The Heavenly Journey Blog

Well, 2009 came and went!  Sometimes it seemed to drag on and on, but mostly it flew by.  Heavenly Journey was sent by God to quite a few new places this past year.  We have enjoyed all our trips, and thoroughly enjoyed making new friends.  God is SO good!!

After the Delta Quartet Convention, we sang at Sunnybrook Retirement Community, Riggs Manor Retirement Community, Deer Creek Baptist Church in Rolling Fork, saw Gold City in Wesson, MS, sang at Gore Springs again, had our church cantata, a band concert and Tim’s birthday, AND celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  We finished up the year by singing with Looking Above Qt (Tupelo) and Little River Trio (Sumrall) and several others at Old Bay Springs United Methodist Church on New Year’s Eve.

To begin the new year, we are participating in an effort to form a true gospel music association in the state of Mississippi.  This will begin on January 16, 2010, at Howell’s Restaurant in Yazoo City.  We will be meeting to write a constitution at 12 noon, then have a gospel singing there at the restaurant beginning at 6pm, featuring those groups in attendance to help form the new association.  Among those planning on attending are Looking Above Qt, New Destiny, The Kinsmen, New Genesis Qt, Darrell and Tojuana, Spirit Filled, Little River Trio and others.  Come on over to Howell’s that night for a fun-filled, Spirit-Filled night of gospel singing!!  We look forward to seeing you there!

We have already booked up part of 2010, but still have many dates open.  We would love to come and sing for you!  Or, if we can’t make it, we know lots of mission-minded groups who would love to come.  Call 601-953-5873 or email heavenlyjourney@hotmail.com for more information.

We love Y’all!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU IN ALL THAT YOU SAY AND DO IN THIS NEW YEAR!!

On November 7th, we were in Cleveland, MS at the Delta Quartet Convention.  This was our first year to attend and we really enjoyed it.  It is hosted each year by Blessed Assurance, a traditional male quartet from Monroe, LA.  These are great guys and we enjoyed getting to know them.  This event was an all-day singing.  By the end of the day, we were all very tired, but REALLY blessed.  In addition, we saw our old friends, the Laymen Quartet, from Houston, MS.  They are great Christian people and really fun to be with.  We enjoyed being able to see Bill Monaghan again, and look forward to having him at the Mississippi Gospel Jubilee next June.

We hope all of you will consider joining us next year, but before then, we will be singing at Deer Creek Baptist Church in Rolling Fork, MS, for 5th Sunday, November 29th.  The singing will begin at 6pm.  Look forward to seeing y’all there!!

Well, a lot has been going on with Heavenly Journey since June.  We’ve been to town festivals, Sherwood, been sick, weddings, reunions, band concerts, Lou’s Pavilion, Puckett…we’ve been busy!!

Back in June, you may recall, our niece Katie got married.  Well, this past Sunday, our niece Charlene got married.  She and Brad (fiance) were at our church Sunday morning (real glad to see them!), and afterwards, she asked Reverend Tim Hendricks if he would marry them.  After some thinking (about 1/2 second), he said he’d be glad to!  Sooooo, we began looking for an open date.  Hmmmmm.  Then he asked them “when would like you like to get married?”.  Char answered, “how about this afternoon?!”  Wow!!  They had the license and all they needed was a preacher!  We ate lunch at Dad & Clara’s (Clara is Char’s grandmother), then we had a wedding!  Complete with a cake left over from a funeral.  <rofl>  It was wonderful!  Be sure and see the pictures on the website.

Just the other week, we attended the Fall Gathering of the Mississippi Gospel Music Association in Ellisville, MS.  Also attending were Chronicle, Stubborn Love, Forever Changed, Little River Trio, Hearts Desire and One Way Quartet.  We had a special guest that night, also - ANDREW ISHEE, formerly with The Kingsmen, Palmetto State Qt and The Dixie Echoes.  In case anyone has forgotten, he is now a member of Heavenly Journey (non-traveling and non-exclusive) as creative consultant.  Andrew is a wonderful talent, a wonderful person and a wonderful Christian.  The singing was one of the best we’ve been to.  We especially enjoyed getting to meet members of Stubborn Love and Forever Changed.  It had been a while since we had heard our friends One Way Quartet, and boy, did they do a great job!  Better than ever, guys!

