Lynda Randle is presenting a glimpse into her heart with her new passion project, “Pilgrim Journey,” which was released last week. The album, produced by Dove Award-winning artist and songwriter Cindy Morgan, was something the Gaither Music artist had been wanting to do for a while but was fueled by the pandemic.
Alone during the shutdown, Randle confessed her heart became so heavy, and not necessarily about the virus.
“I’d done a lot of weeping and crying during the pandemic, not so much for COVID, even though it was bad, but because of the division in the body of Christ,” she said. “We love Jesus and say that we are His, but you don’t even like our brothers and sisters that don’t look like you? I have lamented; I have wept and cried and prayed.”
Randle called Morgan to see if she’d be willing to help verbalize her thoughts in new songs to accompany classics such as “Give Me Jesus” and “Motherless Child Medley.”
“This is how I grew up,” she said. “These are the songs that I’m familiar with, in my spirit, and I know I can communicate these messages. And I can use this music as a tool to talk to people about issues that sometimes people don’t want to talk about, in order to move further and to have those discussions.”
In addition to Morgan, Randle also invited friends such as GRAMMY® Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer Tommy Sims (Eric Clapton, Sting) and Kimberly Schlapman of country supergroup Little Big Town to join her on the songs “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me” and “Give Me Jesus.”
Both of the artists, along with Randle’s brother Michael Tait (Newsboys), also appeared in Randle’s recent TBN special, “Lynda Randle and Friends: A Pilgrim’s Journey,” in conjunction with Black History Month. The special featured several sites important to Black history in Middle Tennessee, including the McLemore House in Franklin, built and owned by former slave Harvey McLemore.
“They pulled out all the stops,” she said. “When I saw the trailer, I thought it was something that could be on PBS or primetime network television because it’s incredible.”
For Randle, who also made her debut at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry this month, she knows what her calling is and it’s more important than singing—it’s building bridges. Growing up in a predominately white neighborhood, attending a white school, and singing in a white choir, she faced her share of racist remarks. Instead of harboring bitterness, however, she credits her dad in seeing beyond it to love people as Jesus did.
“My dad was a street evangelist—he was cursed at and had knives pulled on him, and he was even robbed in a taxicab,” she said. “But Dad loved people and it didn’t matter what they did. God gifted him—and I believe God has done the same for me—with the ability to love people well.”
“Pilgrim Journey” is now available from Gaither Music. Catch “Lynda Randle and Friends: A Pilgrim’s Journey” airing on TBN. Listen to “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me” below.
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