to breathe

just a little bit.

Yeah, yeah, you gotta breathe.

Gotta catch their breath, that's the truth.

Let me see,

what key is that, G?
- What was the name

of the song you said?

Oh, what I sung to you.

Three years ago,

I had problems with
circulation on my left leg.

So I had to have it
amputated below the knee.

Every key I hit encourages
me to continue on.

♪ He was there ♪

Sing mom.

♪ All ♪

♪ The time ♪

♪ He was there ♪

♪ He was there ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ All the time ♪

♪ All the time ♪

♪ He was waiting patiently ♪

♪ Waiting patiently ♪

♪ He was waiting patiently ♪

♪ Oh, in line ♪

♪ In line ♪

♪ He was there ♪

It truly can be timeless.

Music can transcend space and time.

This record feels alive.

You can feel this record
and you can sit in the room

with this record and it
feels like you are there.

Yeah.

The God that put me here

is for me to inspire people.

And I pray and ask God,

you know, "Lord, I'm working for You.

Please open doors for me.

Please."

I prayed that prayer lots of times.

♪ We'll gather ♪

♪ Around the throne, whoa ♪

- I love it.
- That's very nice.

- I love it, I'll tell you.
- Yes, sir.

This week, we got stuff to do.

So tomorrow we got to
go out to Long Branch.

We'll be there on Friday.

And then we're gonna be there on Saturday,

we're gonna live at that church.

You going back to Long Branch tomorrow?

We're gonna get the sounds just right.

Make sure the volume, because, you know,

when I sing, I sing loud.

So the microphone will have to.

Oh yeah, we know.

I don't wanna.

That's why we're making this CD, you know,

we're making this because you sing loud.

I sing loud.

"The Branchettes and
friends at a nursing home

in Dublin, Ireland."

- I remember that.
- Hmm-mm.

Yes.
- Yes.

So mom, where were you guys in this photo?

That looks like when
y'all maybe first started.

I don't even think.
- Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, that's when we
were really getting down to it.

And that was an anniversary.

That was the first anniversary,
'cause we had corsages.

Oh! So this is like
the first anniversary?

Uh-huh, first anniversary.

- Wow.
- Yeah.

This one is the closest one.

This one says- 19.

- 82.
- 82.

Okay. So that would've
been your ninth anniversary.

That's at the,

isn't that at the Western
Assembly building?

And Wilbur would have
been in this time or no?

No.

We was on a journey. we were
singing at different churches.

So we went to this church
in Angier, North Carolina,

right down the road.

♪ I can see the sun ♪

♪ Peeking through the clouds ♪

♪ Oh the storm is almost gone ♪

Wilbur came up to play for this church.

When he put them long
fingers on that piano,

I said, "Ethel, that's the man."

♪ I prayed and I prayed ♪

♪ Prayed all night long ♪

We'd be invited to oh, so many churches

all over North Carolina,

Saturday nights, Sunday
mornings, Sunday evenings.

We were gone every weekend.

Travel, travel, travel, travel.

♪ Just couldn't rest until
my soul ♪

Johnston County, and surrounding counties,

are definitely known
for strong gospel roots.

For The Branchettes and other groups,

it's your demand.

It's your demand that you put on yourself,

and then the demand that
the people put on you.

♪ Oh yeah ♪

♪ God is the kingdom ♪

♪ God is my friend ♪

♪ God is ♪

A gospel choir anniversary

is a celebration of another year

that you have been steadfast,

unmovable, doing the work of God.

♪ God is the captain ♪

♪ God is ♪

♪ Woke me up ♪

♪ God is ♪

The attendance sheet will run

from 12 to 15 groups each day.

She had quartets, choirs,
soloists, oh my goodness,

it was so many groups.

♪ Lord, I thank You ♪

♪ Lord, I thank You ♪

We started it here, but
the church was too small.

♪ Standing ♪

♪ Standing ♪

I know she has traveled far

because of the support that
she gets at her anniversary.

Some of those groups traveled
two hours and sang two,

maybe three songs.

