Sunday, November 8, 6:30 p.m.:  Parkview West Retirement Center (Men’s Ensemble).

Thursday, November 19, 7:30:  Johnson Bible College Artist Series.

Friday, November 20, 7:30 p.m.:  Knox Area Christian Theater Festival, sponsored by the WORD Players at Middlebrook Christian Ministries.

Saturday, December 5, 1:00 p.m.:  Franklin Square Christmas Festival (Handbells and Men’s Ensemble).

Saturday, December 12, 6:00 p.m.:  Christmas Concert, Knox Area Rescue Ministries Chapel.

Sunday, December 13, 2:00 p.m.:  Saint Mary’s Hospice (Handbells).

Monday, December 14, 5:00 p.m.:  Home of shut-in members of Cedar Springs (Men’s Ensemble).

Thursday, December 24, 7:00 p.m.:  Christmas Eve Service, Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church (Handbells)

Friday, February 5, 6:00 p.m.:  Southeastern State Regional Correctional Facility, Pikeville, TN.

Saturday, February 27, 6:00 p.m.:  Northeast Correctional Complex, Mountain City, TN

Tuesday, March 9, 6:00 p.m.:  Saint Mary’s Hospice (Handbells)

Friday, March 19, noon:  Cedar Springs Senior Citizens Luncheon (Actors and Dancers).

Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20:  Handbell Festival, Grace Lutheran Church (Handbells)

Sunday, April 18, 2:00 p.m.:  Serene Manner Nursing Home (Men’s Ensemble)

Saturday, May 1, 11:30 a.m.:  Brakebill Nursing Home (Men’s Ensemble)

Saturday, May 15, 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.:  Praise in the Park, Lonsdale Community Park

Tuesday, May 18, 6:30 – 7:00 p.m. Men’s Ensemble Concert for Friends & Family, CSPC Chapel.

This year’s theme is Encouragement: Everyone faces challenging, sometimes overwhelming, circumstances.  Yet God is working, even in the midst of crushing difficulties; and He is working through individuals:  He has gifted each of His children for a unique ministry.  He loves us through all circumstances and has prepared a place for each of us, individually, to serve  in His kingdom.

• Saturday, May 15, 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.:  Praise in the Park Concert, Lonsdale Community Park

• Tuesday, May 18, 6:30 – 7:00 p.m.: Concert for Friends & Family, CSPC Chapel (Men’s Ensemble)

————/      /————

The prisoners’ faces are difficult to read, and we are told that this is a necessity of prison life, that too much information in a facial expression, especially an expression that conveys softness, will have undesirable consequences.  “We’re not in Kansas anymore,” we have been thinking wryly, from the moment the bus rolled past the glinting razor wire and the security procedure reminded us that prison is also about not letting anyone IN.

As we set up in the prison gymnasium, we sense that the noise of microphone checks, instruments tuning, and vocal warmups, familiar and even calming to us, is surely a curiosity to the prisoners filtering into the bleachers.  We fend off a wave of self-consciousness when we gather around for our final prayer of preparation.  We ask for help to focus on the mission, to bring into this place our truest worship expressed to the utmost of our abilities, to God’s honor alone.

“This is not about us,” we chasten ourselves.  “This is not even about these prisoners,” the Spirit within us whispers.  This is about the King, the sinless Savior, who imprisoned Himself in our flesh to be like us, to die in our stead, to conquer even death and bring us to glory beyond imagining.

What happens next is harder to describe.  Everything we think we know about our program slips out of our hands and into His.  Within these stark prison walls we witness with our inner eyes the sun of righteousness rise, the healing radiance of the Lord God.  His light breaks through to our SEEING EYES!   We see one tiny flicker, then another, then more, each becoming more recognizable in those faces whose stories we could not read before.  When we think we can hardly bear any more, we see our BROTHERS looking back at us!

Time is suspended, physical place becomes an illusion, and we hear ourselves proclaiming freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.  We sing and play and dance the Song of the Redeemed because we ARE the Redeemed!

Sylvia Wolfe, KnoxCAM choir member

Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church, 9132 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN  37923

Is Knoxville Christian Arts Ministries right for you?

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Am I an experienced choral singer, instrumentalist, handbell ringer, actor or dancer?
• Have I participated in and enjoyed high school, college, church, community and/or professional groups?
• Am I excited about the possibilities of sharing God’s love through the arts?
• Am I looking, perhaps longing, for a place to serve?

If you answered yes to the questions above, KnoxCAM can be an avenue of ministry for you.

The Choir, Men’s Ensemble, Handbells and Instrumentals accept new members by audition throughout the year.  Auditions are held twice a year in August and January for actors and dancers.

Please click on the above links for complete information about each of the groups and how to contact us.

• that the group will continue to evolve in such a way that no one will be able to say anything except “God did this!”
• that we will be the group He wants us to be, one that He can use to share the good news of Jesus Christ wherever He takes us.
• that He will send us performing artists who long to share God’s love through the medium of their art and feel called to this ministry.
• that He will guide us to the places where what we do will truly glorify Him and bring His love and blessing into the lives of those we serve.

1. To minister in the Knoxville area and beyond by sharing the good news of Jesus Christ through the medium of the performing arts.
2. To minister to accomplished Knox-area Christian performing artists by providing a place for them to serve God through their art.

KnoxCAM is an outreach ministry of Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church and is open to performing artists throughout the Knoxville community.  Presently, its membership includes people from fourteen different churches.  It presents concerts in prisons, inner-city ministries, homeless shelters, retirement centers, and other venues.  If you are an experienced performing artist, high school age and older, amateur or professional, Knoxville Christian Arts Ministries is a place for you to serve.

KnoxCAM provides opportunities for:

• Choral Singers
• Men’s Ensemble Singers
• Orchestral Instrumentalists
• Handbell Ringers
• Actors
• Dancers

To learn more about your area of interest, click on the Get Involved tab above, then choose Join Us

History

In 2005, the Cedar Springs Church Sanctuary and Handbell Choirs travelled to Peru for a ten-day mission trip, where they presented concerts in a number of universities and churches in Lima.  They began to pray at that time that the trip would not be a self-contained event but would be the beginning of a continuing outreach ministry to the Knoxville area and further afield, as God led. The opportunities for service became so numerous that in July 2009 Cedar Springs commissioned Knoxville Christian Art Ministries as a ministry dedicated to missional outreach through choral and instrumental music, dance, and drama.  Its membership now includes people from 14 different churches in the Knoxville area who desire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ through their art.

The choir begins rehearsals the next evening, Wednesday, August 19, 6:00 – 7:30 in the church sanctuary.

Actors and dancers will begin Tuesday, August 27, in rooms D203/204 in the Cedar Springs Family Life Center.  Actors meet from 6:30 – 8:00, and dancers from 8:00 – 9:30.