GRAMMY-WINNING GOSPEL SINGER HAILED FOR HIS CHURCH WORK.

Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer

PACOIMA - Nine-time Grammy winner Andrae Crouch can't sit at a piano without breaking into song.

But seven years ago, he put aside his jet-setting career as a gospel singer to become pastor of an ailing Pentecostal church in Pacoima, devoting his life to community service in his hometown.

The philanthropic work of Crouch and his twin sister, Sandra, who runs the New Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ's numerous community programs, will be recognized today with a Hollywood Gospel Insider humanitarian award.

``They have shown us that sometimes it is not about money or the material things. You are humbled by them,'' said Diane Blackmon, president and CEO of Blackmon Entertainment Media, a Woodland Hills-based gospel programming group that produces the awards show.

``He was at the top of the game but to him it's not a sacrifice to step down from the position of superstar to be a minister.''

The decision was not so simple for the charismatic Andrae Crouch.

``I could hear a voice calling, saying, 'You are the pastor,' and I could hear me saying, 'No, you are not,''' Crouch said.

``But there are things I knew I had to surrender. I got rid of the phone numbers, the love letters,'' not to mention a glamorous, globe-trotting life that allowed him to work with such musical luminaries as Quincy Jones, Billy Preston and Madonna.

Like all things in his life, it was a matter of necessity similar to the day his father laid hands on the then 11-year-old Crouch and blessed him with the gift of music - to which Crouch attributes his musical success.

Uncontrollable events, he said, have determined the course of his life.

Feeling the tug of family and communal duty, Crouch took over the church in 1995 after the death of his brother, who had taken over the church from their father when he died in 1992. Both died of cancer.

The 1,000-member congregation, founded by the elder Crouch four decades ago, drew generations of African-American families with roots in Pacoima, as well as hundreds of others, including Latinos.

But after the death of Crouch's brother, the church was losing members as a series of pastors was brought in to replace him.

``The people were looking for someone with heart,'' Crouch said. When the bishop of Church of God in Christ tapped him, he couldn't refuse.

Crouch swapped the 12- to 16-hour days spent in recording studios for solitary days intently reading the Bible.

For both Andrae and Sandra Crouch, a Grammy Award winner herself, the devotion to the church and, in turn, the community created a mental space to, as Andrae Crouch, puts it ``watch the flowers grow.'' But also to plant seeds.

``The church was our first family,'' said Sandra Crouch. ``God gave us fame, not for us but for others.''

Crouch, one of the first singers to blend gospel music with rock 'n' roll, has recorded more than 20 albums over more than two decades. He'll release an album titled ``Mighty Wind'' this June, when he's also expected to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Since taking the helm of the church seven years ago, the brother-and-sister team has reinvigorated and developed about 25 community programs - including a once-a-week lunch program they will expand to seven days a week in June, a tutoring program and a 20-member dance team. The two also plan to open a music and arts weekend program.

In bringing his fiery passion for music to the pulpit, Andrae Crouch continues to honor the legacy of his family while bringing his own brand of ministry to the church.

The formality of his father's church, where women wore skirts, is gone and it's not uncommon to see the church's hip-hop dance team, wearing baggy jeans and head bands as they whip up the congregation.

``There's an air they bring to the room. The whole atmosphere changes,'' said Larry Fletcher, a 54-year-old Bible teacher who works at the church. ``I don't know how to explain it. They are hands-on. They are not the famous celebrities that don't allow people to get close to them.''

Rachel Uranga, [phone]

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) CROUCH

(2) Andrae Crouch, a nine-time Grammy winner who took over his father's church, will be honored with a humanitarian award.

Joel P. Lugavere/Special to the Daily News