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Rockford (IL) Christian Band Enters 18th Season
ROCKFORD, IL (September 25, 2002) - The Christian Fellowship Band of Rockford
begins its 18th season with a number of Covenant performers making music
under the direction of Bethesda Covenant Church member George E. Strombeck.
George Strombeck at one time was the director of the 35-member Christian
Fellowship Band of Chicago for seven years. He replaced longtime director
Fred Hubbell, who founded the band under the sponsorship of First Covenant
Church in Rockford.
The 30-piece Rockford band practices during the first and third Tuesdays of
the
month at First Covenant Church in Rockford. The band played last evening at
Independence Village, a retirement home in Rockford, and will play again
October 8 at the Hope Rescue Mission.
"The Fellowship Band in Rockford was 100 percent Covenant at the start,"
said Strombeck. "But now it's widespread (among denominations). Last
year's theme was 'Prayer and Praise' and this year's theme will be about
music of Heaven."
Covenanters in the band include Gordon Samuelson, Wes Nelson, Karl
Burdick and Maurie Anderson of Broadway Covenant, and Nancy Bauman,
Richard Anderson and Scott Johnson of First Covenant.
The band often was used as a tool for Sunday evening worship services, said
Strombeck. Now, most band concerts are scheduled for Tuesday evenings or
late in the afternoon on Sundays with church programs lasting 60 to 75
minutes. When the band plays in retirement homes, the programs last 30 to
40 minutes with a theme revolving around
the international flavor of Christian faith.
"As a child, I loved playing the horn and that was one way I felt I could
serve the Lord," said Strombeck, who directed music at Trinity University
in Deerfield for 18 years after teaching music at a public school music in
Moline. "And if you have a band that plays music dedicated to the Lord, it
can be quite transforming. What we're trying to do is bring in Christian
talent that loves to play and serve the Lord through instruments rather
than singing."
The band will play at the CherryVale Mall on December 10. They also will
play at Broadway Covenant Church on December 15 and hopes to perform at a
Rockford area New Year's Eve event this winter.
For more information about the Christian Fellowship Band in Rockford, call
Burdick at 815-399-3694 or email him at birdkarl@prodigy.net.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
