On Sabbath 25 June young people and families from a number of churches in both the North and South England Conferences came together at the Leamington Spa Mission for a special day of worship and fellowship focusing on contemporary Christian music.

The morning worship service was taken by young people from the St Albans church - a group of some twenty-five people including drivers and supporters. The St Albans praise and worship band led out in the congregational singing and the youth choir, led by Belinda Stojanovic, performed one piece. Matt Vincent, currently a Student Missionary at the St Albans church, entertained the children with an illustration about making space for the important things in life, such as prayer and Bible study. University student and accomplished musician Peter Manners-Smith preached, appropriately, on the subject of worship and emphasised the importance of making time in busy lives for private worship. He also underlined the importance of making worship practical through the striking visual aid of a large yellow plastic duck. Paraphrasing Soren Kierkegaard he said, "It's no good waddling in to church, being told you can fly, and then waddling out again."

During the break between the morning service and the evening concert there was considerable discussion on the often controversial theme of worship. Robert Glinton, an elder of the Leamington Spa church, was the principal organiser of the day and commented on his reasons for arranging the event. "Initially we had just planned to invite our friends from St Albans so that we could get together", he said. "However there was a lot of interest so we decided to open it up to the wider public and make it a fellowship event, primarily for the 15 to 30 age group."

Both the Leamington and St Albans churches have strong worship bands and when asked about the importance of music in the Leamington church Robert responded, "Music is a focal point for our worship here. When people think of Leamington they think of its music as well as its openness and friendliness. Our worship band started out as something to get the youth involved, but over the years it has developed and now produces good quality music. It's an integral part of our services here but we still try to keep it open so that as many people as possible can get involved."

Contemporary worship music is also seen as important by the young people themselves. When asked what she thought of the music at Leamington 17 year old Hannah said, "It's good. There's something for everyone - something to suit every taste. Music is an important part of worship for me. I wouldn't mind if there was even more music in our worship services."

12 year old Emily said, "The music at Leamington is really good because it includes the youth, it's really lively, and it's not out of an old hymnbook." Melody Tap, who is 13 and whose father is a pastor as well as the percussionist with Lisalife, said of the music that her father plays, "It's rocky and funky and I like it a lot. Church gets a lot more lively and up-beat when my dad is playing. It makes worship a lot better - it would be really boring without it."

The evening concert opened with Dr Daniel Vine playing the doxology on an electric guitar and continued with Leamington's own performance band "Dual Carriageway" playing an instrumental piece entitled "Another Way". Daniel and Dual Carriageway then performed a second piece entitled "Through the Curtain", which reflecting on the resurrection of Christ, and, concluding the first part of the programme, Pastor Geert Tap sang a solo accompanied by Peter Manners-Smith on the piano.

The main evening attraction, which followed after a break for food and refreshments, was the five-piece band Lisalife. Well known in the Adventist Church for their contemporary Christian music they are now beginning to be recognised in wider Christian circles. The band members, Steve and Lisa Winnitt, Daniel Vine, Brenda-Louise Pretorious, and Geert Tap, are united in their vision to "take the gospel to a non-Christian audience using contemporary Christian music as a bridge," according to band leader Steve Winnitt. "Our music is a witness to the outside world," says Steve's wife, and the band's lead singer, Lisa.

Steve and Lisa have been active members in their local church at Worcester for more than ten years now, leading out in the Sabbath School and youth groups. They have children of their own and, when asked what the children think of their music, replied, "They love it. It helps to keep them interested in church. It's a good way of keeping their attention focussed on God. They might not remember what we teach them in church but they remember songs."

The evening audience responded enthusiastically to the hour-and-a-half long Lisalife performance, which included songs familiar to almost everyone from the group's CDs, but also a few newly written numbers. Possibly the most moving of all the songs was "Footprints", which was preceded by Steve and Lisa's daughter reading the famous poem of the same name.

One visitor who had travelled from near London to attend the concert said, "I've never heard Lisalife in concert before but I was very impressed by their professionalism and their commitment, both to the music and to Jesus Christ. The Adventist music scene is pretty much dominated by gospel these days so it was really refreshing to see and hear an Adventist band that is achieving high standards in the contemporary Christian music sector."

Information from BUC News