The History of The Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship

The Beginning

The Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship began in 1979 in the Washington DC area. Many of those now involved with CPAF were working in the performing arts world, striving to show the love of Christ to their colleagues. Many of us longed for something that would truly impact this dark culture. But nothing was attempted corporately until 1979. It began, as with so many other ministries, with a vision – and a “death of a vision.”

In 1978, God had brought together the Kavanaughs and the Krafts. Barbara and Mary Jeane were hired to play in the same pickup orchestra, and were each delighted to find another Christian cellist in town. Jim had recently accepted a trombone position with the National Symphony Orchestra. The two couples became good friends, and the Kavanaugh’s began to attend the Krafts’ church.

During a worship service in this church, Patrick was given a vision of thousands of performing artists following Christ. Patrick shared his vision with Jim and with characteristic enthusiasm, Patrick and Jim jumped into various activities, trying to get things started, but nothing worked.

There were flat tires on the way to rehearsals, tape recorders that refused to work for interviews, and a noticeable atmosphere of confusion. Finally, they threw up their hands and halted, concluding that they were not within God’s timetable. Instead, they began praying together and waiting on the Lord for direction. They would wait five years.

In the meantime, Patrick was hired as Minister of Music at Christian Assembly. Bob Sturm and his wife Robin, were both dancers who were attending the same church.

The group performed Patrick Kavanaugh’s recently composed opera, “The Last Supper.” With Jim’s help in recruiting musicians and Bob Sturm’s help in choreographing, a performance was given in the spring of 1984 at Washington’s Folgers Theatre. In many ways this production was a pre-CPAF performance.

God would lead the three couples - Patrick and Barbara Kavanaugh, Jim and Mary Jeanne Kraft, Bob and Robin Sturm - to form the nucleus of the new ministry. The organization was called “The Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship”, an ensemble was christened, and an evangelistic concert was planned. It was to take place at Christian Assembly, the principle piece being Bach’s Cantata No. 140. It would include two opera singers who were graduates of Juilliard and had recently moved to Northern Virginia: Steve and Linda Schnurman. The first CPAF performance took place on November 20, 1984.

The performing forces were somewhat limited: two dancers, four singers (who served both as the soloists and the entire chorus), and a handful of musicians. The church was packed (mostly with friends), and the concert was memorable in its length. But the Gospel went forth and the performance’s success brought a number of newly interested musicians and dancers. One printed review, in a local Christian paper, was written by Nick and Donna May Tavani – who would later join the Board of Directors.

Years of Evangelistic Performances

Thus began a long string of evangelistic concerts, which gradually grew in size and scope, throughout the Washington DC area. Linda Schnurman served as the first secretary, and Steve soon recruited Dean Christman to direct a small, but determined, chorus. Bob and Robin Sturm choreographed one masterpiece after another, including such works as Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Magnificat, and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms. Jim Kraft spent countless hours on the phone, cajoling friends to play in the growing orchestra. The chorus rehearsed every Tuesday night, and the dancers every Thursday night and Saturday morning. In 1987, we audaciously rented the Kennedy Center to perform movements from the Bach Mass in B Minor, with a chorus of fourteen opera singers.

Finances were often a great matter for prayer. The leadership was determined to keep all concerts without charge so that the Gospel could be freely shared. A typical example of God’s amazing provision occurred just before a performance at the Lisner Auditorium. That afternoon, Patrick had paid the final bill to the theatre, leaving only a few dollars in the CPAF bank account. An hour before curtain, the stage manager presented him with an extra bill for stagehands, which had to be paid before they would allow the concert to begin. A moment later, a friend came by with a check he had “meant to give earlier.” It was exactly the amount of the stagehand bill.

God taught the ministry many lessons in these early days: how to handle “people problems,” how to program effective concerts, how to raise funds in a Biblical manner, how to present the Gospel message with credibility, how to attract crowds to concerts, how to balance artistic and ministry concerts. Once, a singer felt slighted because he was not selected for a certain solo, and wrote a letter to CPAF’s entire membership list notoriously condemning its leadership. Instead of attacking in kind, the directors prayed earnestly, and the affair quickly died down.