But they traveled because they
were gonna be in the midst

of something remarkable.

Every group, every person
don't have that ability

to give the people a
ministry that they want,

a ministry that they need

and a ministry that they're
going to hunger for.

Cucumbers, an old tradition.

Let me see, let me see.

We learned a lot of this
when we were at home

and daddy grew his cucumbers.

Wilbur will tell me
sometimes, "Sister Perry."

When he say it like that,

I know it's something about cooking.

He want me to tell him
how to put something,

what to put together.

She would tell me exactly what to do

and it'll come out right every time,

I'm surprised she doesn't have

Sister Lena Mae Perry's
cookbook on the market.

Get it all mixed up.

Whip it up real good.

And I got some of these
little utensils that people,

that lazy people use to keep
from using their arm, you know?

See, you just take time and do it,

and it'll whip up.

One of the previous
chapters of Sister Perry's life,

she owned a soul kitchen in Raleigh,

called Mae's Country Kitchen.

I cooked real meals.

Not no sandwiches.

I would go down there every day.

I don't care if I was working in Cary.

I would come back at 12 o'clock
and eat at Mae's Kitchen.

I had the little booths

up and down the side of this wall.

I had the little barstools
and I could walk around

and talk to each one of them.

You see all kinds of people
there, all walks of life.

Some of them half drunk, but
they would be there.

I fed people.

You don't know what they're dealing with.

I talked their kinda language,

something that they needed
to hear, no negative mess.

She could handle a congregation

of hundreds of people, all of
us hungry at the same time,

all of us going into the fellowship hall

at the same time,

you knew that Mother Perry had put her love

and her professional touch to it.

If you didn't come back for the preaching,

you sure came back for the food.

She and her family share meals together

several times a week, you know?

And they are all grown and
married and have their own lives

and careers, but they dine
together several nights a week.

Their daddy started
it and if they weren't here,

especially by this time,

he'd be on the phone
calling every one of them.

♪ Here we go again ♪

He would look after those kids

while I was gone and I stayed on the road.

And he never ever said
to me that you can't go.

He made it possible.

Even though she traveled a lot,

she'd let people know,
"I gotta get back home.

I still am a wife and a mom."

Sorry I'm late.

You made it though.

Well, he wanted to be sitting
at the end of that table,

facing his children,
they laughing and talking

and cutting up.

Get a little bit of everything.

♪ Trying to get rid of all,
all my sins ♪

Let's say a prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, we
thank you for this moment.

We thank You for what we
have accomplished this day.

We thank You for us being
a close, connected family.

Thank you for being able to see my children

about almost every day.

Keep them safe if it is Your will.

Now Lord, we are truly and thankful

for what we are about to receive,

for the nourishments of our
bodies for Christ sakes,

amen.
- Amen.

It wasn't too long, was it?

It wasn't too long,

we didn't have to get
the offering trays out

it was good.

Yeah.
- Regina has worked another,

she could almost have ran
the restaurant for me.

Y'all pretty well knew
what you're supposed to do.

I knew how to clean the stove

and I didn't wash many dishes.

Sometimes I went back there to wash dishes

just to get out of the front.

Regina!

Ain't nobody could be
in the kitchen but mama.

And still can't go in there now.

Can't go in there now.

Don't put nothing in the sink.

Can't wash dishes.
- Can't do nothing.

Can't even walk in there.

- Wilbur and Wilbur and-
- Wilbur was here,

yeah, Wilbur.
- Wilbur was here,

playing the piano, yeah.

When you were a little boy

and we had a piano in there.
- Just running in here

with me all of the time.

I didn't care what note y'all was on,

I was just gonna run right in.

When all of those kids was young,

I taught them to love everybody

because I knew that in this life

there's a lot of things you got to confront

and you got to have enough faith

and you got to be able to
put enough trust in God

that you can handle what
comes up against you.

In 1997,

I lost my oldest child, Kenny.

He was a smart child.

He was so sweet

and he really loved karate.

And right out of high
school, he went into service.

He was overseas a whole lot.

