Christian Music Online

Christian diversity

November 20, 2007 – 6:33 pm

GUYTON - This weekend should be a “moo-ving” experience for many local Christians.

Some members of the college class at First Baptist Church of Rincon are organizing a free, overnight, outdoor Christian music festival, called The Ingathering, they hope will become an annual event. The event will be held in the pasture of Bill Hill’s farm on Highway 17 in Guyton beginning Saturday and is open to all young people in the area.

Although the event was conceived and is being organized by some of the members in the college Sunday school class at First Baptist-Rincon, the event is nondenominational and open to everyone, including college students, ages 18 to 25.

Eleven local bands and musicians are scheduled to perform in four different blocks beginning at 3 p.m. and lasting until around midnight, including the Mel Washington Band, IRONY9, The Family, Remidee, This Rock, K.O.S., Church Boi, Ashes of an Empire, Bella, JP Rock, Cheryl Burgess and Arise Awaken.

Special guest speakers will be Philip (Pip) Knight and Steve Penatello, both adult Sunday school teachers, and Dave Oldham, owner of Resurrection Ink in Savannah.

“On the streets, young people are OK with Jesus, but not always with organized religion,” Penatello said. “Because denominational walls can divide the body of Christ, we wanted a way to celebrate the diversity of those who follow Jesus.”

Penatello said he believes following Christ is not about religion or wearing the right clothes or being at the right place on Sundays. He knows music is something young people relate to and thought a music festival would be a great way to reach out to those who might actually be “on the fence” concerning their faith.

“That’s why we’ve invited diverse musical groups, because the body of Christ is diverse,” Penatello said.

The idea for a music festival came about just a few months ago when Penatello and his college students became familiar last year with the “Feast of Tabernacles” as described in the book of Exodus.

The group learned the celebration was also called the “Feast of Booths,” or Sukkot, and was an annual event that called for the Israelites to build shacks outside and celebrate the fall harvest. They also slept in their shacks, or sukkots, in order to remember the conditions their ancestors lived in during their exodus from Egypt. It was a time for reflection, appreciation, celebration and worship.

Last year, the college students held their own “Feast of Tabernacles” celebration and built their own sukkots in Penatello’s back yard, where they enjoyed an evening of music and fellowship. This year, Penatello challenged his class to “put legs on their faith” and think bigger than his back yard. From the moment the group decided to organize a nondenominational music festival, the event took off like wildfire, Penatello said.

Using MySpace and word of mouth, the requests to participate and help started rolling in from bands and individual volunteers. With very little financial support, the group is organizing the event and operating strictly on faith alone.

Garrett Cox, one of the event’s organizers, said they are relying on prayer, word of mouth, posters and their Web site to bring the crowd.

Penatello’s group has also enlisted the help of Chuck Waldon’s No Name Concerts to provide staffing for gate admission, parking, security and stage crew assistance. Waldon is best known for his association with Shout Fest, an annual, one day, traveling Christian music festival known throughout the United States for featuring some of Christian music’s hottest artists.

“It normally takes a lot of money, which we don’t have, to get something like this going,” Cox said. “We just want it to be something that honors and glorifies God, so we’re trusting him to provide what we need.”

Described as a “grassroots effort,” The Ingathering is not a Baptist event, a Jewish event or even a “religious” event, Penatello said.

“Our goal is to unite followers of Christ for a common purpose - to honor and glorify God.”

He said The Ingathering is a whole new way to celebrate an ancient Christian tradition that is still recognized in modern day Israel.

Participants are welcome to bring tents, or build their own temporary sukkot shacks, and camp overnight. Lights, portable toilets and security will be provided. The group also plans to sell food, bottled water, the artists’ CDs and The Ingathering T-shirts to help recoup some of their expenses. They suggest people might want to bring flashlights, chairs, warm clothing and a carload of their friends.

There are only five rules, Penatello said: 1. Loud music only; 2. No one under 18 without a parent or legal guardian; 3. No bonfires; 4. No alcohol, weapons or drugs; and 5. No mixed-gender sharing of tents (unless you’re married).

“We want this, like the actual Feast of Tabernacles, to be a time for worship, celebration, remembrance, self-reflection and sacrifice,” Penatello said. “Some people think that only Jews can celebrate this event, but it wasn’t created by the Jews, it was ordained by God.”

Cox, who has studied extensively on the subject, said he believes Jesus participated in the annual Feast of Tabernacles.

“He probably had a pretty cool sukkot,” Cox said. “After all, he was a carpenter.”

The Ingathering will begin about 3 p.m. Saturday in Guyton at the intersection of Ga. 17 and Clark Road, north of the city limits, and wrap up early Sunday morning in time for Sunday services at area churches.

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