June 25, 2001

Churches experience God in combined effort
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___More connects Corsicana and Crockett than 92 miles of Highway 287, thanks to an experience only God could orchestrate.
___David Valentine, pastor of First Baptist Church in Crockett, thought it would be a good idea to culminate the teaching of the Experiencing God discipleship curriculum to his congregation with a performance of "Experiencing God: The Musical."
___After talking it over with the minister of music, they decided including other churches in the community in the musical might spark a movement of God.
___Other churches in the Neches River Baptist Association did want to participate, some with individual singers, others with whole choirs. Sam Houston State University's orchestra agreed to provide the instrumentation. The civic center in Crockett was secured. All the details were falling into place.
___Then they all fell apart.
___After the first joint rehearsal, the minister of music resigned to take a new position in Louisiana.
___"We scrambled for about a month and a half trying to find somebody who would take this on, and we were having trouble finding anybody," Valentine said.
___Thoughts of scrapping the project did not enter in to the equation, however. "We just knew that if God has moved these other churches to be involved in this, God's going to make it happen," Valentine said.
___That doesn't mean, however, that God had given him a blueprint on how it would occur, he said. "I remember one Sunday morning saying, 'I don't have the foggiest exactly how this is going to happen, but God is in it, and it's going to work out.'"
___About six weeks before the scheduled performance date, God began to part the fog.
___Northside Baptist Church in Corsicana also was preparing to do the musical. Minister of Music Michael Ryer was told about the need in Crockett by one of his choir members.
___Ryer was interested, and Valentine contacted him. Arrangements were made, and now the choir had a director--even if he was almost 100 miles away.
___Rehearsals began, and just as things began looking up, another obstacle appeared. The university's orchestra had gotten the date wrong and was committed to another performance. Ryer went to his orchestra, and they all agreed to help out.
___About two weeks before the performance, Ryer got word that the number of singers in the choir was probably going to be weaker than anticipated, so any voices he could bring would be appreciated.
___"Well, that was the invitation from God we were looking for. We set up a sign-up sheet, and 45 singers agreed to go with our 26-piece orchestra," Ryer said.
___The group chartered two buses, and 92 people made the trip to Crockett.
___The performance was given to a packed house of about 1,000 people.
___"This is all just a testimony to what God can do when a pastor and a congregation won't give up on the vision he's given them," Ryer said.
___"There's been a great movement of God's power within the church, that if you follow God and are obedient in all he tells you to do, he'll work out the details," Valentine said.

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