CHAUTAUQUA - Hurlbut Community Church in Chautauqua Institution will feature special guest Will Lowry at its "Midweek Vespers" worship service, Wednesday, March 16. The weekly family music and arts worship events will begin with a 5:30 pm dinner, with the service beginning at 6 pm.
It was the folk music of the early 1960s that first drew Lowry to the guitar. Then came the rock and blues era that soon followed. Like many, he traded his acoustic guitar for an electric. In 1971 he moved from Western New York to Boston, Mass. There Lowry sought to start a band and studied classical guitar. However, it was the spiritual climate that began to have an attraction for him.
He was offered a gig with a band back in Buffalo, but couldn't seem to shake his attraction to spiritual realities. In 1972 he met Neil Binder and was intrigued with Neil's faith. The following year Lowry made a commitment to Jesus Christ. He left the world of rock music and spent several years as part of a close-knit fellowship.
In 1978 he began to translate his faith into original music and in the several years that followed he recorded three albums and traveled extensively performing his music. He left the music world again from 1985 through 2005 to raise a family and to develop a local church-fellowship that would reflect his understanding of New Testament values and lifestyle.
Lowry returned to his music in 2005 and began writing and performing again with his long-time friend Neil Binder. Together they endeavor to present Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God in a way that is alive and relevant to the listener. Lowry is now celebrating the 2012 release of his CD, "Fragments."
One reviewer wrote, Lowry's performances range from humorous to contemplative. His style has been quoted as "accomplished and fluid, with a focus upon the Sublime Creator."
The Midweek Vespers is a weekly music and arts-based worship service with a minimum of spoken word. It is presented every Wednesday in Hurlbut Church, Pratt at Scott Avenues, Chautauqua. "Faith Weaver," a children's supervised Bible experience, is provided separately during the service.
The community is welcome, free of charge, to every Vespers service and dinner. For information, visit www.hurlbutchurch.org or call 357-4045.
