Greg-
I totally agree, that why I mentioned origins as well as historical development, and why in an earlier posting I questioned the validity of looking for a single source for any form of music, be it Southern gospel or anything else.

Southern gospel is both a black musical form and a white musical form. To understand Southern gospel, we of course should look at the US 1700-1900. To understand a hybrid form such as gospel, it makes sense to look for areas of overlap between white and black music. Two important Old World elements (by all means not the only elements) in this New World form are the call and response styles of Africa and Gaelic Scotland and certain gapped scales.