There is one artist whose name looms large in the international Gospel arena, not just for his extraordinary musical accomplishments, but for his passionate ministry, and the mountains he has had to climb to get to where he is. A troubled childhood, a teenage calling to street and prisons evangelism and an adult life plagued by struggles with homosexuality, pastor Donnie McClurkin's journey is a true tale of 'rising from the ashes'.
 Born on November 9th 1959 in to a family plagued with domestic violence and drug abuse, experiences he openly shares in his book Eternal Victim/Eternal Victor, his redemption from this traumatizing background came through his aunt who at the time was a background vocalist for Andrae Crouch.
Staying close to Crouch through boyhood, McClurkin began playing the piano and singing in his church’s youth choir. As a teenager, he formed the McClurkin Singers group and later another, The New York Restoration Choir. It was in 1989 that McClurkin was hired as an associate minister in Marvin Winans’ Perfecting Faith Church and also suffered a short spout of leukemia.
His journey as a recording artist began in 1996, when he signed with producers Mark Kibble (Take 6), Andrae Crouch and Victor Caldwell to produce his self titled album which went gold and is remembered for its timeless hit Stand. What followed has been a lucrative career in the gospel industry, with McClurkin releasing deeply convicting and inspirational cuts off his five albums.
2000’s Live in London and More is jam packed with his all time favorites, like the Caribbean Medley, and the revolutionary We Fall down. Undoubtedly ,the success of this album opened more doors for this exceptional artist, in addition to catapulting him into the international limelight.
Indeed, McClurkin saw greater successes in 2000 and years following. Spurred on by the hit single We Fall Down, the phenomenal recording Live in London and More, won him a string of awards which include; Grammy award for Best Soul Contemporary Gospel, NAACP Image award for Outstanding Gospel Artist, a BET Award, and a number of Stellar and Dove Awards.
In 2003, he dropped the soulful Again which has the unforgettable rendition of Create In Me A Clean Heart. 2005’s Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs is his most recent project, which is a mixture of contemporary, traditional hymns and praise and worship songs like the I Call You Faithful (I Call You Holy) hit.
As one of the most accomplished and respected Gospel Artists, Donnie McClurkin is known for music that is not only inspiring but also speaks of hope and God’s unfailing love when we are going through life’s challenges. In doing this he has created himself a matchless niche in the Gospel scene, where he combines elements of both the traditional and modern styles. He has been described as having the soul of Andrae Crouch but the flair of contemporary artist Kirk Franklin.
In addition to his musical career, McClurkin also has impressive accomplishments in the television/film industry. In Rob Hardy’s The Gospel (2005), McClurkin teamed up with a star studded cast of Boris Kodjoe, Omar Gooding, Idris Elba, Yolanda Adams among others. He is also featured in Paramount Studio’s award winning film The Fighting Temptations starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyonce Knowles. He also makes an appearance in Tyler Perry’s Diary of A Mad Black Woman. His television appearance include sitcoms like The Parkers and Girlfriends
Despite these successes in both the music and film industry, McClurkin has also maintained an equally, if not more (by his standards), successful career in ministry. McClurkin served as an assistant pastor to Pastor Marvin Winans at Detroit’s Perfecting Church for over a decade, having been hired as an associate minister at Winans’ Perfecting Faith Church in 1989.
McClurkin started pastoring in 2001 and in the same year he was ordained and sent out by Pastor Winans to establish Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport, New York. In the industry’s eye though, this was the worst timing, since he was at the peak of his musical career. McClurkin however believes that the singing was part of God’s plan in bringing him to the place of pastoring.
“It’s easy to let go of the singing for me and to be pastoring because that’s who I am. It’s the people. God’s called me to minister to his people and they are important to him. The singing is secondary”
Donnie McClurkin has faced and gone through very many challenges, yet it is evident that his musical and pastoral ministry is noticeably unique, having transcended ethnic, religious and cultural barriers. Most importantly though the message he desires that be seen and heard in all that he does is this:
“I hope people will be able to say that I really had a true relationship with God. Not only did I sing it, but my life exemplified it…no façade or hypocrisy. When I was wrong, I was wrong, but I took blame rather than allow holiness to appear to be some fabricated way of life”.
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at Tuesday, 10 June 2008 22:40
On December 21 2003, I listened to He's Calling You and the incredible need to serve God become so intense that i went to church New Year's eve and I have been serving Him ever since. Pastor McClurkin continues to be an inspiration to me with songs such as We Fall Down. May God continue to bless him for his awesome ministry. May be some day I will have my dream of meeting Pastor McClurking come true. God Bless.
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