It was the first week of school. I paced outside Hartley Recital Hall, casually humming as I waited to audition for Union University’s new vocal group Sounds of Exaltation. I stared down my suit pants at my pointed heels. I didn’t know what to expect, but I wanted to make an impression.
The door swung open. I was met with kind eyes and an exuberant smile. I quickly glazed over him, surveying his navy blazer, hipster shoes and conservative button-down. He dressed well for a music professor. I was impressed. His glasses were the only thing that projected his age.
There was something magnetic about his presence that immediately made me feel at home.
“Why hello!” he said warmly, leaning into the doorway. “I’m John.”
He extended a hand and held mine for a moment. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”
In that moment, regardless of the outcome of that audition, I hoped that we would become friends.
Days later, when given the chance to write about this mysterious new transfer, I eagerly volunteered.
The next day, I interviewed Dr. John Kinchen. From a distance, I watched his determined steps close the distance between us. As he approached me and pulled out his chair, his eyes sparkled with joy, just like they had when I first met him.
As I began to learn about him, it was apparent that Kinchen was never a normal child.
“I would wake up at 4:30 a.m. and listen to a 30-40 minute sermon on a cassette tape before I started practicing piano,” said Kinchen. “It was a matter of discipline. Listening to theology tapes are what formed me. My inclination to theology and the Bible became alive.”
Born and raised in the heart of jazz and opera in New Orleans, Louisiana, Kinchen fell in love with music at a young age while playing his sister’s piano music. He had a vision to become either a composer, conductor or a concert pianist. He worked to make his dream a reality.
In the years that followed, he diligently practiced Bach and other classical Baroque artists while writing his own original compositions. During his high school career, Kinchen attended the New Orleans Centre For Creative Arts and traveled each summer to Boston University for Tanglewood Institute, an elite intensive for young musicians.
For Kinchen, his passion and his calling have gone hand in hand.
“I came to Christ right before my fifth birthday, and it was after my fifth birthday that my musical skill began to be revealed. So I believe there is a connection between my re-birth and my musical passion. God intended to use it in some way.”
Yet, merging ministry and music has not been without its challenges.
“I still struggle to this day. Am I to be in music as a teacher, as a musician or in a pulpit preaching God’s word? That’s one of the greatest tensions in my life.”
During his twenties, Kinchen was called to serve as a worship and youth minister of a small church in rural Louisiana. Though this wasn’t what he envisioned for life, he remained faithful. With time, Kinchen fell in love with his little church and was burdened to connect to the kids who came to church but didn’t engage with the scriptures. It was very difficult.
Kinchen paused as the memory seemed to run through his thoughts. “How do you….inspire people to want to love Jesus? And what can God use in you to reach them?”
This season of ministry trained Kinchen for the next chapter of his life at Liberty University. While at Liberty, Dr. Kinchen served as the Associate Dean for the Center for Music and Worship and the Professor of Music and led the Liberty University Symphony Orchestra.
In his twelve years of teaching and administrative leadership at Liberty, Kinchen has been purposeful with his students, striving to “shape them into being the kind of musician they need to be yet also inspire them to keep the passion for Christ.”
By his tone and humble demeanor, Kinchen’s s desire to inspire students was evident.
After 11 years of building and growing programs at Liberty, Kinchen felt he had finished what God had called him to do. Within that year, Kinchen received an email from Union’s Provost, Dr. Netland.
“Union was looking for someone who could see the greater vision of what Union needed to be for future musicians tied to the church. That spoke to me.”
After prayerful consideration, Kinchen accepted the position as Union University’s new Chair of the Department of Music.
Since first landing in Jackson in August, Kinchen has launched two new programs, the Sounds of Exaltation and The Gospel Choir, two teams purposed to lead dynamic worship on campus and in surrounding communities.
Kinchen is a dreamer. When God gives him a vision, he tackles it. With a sparkle in his eye, he confessed, “I’m a builder, not a maintainer. I’m always looking to put the pieces together or establish something that has never been done.”
Kinchen’s vision embodies both the mission of Union while casting a new dream for the future.
“My vision is for this institution to be recognized as the place to train worship leaders for the next generation and to be the place to go study music in all of its facets.”
Still, coming from Liberty University to Union has been an adjustment. Stepping foot onto Union’s campus for the first time, Kinchen asked God, “Lord, are you sure?” To which God responded, “I’m absolutely sure.”
Looking back, John Kinchen wasn’t what I expected in our first meeting during that audition. He was better. Since that day, we have become friends.
As a member of Sounds of Exaltation, I have the pleasure of watching Kinchen lead our team weekly with grace and purpose. Without a doubt, Union could not have chosen a finer man for the position.
Under Kinchen’s new leadership, Union’s music department is sure to thrive. “We keep doing what we do well and do it better.”
Photos by Campbell Padgett