As the ministry became more publicly known, the secular performing arts community grew less friendly. The Kennedy Center’s booking coordinator was especially hostile, and we prayed that God would somehow give us an opportunity to serve her. One day (after we had already scheduled a concert at the Kennedy Center), she called to explain that a “terrific accident” had occurred: they had booked another group to perform at the same time as the Asaph Ensemble. She was beside herself. When we agreed to move our date, she was so relieved that a friendship was formed and she later helped the ministry in many ways.

At another time, Patrick called in the wording to a paid advertisement in the Washington Post newspaper, and was dumbfounded when they refused to print it. Since it was an audition notice that said that we were looking for “Christian Singers”, they declared that it was a “discriminatory ad.” Fortunately, he had seen an audition ad earlier that week from the “Gay Men’s Chorus,” printed in the Post. The editors defended this decision because it did not specifically ask for gay singers, even though it was clearly implied. So the CPAF ad was quickly revised to read: “The Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship, a ministry dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is looking for singers.” The flustered editors could not refuse it, and that same ad was used by CPAF for several years.

The Kavanaughs Go Full-time

From 1984 to the spring of 1988, CPAF was entirely a volunteer ministry. During this time, the vision was being clarified and focused. We began to see the performing arts world as a spiritually needy mission field that had been virtually ignored by churches and ministries. We realized that God’s call on CPAF was to find ways to take the Gospel into this very secularized portion of our society. Patrick and Barbara felt called to enter full-time into this fledgling work, and on July 1, 1988, after months of raising missionary support, CPAF had its first full-time workers.

It meant a large drop in the Kavanaugh’s income, but God proved faithful to meet every need. Once, a car repair required $300 that the family didn’t have. Patrick and Barbara had just prayed with their young sons, Christopher and John, about this need when the doorbell rang. No one was there, but an envelope taped to the door contained three one-hundred dollar bills. The children later argued whether it was an angel or a person who did this.

The first CPAF office was a room in the back of the Kavanaugh’s house in Vienna, Virginia. With their growing household so close by, Patrick often found his desk covered with legos and pieces of play-doh on the keyboard. A number of friends volunteered to help, but it was not until the 1990’s that CPAF could afford to rent a real office in Fairfax City and actually pay a regular secretary.

Throughout the years of performing evangelistic concerts, we found that program notes were a way to present the Gospel message. Patrick spent many hours researching at the Library of Congress, finding little known facts about the faith of many composers. After a while, these were collected into a small, photocopied booklet entitled “The Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers.” In the spring of 1989, the Asaph Ensemble performed a series of lecture-recitals by the same name. Somehow, a copy of the booklet found its way to the desk of Billy Ray Hearn, the CEO of Sparrow Records. He asked if it could be expanded and published internationally. God has used it and Patrick’s subsequent books to open many doors for CPAF.

More and more guest soloists began to perform with the Asaph Ensemble. One soloist in particular whom CPAF wished to work with was the famous Metropolitan Opera singer, Jerome Hines. The directors boldly planned the Brahms Requiem, their largest undertaking to date, in the hopes of impressing Hines.

But when Patrick called him in the summer of 1991 and offered him the bass solo in the Requiem, Hines explained that he only did opera roles. Patrick was determined not to let the big fish get away:

Patrick: “You only perform opera? Ok, which opera would you like to do?

Hines: “You people can produce a grand opera?”

Patrick: “Sure!” (CPAF had never even considered such a huge venture).

Hines: “Well, in that case, I have always wanted to do an evangelistic version of Boito’s Mefistofele.”

Patrick: “A great idea!” (He had actually never heard of it). “Let’s do it at the Kennedy Center next spring!”

Hines: “You could really do this?”

Patrick: “Of course!” (He was beginning to wonder if he would still have his job when the other directors learned about this outrageous proposal).