Now we are preparing for an all day revival at Forest Hill Nursing Home.  This is where Tim preaches every Sunday.  The revival is scheduled to have six preachers and six music ministries, all in one day!  The patients there are really fired up about this.  Some of them haven’t been to a revival in ten years or more.

Coming up soon, we will be singing at the Delta Quartet Convention.  We are especially excited about this since we have never been there before AND we will get to see our good friends the Layman Quartet.  Also, we are starting to get into gear with plans for next year’s Mississippi Gospel Jubilee.  In 2010 we will have a number of ministries who were not with us in 2009.  Unfortunately, that means some of the people who were with us in 2009 will not be with us in 2010.  We have a big announcement about the 2010 Jubilee, but that will wait for another posting.  Until we see you again, be blessed and keep looking up.

We hope everyone who came to the Mississippi Gospel Jubilee had a great time.  If you didn’t make it this year, we hope you can next year.  The Jubilee was absolutely incredible!  A giant thank you goes out to all the talent who made it possible.  If you weren’t there, here are a few highlights of the weekend. The C.A.T.s (Creative Arts Team) from Choctaw, MS made everyone glad they left the reservation.  Glad?  No, it’s more like enthralled!  When was the last time you saw a Christian interpretive dance team?  When was the last time you saw one receive a standing ovation?  When the young lady came out acting as death passing over everyone it was chilling.  Then, when the young man dressed as Jesus came out of the tomb in His white robe the coliseum went absolutely crazy!  Great job, guys!  When the ten and twelve year old boys with Little River Trio started singing everyone was blown away by their harmony skills.  Looking Above Qt. put on the show of the night with their showmanship and their inspirational music.  Long Way To Go showed Bluegrass Gospel CAN work on a Southern Gospel program.  It worked well enough they had to come back for an encore!  The Wells Bros. Qt. showed just how good family harmony can sound and it’s never been done any better.  Then Friday night ended with the most powerful moment of the night as the Masters Qt. finished the set. Saturday night was nothing but great.  Every group was outstanding!  The surprise came from New Genesis Qt. as J. B. Sherman (bass singer, on oxygen while singing) stepped up to take the lead on Supper Time.  The entire coliseum melted as he talked about wishing once more he could hear his mama calling little J.B. to supper.  The Jubilee All-Star Qt. started a tradition with a performance that is going to be hard to live up to.  I can’t list all the highlights, there were just too many. That laptop give-away??  Well, Eddie Gray of Sallis, Mississippi walked away with it on Saturday night!  Congratulations, Eddie!!  Hope it is a blessing and serves you well!! A special thank you to the fine people who came from Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to make this a success. Guess what!  We have already started planning for next year!  There is no rest for the weary, nor the ones who just don’t know when to stop.  I can tell you this!  Next year will have some of this year’s talent returning along with a bunch of others who are just as talented.  Don’t miss it!!!!

The Jubilee is THIS WEEKEND, folks!  Y’all come on over to the Attala County Coliseum in Kosciusko, MS and hear some great singing and awesome worship!  A total of 21 ministries will be taking part during this two night event.  On Friday night, there will be a kick-off program with the Choctaw Creative Arts Dance Team.  They will be interpreting the Bible through music and dance.  Totally awesome to see!  They will begin at 6:30pm Friday night.  Then, you’ll get to hear Joy Card sing the National Anthem.  What a treat!  And then the singing will begin.  The eight groups singing on Friday are the Kinsmen, Little River Trio, Wells Brothers Quartet, Long Way to Go, Looking Above Quartet,  Laymen Quartet, Masters Sound Quartet, and Masters Quartet.

Saturday night will feature these groups: Heavenly Journey, Joyful Noise Quartet, New Genesis Quartet, Hearts Desire, Scott Gregory, Southern Image Quartet, Tracemen Quartet, Chronicle, New Liberty Quartet, Psalms Trio, Buddy Eichelberger and the Jubilee All-Star Quartet.  This last group will feature four men from different groups getting together to sing ONE song only.  Don’t miss this special feature!

Ticket prices are as follows:

Friday night - $10.00

Saturday night - $15.00

Artists Circle (Sat only) - $20.00

Purchase of ANY Saturday ticket gets you in free on Friday!

