PURPOSEFUL ENTERTAINMENT ‘Making Christ known’
Fof IFTEEN YEARS into the mission to win the next generation for Jesus Christ, Tommy Cowan, CEO of Glory Music, the producers The Best Dressed Fun In The Son, believes that though the mission has evolved, they have been successful at achieving their mandate. Fun In The Son, which initially started in Ocho Rios, St Ann, in 2002 as a Christian alternative to spring break, credits its success to ‘obedience to the voice of the Lord’ and its partnership with the Jamaica Broilers Group. “Whatever we think each time, we have always gone to the Lord to get his approval and, in doing so, we have come through each time. Our partnership with Jamaica Broilers has also immensely contributed to our success because we find that we are quite compatible and equally yoked. We desire the same result – a change for the Lord in this country, especially among the next generation,” Cowan told The Gleaner. With a drastic decline in the number of stage show productions due to sponsorship constraints, Cowan is adamant that Fun In The Son continues to deliver wholesome family entertainment because of the organisers’ integrity. “We have always been blessed to deliver what we say we would. At one time, I worked with Bob Marley and he was the king of reggae, and he did things with excellence. And I say if we did that for the king of reggae, what about the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and The Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah? We have to do it with excellence.” The first staging of Fun In The Son transformed Ocho Rios for a weekend into a hotbed of Christian entertainment and ministry. Initially geared towards college students, the festival offered a fun-filled alternative to traditional spring break activities. Crediting his son, Che, for conceptualising the name of the event, Cowan said he was a bit hesitant when he first heard it. “At that time, you had Sun Splash and all these shows with ‘sun’ in it, and he said, ‘No, Fun In the SON, who made the SUN’.”
With Cowan’s most memorable Fun In The Son moment being the two years following the event’s move to Kingston, which saw the show’s patrons doubling in number, the event’s vision statement of ‘making Christ known’ has already come to fruition with more than 15,000 souls being saved since its inception.
Fun In The Son has consistently provided a free, family-oriented stellar music festival annually for thousands of Jamaicans. In recognition of this, Fun in the Son is the recipient of the 2016 Gleaner Honour Award in the category Entertainment.
“This is good; it is good to be awarded by The Gleaner because God gets the glory. It feels good to know that we’ve been obedient to the calling. This means a lot to us and it means we have done something right. In the world today that is not all gospel, by doing things for the Lord, we can be awarded by The Gleaner, an institution that means so much to so many people.”
With artistes and speakers such as Donnie McClurkin, Mary Mary, Alvin Slaughter, Kirk Franklin, Israel Haughton and Dr Ron Kenoly having already performed at the festival, it is Cowan’s hope that Darlene Zschech, Chris Tomlin and Hillsong will be the next guest artistes to grace the Fun In The Son stage.
This year’s staging will be held in aid of Haiti, an effort by Cowan to further the vision to create a region that comes together for Christ.
“Haiti is our neighbour and the need for Christ is so heavy on our hearts for them. They’ve gone through so much and are still standing and more and more people in Haiti are coming to know Jesus Christ.”