Hines agreed to the concert, and Patrick raced to the Library of Congress to find what Boito’s Mefistofele was like. The directors rolled up their sleeves and the next spring performed a concert version of this opera starring Jerome Hines at the Kennedy Center. Bob Sturm’s marvelous choreography, a large chorus and orchestra, the four excellent soloists, plus Hines’ creative Gospel presentation made this one of Asaph’s finest performances. Step by step, God was increasing the faith and boldness of the ministry’s leadership.

Taking on the Bolshoi Theater

The following year, Hines called and asked if CPAF could help him mount a production of his opera I Am the Way at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. CPAF had never done anything outside of the DC area, but Hines insisted that God had directed him to do this. He would fly Patrick to Moscow to check out the possibility. Patrick arrived at the Moscow airport without a translator and with only four phone numbers to try.

Communism had fallen a few years earlier and Russia was in shambles. Nothing worked on a consistent basis. The first three numbers had been disconnected. Miraculously, the fourth turned out to be a close friend of the Bolshoi Opera conductor. A meeting was arranged, in which the conductor grilled Patrick about the details to Hines’ opera (which Patrick had never heard). The translator must have said something right, for the next day Patrick was ushered into the main office of the Bolshoi, with a larger than life picture of Lenin glaring down upon everyone.

The Bolshoi directors, new to capitalism, had never rented their historic hall before and innocently asked Patrick, “How much would you like to pay us?” After a quick inward prayer, he blurted out, “$14,000,” and the directors were delighted. Handshakes were immediately exchanged and Patrick had to sheepishly ask about a contract. He explained to the bewildered Directors that a contract usually included the dates of the performances, the amount of rent to be paid, and the necessary signatures. One of the Russians took a small piece of scratch paper, wrote down “July 3-5, 1993,” “$14,000,” and his signature. Handing it to Patrick, he asked, “Will this do?” That was CPAF’s original contract with the Bolshoi Theater.

To finance this mammoth project, Hines introduced Patrick to a Christian foundation, which subsequently donated over a half million – the first major grant CPAF had ever received. After months of preparation, one hundred ninety-one people – including orchestra, chorus, dancers, soloists and a large tech and television crew – flew from Washington to Moscow for two weeks of rehearsals and performances. Every single item had to be brought from the US: two entire truckloads of gear. The concerts (July 3 and 5, 1993) were a great success, with almost one thousand Russians giving their lives to Christ and signing up for follow-up. The opera was later shown on Russian national TV and Patrick was awarded a special medal by Yeltsen’s Minister of Culture.

A New Direction For the Ministry

Back in America, the evangelistic concerts increased in number and scope. For the first time, CPAF was being written about in national magazines and their notoriety in the Washington area continued to grow. Robin Sturm exquisitely choreographed the “Christmas portion” of Handel’s Messiah, and we performed it every Christmas season for fourteen consecutive years. It became so popular that the five thousand, or so, free tickets were usually claimed in only a few days, causing a colossal crunch in the small CPAF office.

In 1996, the Asaph Ensemble was invited by the Israeli government to perform on Christmas Eve in Bethlehem’s Manger Square. From the beginning it was clear that their motive was primarily tourist-dollars, yet we knew that this could be an incredible opportunity to present a Christian witness to thousands of Palestinian Muslims. We succeeded in persuading the authorities to allow us to perform “whatever we desired.” In an effort to clearly portray the Gospel message despite language barriers, the main piece we chose to perform was a work Bob Sturm had choreographed, which portrayed the entire life of Christ, from birth to resurrection.

When we arrived amidst the chaos of Bethlehem’s crowds, we could not help noticing a ninety-foot tall wooden Christmas tree display set up behind the dance stage. This was not the typical “living Christmas tree” found in large American churches, but a rickety affair that a good wind could have leveled. Nevertheless, the chorus braved the wobbly steps (narrow boards laid but not fastened to a metal scaffold) to the very top, and vocally accompanied the dancers’ powerful presentation of Jesus’ life. Over twenty thousand Palestinians were present (including their leader, Yasser Arafat) and CPAF’s presentation was shown around the world on CNN and other television networks.