Advance tickets are on sale at a discount.  For these prices, call 601-953-5873, or 601-953-5863 for information, or send an email to heavenlyjourney@hotmail.com or msgospeljubilee@hotmail.com.

Y’all come on over and join in!

Yep, everybody’s gonna have a wonderful time in Heaven.  But, here in two weeks, we are gonna have a wonderful time in Kosciusko, MS.  The Mississippi Gospel Jubilee is on top of us, June 12th and 13th.  We are so looking forward to being with many of our friends there.  Our co-hosts this year are Joyful Noise Quartet from Ackerman, MS and New Genesis Quartet from Yazoo City, MS.  In addition to our three groups singing, you will also get to hear Southern Image Qt., Masters Qt., Tracemen Qt., Masters Sound Qt., New Liberty Qt., Hearts Desire, Wells Bros. Qt., Looking Above Qt., The Kinsmen, Laymen Qt., Little River Trio, Psalms Trio, Long Way To Go, Chronicle, Scott Gregory, Buddy Eichelburger, The Jubilee All-Star Qt., and see the Creative Arts Team from Choctaw, MS.  It’s gonna be an incredible weekend, and if you hurry you can still get advance sale tickets for as little as $8 for Friday or $12 for both nights!

We are working really hard on our next album.  The songs have been selected, the music has already been recorded, and now we are preparing ourselves to cut the vocals.  I’m not going to tell you what songs will be on it, but I will tell you, the working title is “Old School”.  We are hoping it will be ready for release sometime in August.

A note of appreciation.  We have really struggled this year to find the right approach to singing as a trio.  We know that many of you have prayed for us, and we appreciate it.  I believe God is leading us in the direction He wants us to go.  Because of some of your responses, we have been encouraged to press on.  I believe we have the best sound right now that we have ever had.  I don’t mean that in a boastful way, but in a tone of gratitude for those who have lifted us up.  We are so grateful to all the former members of Heavenly Journey for their contributions over the years.  We thank you Mike and Pat Dukes, Chuck Schook, Dennis Perry, and Tim and Gretta Arinder.

We hope to see all of you at the Jubilee, and be ready to let out a big ole…aaaiieee.

Every now and then you have an absolutely perfect day.  Today, no this weekend was one of those times.  We sang at Lowry Methodist Church in Ripley, MS today and we have never been made to feel more welcome anywhere.  It was their homecoming, and did they ever have a good turn out.  A full house, great preaching, more food than three churches could eat, and a very receptive congregation for us to sing to.  What more can you ask for?  How about the friendliest people you’ve ever met?  That’s what we ran smack in the middle of.  Thank you all for your hospitality.

Next, when we get back home, our son Curtis accepts the position of Business Manager for Heavenly Journey.  Wow, is this going to help out!  There just aren’t enough hours in the day for us to do everything needed and take care of group business properly.  Welcome aboard Curtis, get ready for work.  So, if you are interested in having Heavenly Journey come sing, you may be speaking to Curtis initially.  We will be putting him to work very soon sorting out our e-mail addresses and putting together a news letter.

The Mississippi Gospel Jubilee is almost upon us.  The plans are all coming together.  The talent has been booked for what seems ages.  The Jubilee will be held at the Attala Co. Coliseum in Kosciusko, MS on June 12 &13, 2009.  The talent on Friday night will be: Masters Quartet, Masters Sound Quartet, Looking Above Quartet, Long Way To Go, Laymen Quartet, Kinsmen, Wells Brothers Quartet, Little River Trio, and the Creative Arts Team (an interpretive/inspirational dance team) from Choctaw MS.  On Saturday night the talent will be: Southern Image Quartet, Tracemen Quartet, New Liberty Quartet, Joyful Noise Quartet, New Genesis Quartet, Chronicle, Hearts Desire, Psalms Trio, Heavenly Journey, Scott Gregory, and Buddy Eichelburger.  Tickets are $8.00 advanced sales and $10.00 at the door for Friday, Saturday tickets are $12.00 advanced sales and $15.00 at the door with artists circle seats being $17.00 advanced sales and $20.00 at the door.  All Saturday night tickets also allow you free admission on Friday night.  To order your advanced tickets contact us through e-mail heavenlyjourney@hotmail.com or phone (601) 953-5873.

