Praise Jesus Band Celebrates 20 Years of Worship Leadership

We are blessed to have had many fine musicians in our congregation that help lead our contemporary worship experience by playing in the Praise Jesus Band. Back in 2002, the idea of having a Praise Band at Messiah was hatched by long time member Dave Grim. The Board of Deacons was considering how to better service our members with different and more contemporary worship styles, but to incorporate contemporary music into our services, we needed someone to lead the songs. The day school students, under the direction of Mark and Cindy Wickboldt, would periodically sing contemporary songs in church with Mark accompanying them on guitar, but that was about the extent of "contemporary" singing at Messiah. With the advent of Christian contemporary songs sung on the radio, some church members were at least partially exposed to this new music, but it was the leadership of Dave Grim that got the Praise Band started at Messiah. To have a praise band, you need musicians, and in particular, you need guitarists, vocalists, and someone to play keyboard. Messiah was fortunate to have Paul Rooney as a member and an experienced guitarist having played contemporary Christian music previously. His musicianship was a critical component of getting Messiah's Praise Band off the ground. Cathy Neumann, graciously brought her guitar skills to the group as well. Messiah has been blessed to have wonderful singers over the years, and having Vanessa Ueltzen and Kathy Dembowski agreeing to be a part of the Praise Jesus Band, was also just as important. Vanessa in particular, had knowledge of contemporary Christian music, and pairing her voice with Kathy's was a match made in heaven. Finding a keyboardist, however, proved to be rather difficult initially, so the band didn't have anyone playing keyboard consistently. Sarah Grim came with a bit of piano experience as well as experience on drums, so Dad convinced her to also help out. Dave and Jonathan Grim had been playing trumpet for a number of years on Festival Sundays, so they brought those skills to the band. Having a lot of brass is not typical of most praise bands, but it was a way to have the song's melody carried without a keyboardist. During the summer and fall of 2002, the band began practicing and learning songs. The band's initial service leading music was Sunday, November 23, 2002. At first, because the band did not know too many songs, some of the music was played on CD in addition to the band leading songs. We also purchased song DVD's with video and lyrics displayed on the screen to help lead some songs. For the first few months, Messiah had a contemporary worship service one Sunday per month. By June of 2003, contemporary worship seemed to have a firm foothold at Messiah. Praise Jesus Band Founding Members: Paul Rooney and Cathy Neumann, guitarists Vanessa Ueltzen and Kathy Dembowski, vocalists Dave Grim and Jonathan Grim, trumpeters Sarah Grim, drums, keyboard Kay Rubin, drums Dave Grim, keyboard The Board of Deacons made the decision to start Saturday evening services as a way to minister to church members that did not consistently attend on Sunday mornings. The decision was made to make contemporary worship the focal point of the Saturday services. For the 2003-2004 School year, Messiah held Services each Saturday and Sunday, with two Saturday services and one Sunday service per month being contemporary in style and lead by the Praise Jesus Band of Messiah. That pattern of services lasted for a couple of years, but it eventually proved to be a bit much for the band members to deal with, so the contemporary services eventually occurred once per month on Saturdays and once per month on Sundays. Then in 2017, the Board of Deacons made the decision to have worship services only on Sundays with the Praise Band leading contemporary music in a blended service generally once per month. Current Bands Members are: Vanessa Ueltzen and Kathy Dembowski, vocals Mark Wickboldt, guitar Kay Rubin, drums Dave Grim, keyboard. Additional Band Members through out the years: Aaron Dembowski, clarinet Jacob Grim, trumpeter, guitarist, bass guitarist Jonathan Grim. bass guitarist Lori Powrozek. vocalist Alana Santos, guitarist Isa Santos, drummer