Just got back from a concert at Parkview Field, the new baseball stadium in downtown Fort Wayne, Ind. It was two groups: Attaboy, and MercyMe. Attaboy is a group sponsored by Huntington University which originated in Huntington, and went fulltime a couple years ago. They’re quite good. The lead singer, Amos Caley, is a UB preacher’s kid, son of Mike Caley, pastor of Banner of Christ church in the Grand Rapids, Mich., area. I used to work with Amos’s sister, Erinn, and now work with his aunt Jane.

I passed Mike coming out of the parking garage.

“I’ll bet I know why you’re here, and it’s not to see MercyMe.”

He smiled and said, “Yeah, but I’ll stick aorund to hear them, too.”

Attaboy did about 30 minutes of songs, and I was quite impressed with them, and would enjoy hearing them again. They probably don’t want to hear words like that coming from a 52-year-old, but there you go, I said it. Deal with it, Amos & Friends.

This was the first time I’ve heard MercyMe. They were great. A really authentic band, nothing phony. It was a night of worship, not a concert. They did all of their well-known songs, except for “Voice of Truth.” The encore was my favoritist of all, “God with Us.” We did that song at Anchor last Sunday. I absolutely love playing it on the grand, as opposed to my Roland. It’s a song I can really sink my teeth into.

Eight of us from the worship team went–me and Pam, Terry and Lisa Sutton, Tim Bauman, Terry Leatherman, and Aaron and Jenny Vergon. I really enjoy these people. We had a good time. Plus, it was Pam’s birthday.

Huntington University co-sponsored the event, and they got a lot of upfront time, especially from Nate Perry and John Paff. Lots of T-shirts were cannoned into the crowd (though nowhere near me). HU is partnering with one of the major Christian radio stations in Fort Wayne, and this was part of that. I think it was a good investment for them. Now that Taylor has exited Fort Wayne by closing its Fort Wayne campus, maybe HU can fill the void.