Many guests of the St. Jerome's Centre receive standing ovations but only one has been called back for an encore! Kitchener-Waterloo's own "Five on the Floor and Shifting for the Lord" returns for an evening of live Blue Grass Gospel music. When they first came to the St. Jerome's Centre two years ago, over 300 people showed up to listen to and learn about Blue Grass Gospel, which weaves elements from British ballad, "Sacred Harp" singing school, tin-pan alley, Blues, and Black Spirituals. (Some came from as far away as Owen Sound!) This is music which addresses faith in the light of basic human emotions. The result is irresistible.
Performance by "Five on the Floor"
Together for over four years, "Five on the Floor" consists of Lyle Friesen, conservationist, Ron Harder, social worker; Jim Reimer, theologian at Conrad Grebel College; Henry Schmidt, financial consultant; and Bob Janzen, lawyer. They are all members of Rockway Mennonite Church in Kitchener. All have long-time musical experience. Reimer and Schmidt were members of a religious folk group in Manitoba called the "Faith and Life Singers" in the late 1960s; Harder and Janzen belonged to a southern Ontario band called "Rural Delivery". Dr. Reimer is a professor of Theology at Conrad Grebel College at the University of Waterloo.