History

The Singing Men of Texas was founded in 1974 by Sam W. Prestidge, Jr. It is an organization of six regional choirs composed primarily of ministers of music, part-time music directors and men associated with church music in their churches.

The purpose of the organization is to proclaim the message of Christ through music to the state of Texas and around the world. The groups have participated in ministry tours around the world including Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Eastern and Western Europe, China and Spain. Today each of the six regional chapters ministers independently within their region of the state offering monthly regional concerts around the state as well as public appearances in community events, sports functions, government gatherings and cultural opportunities with community symphonies. They have sung in numerous conferences and conventions. In 1997, one group was featured at the National Day of Prayer in Washington, D.C. Numerous recordings have been made by each Singing Men group individually and combined.

In 2000, the entire organization presented a 25th anniversary concert at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas. The group was accompanied by a full orchestra and conducted by Dr. Stephen Holcomb, Director of Choral Studies at Dallas Baptist University.

In 2015, the Singing Men celebrated their 40th anniversary in a concert at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church. This event highlighted their recent involvement in Ukraine and the marvelous move of God through several mission trips there.

For the last decade, the Singing Men have partnered with Michael Gott to take semi-annual ministry tours to Ukraine and most recently to Romania and Hungary in 2019 and Poland in 2023. Many have made decisions to follow Christ, and the Men continue to look for opportunities to go where God is calling and present the gospel in message and song.

In 2019, our longtime director, Don Blackley, stepped down from the director's podium. As the officers met and prayed about the next director of the group, it was only fitting that the baton passed to Don's son, Trent Blackley.

As we approach our 50th anniversary in 2024-2025, we are looking forward to all that God will continue to do through the ministry of the Singing Men of Texas!