Local church choirs will take the Times Gazebo Stage Friday to present a community gospel concert. 

The multiple performances will begin at 8 p.m. and are part of the Summer Concert Series.

Participating will be Trinity United Methodist Church, Main Street Baptist Church, Smithfield Baptist Church and the Sons of the Spirit, a local gospel group. Among the songs to be performed are “Gospel Ship,” “Fly Away to Glory,” “Total Glory,” “I Found a Friend” and “Rock-a-My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.”

The concert series has traditionally included a night of gospel music, but has never hosted this many church choirs or groups. Each group plans to limit the number of songs to no more than two or three so that the concert will operate pretty much within its traditional time frame.

The event will be a tribute to the late Charles Ford, who died this year. Ford was Director of Music at Main Street Baptist and a gospel music scholar. His Men of Music gospel choir was an early and longtime supporter of the summer series.