And when he come home,

we would just be so
overwhelmed, there come my baby.

When he was sick, when they
called me, I went to Germany.

And I went to visit him.

And they had this long board

across there with different plugs in it.

And my baby would have

something in each every one of them plugs,

trying to keep him.

I never saw him move.

I just sit there and watched.

There's nothing like losing a child.

You can't help but think
about it and it hurts

just like it happened yesterday.

As we are born in the world,

we don't know how we gonna leave.

And I didn't want to question
God, 'cause He's in control.

And it seemed like when I
begin to like trust God,

I got a little bit of more ease.

I said, God, You handle this.

I can't handle this.

♪ I don't feel ♪

♪ No ways tired ♪

♪ I've come too far ♪

♪ From where I started from ♪

♪ Nobody told me ♪

♪ That the road would be easy ♪

♪ I don't believe He brought
me this far ♪

♪ To leave me ♪

♪ I don't feel ♪

♪ No ways tired ♪

♪ I've come too far ♪

♪ From where I started from ♪

♪ Nobody told me ♪

♪ That this road would be easy ♪

♪ I don't believe He's
brought me this far ♪

♪ To leave me ♪

Y'all, I just got to say it again.

♪ I don't feel ♪

♪ No ways tired ♪

♪ I've come too far from where ♪

♪ I started, started from ♪

♪ Nobody told me ♪

♪ That this road would be easy ♪

♪ I don't believe He brought
me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe, I don't
believe He brought me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe, I don't
believe He brought me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe,
I don't believe ♪

♪ I don't believe, He
brought me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe,
I don't believe ♪

♪ He brought me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe,
I don't believe ♪

♪ He brought me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe,
I don't believe ♪

♪ He brought me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe,
I don't believe ♪

♪ He brought me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe,
I don't believe ♪

♪ He brought me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe,
I don't believe ♪

♪ He brought me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe,
I don't believe ♪

♪ He brought me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe,
I don't believe ♪

♪ He brought me this far ♪

♪ I don't believe,
I don't believe ♪

♪ He brought me this far ♪

♪ To leave me ♪

- How are you, all right?
- Hello.

- Hey, Miss Mae.
- Hello.

- Hi.
- Look at you,

ooh, that's beautiful.

Hey sweetie.
- Morning, how are you?

- I'm good, love you all.
- You look good.

Hey, Deacon Exum.
- All right.

Everybody loves Sister Perry.

Bless your heart.

Good to see you.

She's a God-fearing woman,

you can look and count on her.

Church is her middle name.

Well, let me see
if I'm gonna get me a snack.

- Good morning.
- Good morning.

What a mighty God we serve.

What a mighty God.

We've come into this
house gathered in His name.

That's right.

We may as well go on
and give Him the praise.

Hallelujah!

My mama always told me,

keep yourself prayed up.

And that's what I do.

- Anyone else?
- Yeah.

'Cause the same God that's in the church,

is the same God that's out
there with me on those stages.

Mighty, mighty good.

♪ Operator ♪

♪ Long distance, long distance ♪

♪ I want Jesus ♪

♪ On the line ♪

Gospel music has a tendency to go

where the gospel itself cannot go.

The gospel is the power
of God unto salvation.

We know we need the gospel.

But to get some people to the gospel,

you've got to give them
the appetizer of the music.

♪ Yeah God, long distance ♪

You get as much out of a song as a sermon.

That one gospel song can
pull you into the church

because their spirit has been uplifted.

♪ Call Jesus ♪

♪ Call Him up ♪

♪ Tell Him ♪

♪ Tell Him what you want ♪

Yeah!

- Amen?
- Amen.

Amen, and so I praise Him.

I have hope.

I want y'all to get that too.

A lot of stuff is going on.

We're living in a hopeless time.

I mean, can we be real?

Can I talk to some real people today?

Woo!

This thing has to become personal to y'all.

- Come on, preacher!
- That is right, that's right.

You hear me?

I can encourage you,
and I can offer you hope

and I can tell you about Jesus.