God bless all of you,

Heavenly Journey

If you look at our photo page, you’ll see a new album entitled MS Community Symphonic Band.  This album is just to show you what else Patrick and Karen do with their free time.  As noted on the About Us page, Karen plays flute and Patrick plays trombone.  You’ll find both in several of these pictures, but most are of other members of the band.  Most of the pictures were taken by another band member, Wayne Miller, who is a retired band director, and exceptionally good oboe player.  The director of the band is David Miller (no, no relation!).  David is also the webmaster for Heavenly Journey’s website.  David is an exceptionally fine website designer, so if you’re looking for someone, go to dmillerweb.com and check him out.

Also included in the album are pictures of Mississippi Swing, an off-shoot of the MCSB.  These people play year round at different venues across mid-Mississippi.  Patrick plays bass trombone with this group.  Their director is David Schommer, a trumpet player with the MCSB.

If you are interested in hearing these two bands, free concerts are held five times a year at the Belhaven College Center for the Arts.  Yes, I said FREE!  At this last concert, nearly 700 people were there, so if you come (and we hope you do), please come early to get a good seat.

We love you!!  And look forward to seeing everyone soon!!

What do you do when you lose two great members like Tim and Gretta Arinder?  You keep on serving the Lord and wait for Him to bless you with more changes.  Well, the Lord has blessed us richly.  The first thing we needed to do was put together a new repertoire reflecting what we sound like now.  The second thing is to take this new repertoire and make a new album.  We have previously worked with a young man in creating a couple new tracks.  We were so impressed with him we asked him to do all the music on our upcoming album.  After receiving a few more tracks from him we asked him to be Heavenly Journey’s official music composer and track builder.

Heavenly Journey is proud to announce the addition of Andrew Ishee to our team.  He will not be a traveling member of Heavenly Journey.  He will be on our support staff, creating tracks and helping us with our musical creativity and will remain in the background.  Now the best part…..this is not an exclusive arrangement!  If YOU are looking for someone to prepare some tracks for you, he is available to everyone at very reasonable rates.  What are those rates?  You will have to discuss that with him.

Who is Andrew Ishee, and why are we so excited about him?  To begin with, he formerly played piano for the Kingsmen and Palmetto State Quartet.  Yes, those Kingsmen and that Palmetto State Quartet.  Ten times he has been named as one of the five top pianists in the United States.  And to top it off, he is a member of the GMA Hall of Fame.  I think his credentials speak for themselves, but if you’re still not convinced, just listen closely to our tracks next time you hear us sing somewhere.  We hope to have all our tracks switched out and be using only Andrew’s work when we sing by September or October of this year.  If you would like to contact Andrew about creating tracks for you, or to receive a sample of his work you may send your request through our contact us button.  Or, you may contact Andrew by e-mailing to andrew@andrewishee.com, or phone 601-323-3335

Welcome aboard Andrew, we are proud to have you as a member of Heavenly Journey.

Today is a very sad day for all of us with Heavenly Journey.  Our very dear friends, Tim and Gretta Arinder, have resigned from the group.  First, before rumors start flying, we are still best of friends.  The decision by Tim and Gretta come after a long period of thought and prayer.  There are no hard feelings on either side concerning this decision.  We only want our friends to be happy and serve God in the fashion they feel God is leading them.

This change will give them the opportunity to be with their children more.  We all know the need for parental involvement in raising children.  But, do not think you will never see them again.  Before they joined Heavenly Journey, they were very popular as a duet team.  I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you see them singing somewhere soon in that fashion.

Gretta and Tim, we love you very much and we thank you for the contributions you have made to this ministry.  Your talents were used in a mighty way to glorify our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We are so blessed by the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with you as the Holy Spirit came into our presence so many times.

One little story about Gretta.  She is part frog!  That is the only way you can explain her jumping from one seat to another, for an hour the first time we took a road trip together.  I never could figure out if she was sitting next to Tim in the middle seat of our Suburban or in the back seat between Patrick and his brother.  Remember Gretta, if someone in a nursing home licks the side of your face, he is probably just trying to kiss you.  I remember the first time Tim saw someone speaking in tongues while we were singing.  The man was right up front and I thought Tim was gonna make a new door behind us.

Tim and Gretta, we have a thousand stories, so remember and cherish them all.  We will.

Goodbye, dear friends

Tim, Karen, Patrick & Jonathan