|
Home
Covenanter Answers Call to Missions Through Music
By Craig Pinley
CHICAGO, IL (November 5, 2001) - Five years ago, when Dan Glaeser was encouraging college students at the Evangelical Covenant Church in Patterson, California, to consider summer mission projects, he was challenged to consider missions as his calling.
One of his students asked him, "If summer missions are so great, why haven't you done one?" Glaeser felt convicted by the question and when a mission opportunity came in the summer of 1997, he pursued it. He's been doing missionary outreach ever since.
Glaeser has been serving with an ecumenical group called Celebrant Singers since 1997, having traveled to 16 countries to share the gospel through music. This year, Glaeser is the primary synthesizer player for a team that includes eight vocalists, eight musicians and two sound technicians. He performed his 1,000th concert with Celebrant Singers in July.
Founded by John Stemkoski in 1977 and based in Visalia, California, Celebrant Singers has multiple teams touring this year. Teams perform six days per week, touring about three months at a time before taking a two-week break. Glaeser, who grew up at Modesto Covenant Church in Modesto, California, travels in a 40-foot bus throughout the school year. The 34-year-old raises support for his mission work.
Since September, Glaeser's team (directed by Dan Moody) has performed in California, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. They'll have tour stops in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida before Thanksgiving. At the end of November, Celebrant Singers will travel to Port au Prince, Haiti, before heading back to the West Coast for Christmas break. The team is scheduled to perform in Europe and Asia next spring, along with various North American venues.
Last summer, Glaeser directed a summer tour comprised of college students, including Becky Esposito of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Patterson, Heather Schaefer of First Covenant Church in Moline, Illinois, and North Park University students Mary Bridget Kustusch of Chicago and Kirsten Boyd of Champaign, Illinois.
Celebrant Singers performs in many Roman Catholic churches and local churches in a number of other denominations - 21 different denominations in 1998 alone.
Glaeser, who has committed to the current team until December 2002, has found travel to be a grind at times, but has adjusted to the busy schedule and the seemingly endless number of host families. He said the routine helps him keep spiritually grounded.
"I've learned to pace myself," said Glaeser. "You learn to take advantage of your time on the bus - we probably spend four to six hours a day in travel. We are so focused on what it is that we're doing - my focus and concern is the ministry that's going to happen that night. And we've structured individual Bible time and devotional time every day."
How does he get along with his teammates after being with them all the time? "You learn to live in a more intense Christian community," he said. "You learn how the scripture lives itself out in life - not just how you present yourselves on stage. You learn what the scriptures have to say about conflict with brothers and sisters (in Christ). "When you're on a 40-foot bus and you can't get away from everybody, you have to deal with those things. But I had 10 years of experience working with youth groups of all types, both church and parachurch - that was my
training."
Glaeser earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from California Polytechnic University-San Luis Obispo and was involved in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship there. He considered attending seminary full-time, but chose instead to work at a bookstore and serve in youth ministry roles in Modesto while taking weekend courses at Western Seminary. He served as director of youth and music at the Patterson Covenant church before deciding to commit to
Celebrant Singers for its 1997 summer tour.
He has no regrets. "At least for this part of my life, this is what God prepared me for," he said.
To learn more about Glaeser and Celebrant Singers, visit his website at www.celebrantdan.com or email him at celebrantdan@yahoo.com.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
|
|
|