But you got to get
persuaded in your own heart

and in your own mind.
- That's right, that's right.

Yeah, I want you to have hope.

Cliff, I want you to have hope.

Flora, I do, I really do,
I want you to have hope,

but you've got to dig in.

Yeah, yeah, we can't wait

until the battle is over to shout.

We've got to shout now
through our situation.

I can't see my way all the time,

but I still have to lift up my hands

and thank God.

I don't always have what I wanna have,

but I lift up my hands

and I thank God, why,
because little becomes much.

Yes. Yes!

For God I live,

and for God I die.

And for this one thing, I have hope!

Yes.

♪ Take the Lord with you ♪

♪ Children, everywhere you go ♪

♪ C'mon and take the Lord
with you ♪

♪ Take the Lord now ♪

♪ Everywhere you go ♪

♪ My mother told me ♪

♪ Take the Lord ♪

♪ When I was young ♪

♪ Take the Lord ♪

♪ This Christian journey ♪

♪ Take the Lord ♪

♪ You've gotta run ♪

♪ Take the Lord ♪

♪ Leave your hand ♪

♪ But take the Lord ♪

♪ In Jesus' hand ♪

♪ Take the Lord ♪

♪ And He will lead you ♪

♪ Take the Lord ♪

♪ To heaven land ♪

♪ Take the Lord ♪

♪ Take the Lord with you ♪

♪ Children, everywhere you go ♪

Oh, good morning, Vanessa.

I was just checking on you.

After the conversation last
night to see how you were doing

and see if you're feeling
good this morning,

but I'll give you a call a
little bit later, okay, bye-bye.

♪ God will take care of you ♪

♪ Through every day ♪

♪ Along the way ♪

So many people call Sister Lena Mae Perry

to pray for them, as
though she was a minister.

But then again, too, she knows how to pray.

♪ Take care of you ♪

Every time I've been sick
in and out of the hospital,

she was there.

♪ God will ♪

♪ Take care ♪

♪ Of you ♪

♪ Through everyday ♪

I'm gonna get this.

♪ Along the way ♪

Hello?

I'm doing great. How are you?

Oh, I'm glad.

I'm glad to hear that.
I'm glad to hear that.

I had you on my mind and said
let me check on everybody.

You'd be surprised at the things

that some people are going through.

And I sit there sometimes
hours trying to let them know

that they're not alone.

Well, I know, you know, I've
been there and done that

and there ain't but so much you can do.

There's not, then the
next thing you got to look

after yourself also, so.

I'm one of just dozens
if not hundreds of people,

lucky enough to call her on
the phone and hear her voice.

I'm just trying to take-

She's opened me up so much more

to where I see God every day.

So many more places than
I did five years ago.

In people, in nature,
in all kinds of things.

I've just noticed
gratitude being a lot more

at the forefront of my brain.

♪ Down at the cross ♪

♪ Where He bled and died ♪

♪ Get right with God ♪

♪ Get right,
get right with God ♪

♪ Oh, it reaches ♪

♪ To the highest ♪

♪ Mountain ♪

♪ Oh ♪

The people's key, Wilbur.

♪ And it flows ♪

Kenny arrived from Maryland

and basically just walked in the room

and we handed him a microphone
and he just went into it

and we went straight
into a song he taught us.

♪ Whoa, yeah ♪

♪ Oh the blood ♪

I've known Kenny since he was a little boy.

He's an excellent singer.

And what makes it so good,

he's not ashamed to give God praise.

He gives God all he got.

I'm trying to, I'm trying to think.

Now I sing it a totally different way.

Sometimes I'll solo the first part.

And then everybody come in on,

but I don't wanna take anybody
out of their comfort zone.

- Nope.
- That'd be cool.

- Yeah, that'd be cool.
- You wanna say it

again, Kenny?
- It'd be you and I

for the first part.

And then when we get to "Oh, oh"

that's when everybody comes in.

- First, second verse.
- Yeah.

- "It reaches."
- I see what you're saying.

"It reaches", that part.

Yeah, yeah, you guys come in, "Oh, oh"

and you just build, "I know it-

"Reaches," yep.

