DAVID ADAMS reports on the Live at the Chapel initiative…
Music has long been part of church services but a new initiative aims to provide a platform for Christian artists to bring their sound inside the walls outside of service times.
Known as Live at the Chapel, the concept was first run at Gympie Lutheran Church in Queensland back in 2009 and has since expanded to include two other churches located in Sydney and Sunbury in Victoria. Thanks to growing interest, the concept was formally opened up to other churches across Australia last month.
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AT THE CHAPEL: Frank Rasenberger interviews singer-songwriter Erica Bronwyn at a Live at the Chapel event. “It’s the sort of event where even a person who doesn’t share a Christian world view can feel comfortable at. It’s not an openly evangelistic thing but a natural sharing of the Gospel takes place as the artist sometimes introduces a song or even shares a Gospel message-based song. It’s quite amazing how it happens – it’s very natural and spontaneous…”– Frank Rasenberger, coordinator of Live at the Chapel Australasia |
Frank Rasenberger, a Lutheran pastor and the coordinator of Live at the Chapel Australasia, says the idea was sparked when he was organising a tour for an visiting US artist. Having a hard time finding venues for her to play in, he mentioned this to Australian Christian music industry stalwart (and Sight contributor) Wes Jay, who suggested he use churches as venues.
“He said ‘Why not use the church for a gig? There’s nothing wrong with cafes, there’s nothing wrong with pubs – they’re all good venues for live music – but bring the music to the church, bring the gig into the church’,” he recalled.
“From that point on, that sort of inspired me to run live music events as part of my ministry as a pastor.”
He trialed the idea at his then parish in Crow’s Nest, located north of Toowoomba in Queensland, and then expanded on the idea at his subsequent parish at Gympie.
“I launched it there in the first year of my ministry there in 2009,” says Rasenberger, who these days pastors three churches in Melbourne’s north-west. “And that’s continued to this day.”
Live at the Chapel Australasia is now run in partnership with Christian music listing organisation Aussie Christian Gigs and following last month’s launch, Rasenberger says they’re now looking for churches that would be willing to host gigs.
Churches don’t need to be large. “You can run it in a large scale venue or a small scale,” he says.
Noting his passion for contemporary music, Rasenberger, who formally worked in community radio, says while the artists involved can play in a variety of styles, the “one condition of Live at the Chapel is that the music of the artist has to be an expression in some way of the Christian world view or faith.”
“(But) it doesn’t have to be overt, it could be more subtle, or it could be worship music – it could be quite a variety of styles.”
It’s envisioned that most of the artists will be Australian but the roster of talent is also expected to include the occasional guest artist or band based overseas. And while the artists hosted at Live at the Chapel venues to date have included established Christian performers like Levi McGrath, Rasenberger says part of the vision for Live at the Chapel is to provide an opportunity for “undiscovered” Christian artists to perform.
“I’ve got a passion for artists that are not necessarily established…and I love discovering new artists and music and I love promoting quality music that I’m hearing.”
He says hosting a gig in a church can be a great way for the congregation to connect with people who mightn’t attend church services.
“It’s not a service, it’s basically a gig – just a showcase of an artist’s music…” he says. “It’s the sort of event where even a person who doesn’t share a Christian world view can feel comfortable at. It’s not an openly evangelistic thing but a natural sharing of the Gospel takes place as the artist sometimes introduces a song or even shares a Gospel message-based song. It’s quite amazing how it happens – it’s very natural and spontaneous…”
Rasenberger says he believes his vision of a network of venues is from God.
“And it’s a win-win because it’s great for the artists because they have a whole series of venues that they can book ahead of time and it’s a win for the churches because they are getting quality Christian artists in…I’ve found that music is just am amazing medium for the Gospel.”
