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"I in them and You in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent me and have loved them even as You have loved me."
John 17:23 NIV
Common Ground is a group of approximately 20 musicians and singers under the direction of Brian & Shirley Faulkner. They come from many different church backgrounds. Their ages range from 20's to 50's. We come together for what we have in common: our love for Jesus and our love for His gift of music.
We began with 20 members and have had as many as 70. We have lost members along the way to busy schedules, moving away, etc. We have not set a limit on how many people can be a part of this group at any one time. Instead, we believe that we should leave that to God to decide who needs to be a part of this group. We do not request an honorarium, but do accept love offerings as each church or organization feels they need to give. Our expenses are in providing our own sound equipment (because of our size) as well as stands, music, etc.
The vision of Common Ground is be a group of people committed to fulfilling Jesus’ prayer in John 17:23, “I in them and You in me. May they be brought to complete unity that the world may know that You sent me and have loved them even as You have loved me.” We believe this covers several different areas. We must learn to put aside age differences, doctrinal differences, and we must show the lost world Jesus cares for them where they are.
We try not to carry to heavy a concert schedule as everyone has busy schedules as it is. We try to do one Sunday evening worship service a month with an area church. We have done community gatherings, such as one when the churches in London come together on a Saturday evening in their grade school auditorium. We also do benefit concerts of all types. We were honored in May 1999 with being the band for the Adult Education Centers graduation ceremonies, and were given the opportunity to do it almost every year since..
As mentioned, we feel called to go to the lost and show them Jesus. We do this by participating in community events such as Yell Fest, Mount Nebo Chicken Fry and Ozark Memories Day. But we realize that many unsaved close their ears to “Christian” music. We feel the best way to reach them is through music they identify with. We have selected several “pop” songs, most of them love songs, that will get their attention and gain their respect for us. Some of the songs we do are “Reach Out”, “Rescue Me”, "Love Train", We Are Family", "You Raise Me Up" and “Hole in the World”. Most of the people that listen to this will stay and listen to our worship songs. We strive to show them Jesus was not afraid to come to them on their level.
We love what we do. We rehearse on Sunday's from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at
the Russellville Chamber of Commerce located at 708 West Main in Russellville
(see dates page for rehearsal calendar).
If you are interested
in how to become a member of Common Ground or in booking the band for an
event, talk to Brian or Shirley at 968-8074.
Common Ground is supported in part by the following business:
Cooper Band Instrument & Repair - Hal Cooper, Jr.
Kirby Specialties - David & Vivian Kirby
This page last updated 09/15/2007.