2011 Special Guest:

 

The Museum
Sunday Morning Worship Service
September 4 at 10:30 a.m. and
Sunday Evening Concert
September 4 at 5:00 p.m.

About The Museum:

The Museum took shape when singer Ben Richter and guitarist Geoffrey Ashcraft moved from Texas to Georgia and plugged into a church where drummer/programmer Josh Kirk was the janitor. Soon they were leading local worship services together and then traveling on musical mission trips overseas. In Romania, Josh was deeply moved to be part of a large Christian gathering in the same town square where communism had been overthrown in 1989. A nearby museum containing humble evidence of that revolution also left an indelible impression. “We decided the band would be called The Museum,” Josh says, “because we hope our music and those we share it with can be the evidence that Christ has done a revolution in our hearts.”

Joined by bassist Chris Brink in 2009, The Museum is continuing its commitment to global outreach while also developing an important bond with churches across the United States. Ben’s passion for staying rooted in a spiritual community brought the group to Briarlake Church near Atlanta where it still leads worship most Sundays. Additionally, the guys have helped out at neighboring North Point Community Church’s partner Atlanta locations and around the country as well as Ben leads at the multi-site Elevation Church in North Carolina on a recurring basis. “I believe the local church is the hope of the world, therefore it has to be at the center of our ministry,” explains Ben, whose servant heart for the body of Christ beats strongly throughout The Museum’s debut album hitting stores everywhere in summer 2010.

One of the foundational songs for The Museum is “The Call” which is a stirring rock anthem, symbolizing the hope this band has to shine brighter and love bigger. . . We embrace our rescue mission to live out your heart in the depths of dark for the lost and broken. “Ephesians 4:1 urges us ‘to live a life worthy of the calling you have received,’” says Ben. “This was a wake up call to me that God has a great purpose for each of us . . . that the time is now to shine like stars in the universe, holding out His truth over all the earth.”

For The Museum, reaching out to the world in need is a priority. Together, the band partners with Overlooked, a company that donates proceeds from t-shirt sales to provide clean water to children in Africa, help free young girls from sexual slavery, which is a global issue, and feed victims of the earthquake in Haiti. “When we think of our mission as The Museum, we always come back to that Hillsong lyric: ‘Let justice and praise become my embrace,’” offers Ben. “As a band and as individuals we want to see justice come to the overlooked . . . and to see God’s kingdom come in our lives.”

But as it is for many, there was a time when being so bold was a struggle for Ben, an issue he sings about on “The Anchor." All I’ve held on here is the anchor of my fear / All I’m looking for is the strength to let this go “I wrote that when I knew it was time to quit my job and focus everything on music and the ministry God had in front of us as a band,” he says. “It’s my story of God releasing me from the fears I had of stepping out in faith and is based on 1 John 4:18—‘perfect love drives out fear.’” The lilting ballad ends with a twist of grace: You’re the anchor of my soul / By Your perfect love I know . . . I’m free.

“We are realizing it’s the things we leave behind that make a difference,” concludes Ben, “the evidence that Jesus has changed us from the inside out and given us the rescue mission to go and change the world.”

Let the revolution begin. The Museum is now open.