And then just give me everything.

Yeah.

- Mm-hm.
- Everything and just kind of-

- Yeah.
- Pick every note on there.

I ask the Lord to instill into my mind

songs that will flow
through the congregation.

So that they might be able to feel it.

Let's get, yeah.

♪ The blood ♪

♪ That Jesus ♪

Are you gonna be paraphrasing?

I might.

♪ Jesus, oh he shed ♪

♪ For me ♪

And if you wanna give me cymbals, you can.

Yup, we're going old school church.

♪ Way back on Calvary ♪

Then I might say something like.

♪ Oh I know it was the blood ♪

That word, G-O-S-P-E-L, that's faith.

♪ That's given me strength,
Lord, yeah ♪

The church is a building, but
the church is inside of you.

♪ Today, oh ♪

♪ It will never ♪

♪ Never ♪

There we go!

♪ Never lose ♪

♪ Its power ♪

♪ Whoa ♪

♪ I know it reaches ♪

How many of you know that?

♪ To the high, Lord ♪

♪ To the highest mountain ♪

♪ And when I found
myself in the low place ♪

♪ I found out that,
that same blood ♪

♪ It flows ♪

♪ All the way on down to
the lowest ♪

♪ Yeah, Lord,
the lowest valley ♪

♪ Somebody said, oh yeah,
oh yeah ♪

♪ I know the blood, yeah ♪

♪ That gives me strength,
y'all ♪

♪ From day ♪

♪ To day ♪

♪ Yeah, Lord,
it will never lose ♪

♪ Its power ♪

♪ I wanna say it one more time ♪

♪ Let's say it, listen ♪

♪ Whoa ♪

♪ I know it reaches ♪

♪ To highest, Lord,
to the highest ♪

♪ This is real church,
the highest mountain ♪

♪ And then I found out
that, that same blood ♪

♪ Said it flows ♪

♪ It flows all the way on down ♪

♪ To the lowest, lowest valley ♪

♪ Somebody say, oh yeah,
oh yeah, oh ♪

♪ The blood, yeah ♪

♪ That gives me strength ♪

♪ From day ♪

♪ To day ♪

♪ It will never ♪

♪ I don't know about you but
I found out ♪

♪ That it will never lose
its power ♪

♪ It will never ♪

♪ I've been down to my
last dime ♪

♪ But it still never will ♪

♪ It will never ♪

♪ Said I've been sick in
my body ♪

♪ And it will never, never,
never, never, never ♪

♪ Never, never, never,
never, never, never, never ♪

♪ Never lose, yeah, its power ♪

We're getting ready for more.

You ought to tap your
neighbor, say neighbor.

Neighbor.

The blood still works.

So mom, what are you gonna wear today?

Oh, the purple is pretty, yes.

All the details with the feathers

and that yellow will be pretty too.

Oh yes. I don't
know about that one, Lena.

- Yeah.
- I love this one.

- Yeah, the yellow.
- I love this color, yes.

It's beautiful.

So it's a hard choice.

What would The Branchettes wear?

You knew it was gonna
represent the glory of God.

Every woman was sitting there going, yes,

celebrate yourself by the
way you adorn yourself.

They were ready now.

I looked at my
closet, had just about forgotten

that I had this one.
- It's gorgeous.

And I said, oh my goodness,

I'm gonna wear that dress today.

I have put a whole lot
of prayer in this project.

And one of the things that
would just thrill me so much,

if in this service,

with God being in charge,

that somebody would just
stand up in that congregation

and tell God, "Thank
you, I've been saved."

People might not express it,

but there's gonna be a
change in somebody's life.

That's what I'm working for.

Let me lay them flat

so they don't get any wrinkles.

There's a song that we sing,

"Please be patient with me,

God is not through with me yet.

And when God gets through with me,

I shall come forth like pure gold,

my gold digging is here.

And I'm so happy that I waited on the Lord.

