Local churches exploring unity through music

An outing this weekend at St. Charles' Pottawatomie Park may turn out to be inspirational for more than just the river view.

Four St. Charles churches will send some of their best musicians to the park on Sunday from 2 to 7 p.m. for a free outdoor concert, Band Together, designed to benefit two charities.

Worship bands from The Well, Trinity Vineyard Church, and Hope Community Church will take the stage for 45 minutes to an hour each, with a 20-minute break between each set.

Around suppertime, the headliner will be Cody Clausen, winner of the 2006 season of "Inspiration Sensation," a nationally televised competition akin to "American Idol." Clausen is a member of Christ Community Church in St. Charles.

"He's incredibly talented," said event organizer David Thompson. "He's probably one of my favorite singers."

The concert playlist will cover a wide range of contemporary Christian and worship songs, though the musicians do have the freedom to play other pieces they consider appropriate.

Mark Bradac, senior worship director at Trinity Vineyard, said his group will stick to worship songs, some of them from the nationally-known Vineyard Music catalog. But unique to the Trinity band, besides the requisite guitars, drums, and keyboard, are the Irish whistles played by Anna Bradac for songs like "Balm of Gilead" and "Be My Guide."

"We do a lot of tunes with drop D tuning," Mark Bradac said. "Rather than using lead guitar we use whistles, and it's a very Irish feel."

Quality is one of the things Thompson was shooting for in selecting church bands to invite. There were others who got invitations, but not everyone could make it.

"Churches have so much talent and need more exposure to the community, and the community needs more exposure to them," Thompson said. "With so many churches having contemporary music, this is a great venue to get that out there.

"We wanted to have churches involved that kind of shared a common cultural relevance," Thompson added, "so we went after some of the local churches.

"We needed churches that have a contemporary band. Traditional doesn't necessarily play well in an outdoor venue."

Hope Community is a tiny church of 50 or 60 people who meet at Baker Community Center, but Thompson considers the band to be possibly the best he's ever heard. And that's not just because his wife sings on the team.

"The quality of their music is astounding for the size church we have," Thompson said.

Worship leader Ryan Rushton credits that to experience.

"Even when we started with 15 or 20 people (in the church), and our worship band consisted of a trio, everybody had a lot of experience playing in other rock bands or worship bands in large churches," Rushton said. "We like to think of it as being blessed with a great quality of musicians and vocalists."

Vocalist/guitarist Jen Miller had the most previous experience of the seven current team members, Rushton said. She used to open for nationally popular Christian groups Caedmon's Call and Third Day.

World Relief and Lazarus House will share donations received at the free event.

"We wanted something that was local and that expressed a concern for world needs," Thompson said. He hopes to raise enough for World Relief to dig a well in Haiti.

St. Charles' Lazarus House was chosen because "there are needs around the world, but there are also needs at home," he said. "Lazarus House is supported by a lot of churches, which fits with our theme of churches banding together."

Band Together is designed to be a fun afternoon that includes picnicking and volleyball. Thompson expects to see the concert become an annual event on the first weekend after Memorial Day, and next year he hopes the games will turn into a tournament, with softball added as well.

"We'll continue to add activities as we go along," Thompson said. "St. Charles is such a beautiful city, and Pottawatomie Park is such a wonderful venue, that it really is going to be a great addition to the community."

In fact, Thompson's vision is even larger.

"My hope is I'd love to see this type of thing go national," he said.

But he cautions that sports will be the only kind of competition involved.

"This is not a battle of the church bands where one is trying to look better than the other," Thompson said.

He just wants the community to see the caliber of musical craftsmanship inside the church.

And, "it's a completely non-threatening opportunity for them to hear the word of truth in song," he said.

"The name of the event is Band Together, and the purpose is to bring unity to the Fox Valley area, a show of unity in a public forum where we agree on a common value of Christ-centered worship," said Bradac.

"It's a privilege to talk about Jesus in a public environment and honor him in a public setting."

Pottawatomie Park is at 101 S. Second St., St. Charles. For information, visit www.bandtogetherworld.com.

<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p> <p class="News"><b>What:</b> Band Together, an outdoor concert featuring musicians from four area churches</p> <p class="News"><b>When:</b> 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, June 6</p> <p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Pottowatomie Park, 101 S. Second St., St. Charles</p> <p class="News"><b>Cost:</b> Free, but donations accepted for Lazarus House and World Relief - Haiti</p> <p class="News"><b>Details:</b> <a href="http://bandtogetherworld.com" target="new">bandtogetherworld.com</a></p>