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Even before Lewis, the lead singer of Rizen, one of the concert acts, broke her shoe, the thousands of woman and generous spinkling of men spread out before her, were on their feet singing and clapping their hands.

I would like to say this was one of the best concerts I'd ever been to in my life -- and I've been to see Luther and other folk in their prime -- but it wasn't a concert, it was an event.

The audience was black, white and Latina; women and pre-teens; women in jeans and those in baubles and glitter; and women 'holding it down' -- slang for successful -- and those needing a financial blessing to keep the lights on. Many had come with the men in their lives.

Something special happened as Rizen, with its infectious energy, and sound remniscent of the Shirley Ceasar and Albertina Walker-fronted girl groups of the '50s and '60s, only with modern influences, began to leave the stage.

There had been an on-stage energy and playfullness to the group's performance -- "Big girls can move, too," Lewis said as she and the other fuller-figured women performed some Janet Jackson-like moves (only cleaner).

People were having a good time.

Then it happened.

My Mama used to call it the spirit of God 'falling on the place.'

It was right after intermission, and the magnetism of the moment lured out all the gospel headliners from backstage. Yolanda Adams, Martha Munizzi, Juanita Bynum and Kelly Price all came rushing from their dressing rooms, where they were each preparing for their next segment, as the scripted show came unscripted.

And everybody started dancing, raising their hands or praying aloud.

And those $75 hairdos in the audience lost their curls and place. Makeup got wiped away as tissue caught tears. And those high-heel shoes came off, leaving barefoot women all over the building.

"Your strength is in your workship," extolled the Prophetess Juanita Bynum, known for her life-changing sermons and inspirational book. "You can make this a concert or you can make it your breakthrough!"

'Breakthrough' is when you don't feel you have another drop of energy, when burdens are weighing you down, but you persistently pray and press on and get what you need, Bynum said.

It can be in that wayward child finally doing right, Bynum said. It can be in a financial blessing that gives you a second chance. It can be in healing -- Bynum told the story of a woman who had come to a concert in her wheelchair and ended up pushing her own wheelchair out the exit.

"Someone in here, the doctor told you this week that you've got cancer," Aundrea Lewis, another Rizen member yelled into the microphone. A woman raised her hand and was called forward. "Bring her here."

And as the women prayed for the woman, it was Round 2.

Sheila E -- yep the former Prince protegee and highly respected percussionist, acting as musical director for the tour -- found herself running and sliding across the bare stage. She had already dazzled the crowd while she playing the drums using her foot, elbow, a second set of sticks -- before playfully tossing a set of drums to the side.

"We don't know what's going to happen during Sisters in the Spirit," the Grammy Award winning Yolanda Adams said picking up a microphone, as the crowd began to calm down. "We just know what God called us to do."

Sisters in the Spirit, a traveling tour, is a day to help women focus on themselves -- mind, body and spirit. It has sold out in major cities -- as it did in Greensboro.

Donna Richardson, the "Sweating in the Spirit" aerobics queen, did not show up in Greensboro but she offered motivation via tape on why women should get in shape. Richardson is also the wife of syndicated radio host Tom Joyner.

The others focused on strength and spirituality, and following dreams.

"I want to see my sister do well because her miracle ain't mine and my miracle ain't hers," an evangelist-sounding Kelly Price, best known for R&B, told the crowd early in the show.

She also spoke to the men in the audience.

"We aren't trying to put you down, but a sister who is 'built up' (a woman taking care of herself) is not only better for her, but better for you, too."

It's when women get so caught up trying to be everything for everybody else that they often mistakenly leave God out of their daily lives, said the multi-platinum Adams, model-gorgeous yet someone with a lot to say.

And that's a mistake -- especially in making life decisions, she said.

"I want a day-to-day walk with God" for direction, Adams said. "God will let you do what you want, but if it takes five months or five years, you will do His will."

Singer Martha Munizzi spoke to those women who always doubt themselves -- or let people do that for them.

"The enemy has no power that you don't let him have," Munizzi said.

Don't listen to those who would continue to condemn you for your past, she said.

"You can't praise and hear the devil speak at the same time... praise is your strength," Munizzi said.

Adams, considered one of the genuinely nice people in the entertainment industry, asked the crowd to continuously pray for Price, who is about to make another R&B album.

'Church people' might look down at Price, who makes what some in the religious community consider 'the devil's music,' but Price is the person whose dressing room other entertainers -- saved and unsaved -- go to when they need prayer, Adams said.

She said those in the church can condemn other people, but they'll be sitting back scratching their heads, wondering how rappers and R&B entertainer come to know God after a brush with Price.

The battlefield God placed Price on might not be yours, Adams told the crowd.

Adams also alluded to the flack she got for performing with multi-platinum rapper Kanye West on a song in which he used profanity. Adams is known for trying to bridge gaps between those people turned off by traditional church and those people who want an experience with God. The song, "Jesus Walks," was one of the most requested songs on gospel and R&B radio this past year.

"I've been called everything ...but I don't care," Adams said. "I know who I am."