♪ Everybody talking ♪

♪ 'Bout heaven won't make it
to heaven ♪

♪ All of us talking about ♪

♪ Heaven won't make it
to heaven ♪

♪ Whoa, the master of
the house has spoken ♪

♪ And he won't forsake me ♪

♪ Standing on the outside ♪

♪ Knocking on heaven's door ♪

I think you can be
around a person for so long

and you become that person.

Those two, it was like a marriage.

Loving, supportive, brave,

honest, them coming together,
making The Branchettes,

I think it gave them that strength

that God's grace was gonna be sufficient

together and separate.

♪ There must be joy ♪

♪ Oh, unspeakable ♪

♪ I am taught, whoa ♪

♪ After I ♪

♪ Have run this old race ♪

Ethel Mae was my friend.

She knew what I liked and
she would cook some of that.

And we'd pick the songs we
were gonna sing together.

That's what you call real true love.

And she was comical.

She could tell you something,

she'd break out and start laughing.

The Branchettes never forgot

where they came from.

They sung their roots

and they sung a message to you.

♪ Oh, will You keep me, Lord ♪

♪ Yes, Lord ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ In a pure ♪

♪ Oh, I wanna live ♪

♪ Oh, I want to live ♪

♪ In a building ♪

Okay.

Right here is my grandma.

That one right there is a first cousin.

Ah, Ethel, you know, I miss you so much.

And even now, when we go somewhere to sing,

I don't care where it is, I can
always hear you in this ear.

And it is so beautiful, that voice.

You're still one of us,
we'll never forget you.

That S is still on Branchettes.

When I went to visit Ethel in the hospital,

I made a promise to her in her ear.

As long as the Lord let me live,

The Branchettes name will keep
on going until I leave here.

And that's what I'm doing.

♪ Come by here, good Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Come by here, good Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Come by here, good Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Yeah, oh, Lord, come by here ♪

♪ Oh, come by here if
you don't stay long ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Come by here,
if you don't stay long ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Come by here,
but don't stay long ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Yeah, oh, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ There's someone that's
in trouble, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Somebody's in trouble, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Somebody's in trouble, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Oh Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Why don't You come by here ♪

♪ Won't You come by here, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Come by here, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Come by here, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here, Lord ♪

♪ Come by here ♪

♪ Yeah, Lord ♪

♪ Lord ♪

♪ Lord ♪

♪ Lord ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Lord ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Lord ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Oh, come by here ♪

♪ Lord ♪

♪ Amen ♪

♪ Oh yes, sir ♪

♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪

♪ Jesus, thank you, Jesus ♪

Thank you for all the week,

for everyone that participated,

for all of them that come
out to do this for us

for The Branchettes, and
I thank God for that.

I know God is pleased.

I know those other two
Branchettes are pleased.

We're still carrying the legacy on.

I've come too far now to turn around.

Continue to give us that
strength that we need.

All our families, we need
You in a time just like this.

All our friends, we need you too.

And even our enemies, we all need You.

Now, God bless us.

We shall be blessed.

Reverend, will you please dismiss us?

God, our Father.

God, we thank You for
showing up and showing out.

God, we thank You for
allowing Your Holy Spirit

to rest, rule and abide in this place, God.

Now God, after every song and every prayer,

we've done all that was
asked for us to do God.

God, we ask that as we leave this place,

but not from Your presence,

that You take us over
the dangerous highways

and return us safely to our homes.

And God let us find everything that we left

better than it was, as we return, God.

Now watch over us and keep
us until we meet again.

And we all say, amen.
- Amen.

- Amen.
- Amen.

- Amen again.
- Yeah.

♪ Let the church say amen ♪

♪ Let the church say
amen, whoa ♪

♪ God has spoken ♪

♪ Let the church say amen ♪

♪ Would you mind saying it
one more time ♪

♪ Let the church say amen ♪

The Lord has blessed and kept us.

Given us the strength that we
need to do what we are doing.

And we are happy.

We are so, so happy.

♪ Say amen ♪

They're not the only group, by a long shot,

that have been doing
this thing for that long,

but the dedication is
something that we honor.

They're compelled.

