Carolina youth ‘waiters’ at BUMC

Published 9:52 pm Wednesday, June 24, 2009

“Waiters” is a rather unusual title for a church’s youth musical but, Kathy Eckart, youth minister at Covenant United Methodist Church in Greenville, S.C. said, in context, it makes good sense.

The musical is about accepting Christ and then “waiting on the Lord as God fulfills his plan.”

The musical is an annual event at Covenant and is presented as a dinner theater with young people serving as the “waiters.”

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The choir then goes on tours and presents the musical at scheduled churches.

The Covenant United Methodist Church Youth Choir will present “Waiters” at 6 p.m. June 28, at Brundidge United Methodist Church, and everyone is invited to attend this special service, said the Rev. Michael Lawler, BUMC pastor.

Lawler said he was proud to have such a talented group of Christian young people in concert at BUMC.

“We are blessed that Covenant has included Brundidge United Methodist Church on its tour,” he said. “I know that it will be an inspirational and meaningful service.”

The choir has 33 youth singers, grades six through 12, and five adults travel with them.

“They will bring sleeping bags and spend the night at the church,” Lawler said. “We’ll have supper for them and we’re really looking forward to their concert and having them as guests of our church.”

Eckart said the group will leave Greenville on Saturday and present a concert in Alabaster before coming to Brundidge Sunday night.

“From Brundidge, we’ll go to Pensacola and then to Atlanta,” she said.

“Each year, the tour is different. We’ve presented concerts in Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina and as far as Niagara Falls in New York. We start each season with the musical as a dinner theater at our church in May and then take the show on the road in June.

Covenant has a membership of about 1,000 with between 60 and 70 youth choir members.

“Not all choir members tour with us because of summer activities and family vacations,” Eckart said. “The purpose of our youth musical is to go to churches that don’t have large youth groups and bring a youthful energy to them as well as something new and different to the congregations. Secondly, but not in a smaller sense, the musicals are also ways that our young people can talk about and demonstrate their faith through praise and worship services.

“The musical is a perfect way for the choir members to express their faith ,and it’s another praise outlet for them.”