It's down to their heels.
It's all through their bodies.

It's so much bigger than them.

They're not gonna retire.

That's not how it works.

They will do this until they are no more.

- Bless your heart, doll.
- Yes, you did.

- How you doing, sweetheart?
- You was awesome.

And I just feel good too.

Absolutely.

There's an old hymn that I love

called "A Satisfied Mind."

Every time I hear that song,
I think of Sister Perry.

I love people.

Because if I didn't love people,

all of my running would be in vain

and I don't want it to be in vain.

Her whole life,

she's strengthened the
ties between human beings.

They feel closer, they see each other

because of the vast amount
of love that is in her heart.

That's just an example
of what one person can do

in one community,

person to person

day to day,

song to song,

over the course of a life.

I want God to just keep

and continue to elevate me.

I refuse to give up.

Now at 80 years old

and He's brought me this far?

I want Him to use me until He uses me up.

Then I'll be satisfied.

♪ When we all see Jesus ♪

♪ We will sing and shout
the victory ♪

Hello?

Hey, Mae.

Hey, how are you?

Yeah, me too, me too.

Try and take it one,

taking it one day at a time
and trying to keep on going.

Uh-huh.

Good. Good.

Good.

Here we go.

Listen.

♪ There'll be singing
over yonder ♪

♪ There'll be singing
over there ♪

♪ When the singers get
together ♪

♪ How we gonna enjoy
one another ♪

♪ We're gonna lay
down our life ♪

♪ For the Lord ♪

♪ Lord, I know, we're
gonna lay down our life ♪

♪ For the Lord ♪

♪ There'll be shouting
over yonder ♪

♪ There'll be shouting
over there ♪

♪ When the shouters get
together ♪

♪ How we're gonna enjoy
one another ♪

♪ We're gonna lay down
our life for the Lord ♪

♪ Lord, I know were
gonna lay down our life ♪

♪ For the Lord ♪

♪ All right, one verse, listen ♪

♪ You don't believe ♪

♪ That I've been redeemed ♪

♪ Said you follow me down
to the Jordan stream ♪

♪ Said I stepped down in
the water ♪

♪ Said I stepped down in
the water ♪

♪ Said I stepped down in
the water ♪

♪ Said I stepped down in
the water ♪

♪ Said, I, step, step, step,
step, step ♪

♪ Step, step, step, step, step ♪

♪ Step, step, step, step, step ♪

♪ Step, step, step, step, step ♪

Is that all right? Listen!

♪ When we all get to heaven ♪

♪ What a day of rejoicing
that will be ♪

♪ When we all see Jesus ♪

♪ We will sing and shout
the victory ♪

♪ Put your hands together ♪

♪ Some glad morning ♪

♪ When this life is over ♪

♪ Said, I'll fly away ♪

♪ Well I'm going to a home on ♪

♪ God's celestial shore ♪

♪ Saying, I'll fly away ♪

♪ Put your hands together ♪

All right, last one, last one.

♪ There'll be singing
over yonder ♪

♪ There'll be singing
over there ♪

♪ When the singers get
together ♪

♪ How we gonna enjoy
one another ♪

♪ We're gonna lay down
my life for the Lord ♪

♪ Lay down my life for
the Lord ♪

♪ We will work ♪

♪ We'll work ♪

♪ Until Jesus comes ♪

♪ We will work ♪

♪ We'll work ♪

♪ 'Til He comes ♪

♪ I said, we will work ♪

♪ We'll work ♪

♪ Until Jesus comes ♪

♪ That is when ♪

♪ We'll gather around
the throne ♪

♪ We will work ♪

♪ We'll work ♪

♪ 'Til Jesus come ♪

♪ We're gonna work ♪

♪ Oh yes, we will work ♪

♪ Until He comes ♪

♪ Yes, we will work ♪

♪ So glad about it ♪

♪ We'll work ♪

♪ Until Jesus, Jesus comes ♪

♪ That is when ♪

♪ We'll gather around
the throne ♪

I love it.

♪ Will I ever get home ♪

All right.