Throughout these years of concerts, God repeatedly confirmed his blessing upon CPAF’s mission. Yet among the leadership, there was an undercurrent that we needed to pass this vision onto the next generation of Christian performing artists. Many ideas were prayed about and discussed: founding a performing arts school, forming traveling groups to teach and perform, producing masterclasses at secular universities.

The MasterWorks Festival

Gradually, the concept of a summer festival was formed; one which would train young performers both artistically and spiritually for one month, then send them back into their secular schools to make an impact for Christ.

A great deal of prayer went into the preparation. It was soon apparent that there were seven key items to creating a festival: 1. vision 2. curriculum (daily schedule and activities) 3. facilities 4. finances 5. faculty 6. publicity 7. students. At the beginning, we had only the vision, which we believed was from the Lord. Having nothing else, we began designing a curriculum. We then took our ideas to various facilities and finally Houghton College in New York agreed to host the event. With this promise in hand, a family foundation donated the needed start-up funds. With these, we sent hundreds of flyers, advertising for Christian professional musicians, around to orchestras and schools, and a faculty began to emerge. Finally, the first MasterWorks was planned for the summer of 1997 in Houghton, New York, and thousands of brochures were sent out to announce the event to students.

Then we waited and prayed. At the end of January 1997, a grand total of one application had arrived. At the end of March, there were only five. Not exactly a full orchestra. Had we missed the Lord? Had the many months of work and planning – not to mention the many thousands of dollars spent – all been wasted? The CPAF directors fasted and prayed. With merely a dozen applications in hand, a leadership meeting was held to decided whether to cancel the festival. The group felt that God was saying to persevere and that He would bring it forth.

On June 22, 1997, the first annual MasterWorks Festival began with a total of fifty-five students. It may have been small, but those who were present will never forget the presence of God throughout the four weeks. Fortunately, over the years of giving evangelistic concerts, many of the excellent soloists who had joined us helped at MasterWorks. The first summer saw performances by such notable artists as guitarist Christopher Parkening, Anne Martindale Williams (principal cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra), and Phil Smith (principal trumpeter of the New York Philharmonic). Many more would follow in future years, as the Festival grew.

The process of training young musicians to be salt and light in the arts world had begun. The Bible studies, faculty devotions and worship services were a huge hit with both students and faculty alike. As in the early days of presenting evangelistic concerts, God was again teaching us. After that first summer, word began to spread. The next year almost doubled the number of students, and a few years would double it again.

In addition, the growth of MasterWorks brought more key people into CPAF’s ministry. Dick and Sherrill Lambert had come in through the Bolshoi project and Walter and Bonnie Ringleb joined us for the Israel performances. Now the Lord brought John and Roslyn Langlois to us, whom Patrick had met earlier at a speaking engagement in Tasmania, Australia. They had come to the first MasterWorks Festival as “observers,” but were soon working side by side with us and later moved to America to join the staff full-time. New faculty were added each year, many of who would have a profound influence on CPAF’s ministry: John and Paula Kasica, Chip and Karen Hill, Mary Irwin, Stephen Clapp and many others.

Furthermore, training students at Masterworks presented the opportunity of starting Bible Studies and prayer groups in the many performing arts departments where students attended during the school year. Dozens of such groups started up, often using the “MasterClass Bible Studies” our staff had developed for the Festival itself. In 2000, Michael and Jennifer Frantz, former MasterWork’s students, began working full-time in this vital aspect of CPAF’s ministry.

After five consecutive summers in New York, MasterWorks had established itself as a significant ministry, drawing students and faculty from around the world. Yet there was a persistent problem: the lack of audiences. Houghton College is in a beautiful, but very remote and unpopulated area in Western New York and the many empty seats tended to lower the students’ morale. No matter how hard we worked and how much money we spent on publicity, the crowds did not appear. How was the Lord going to solve this frustrating riddle?

In the Spring of 2001, a reporter from Power of Living called the CPAF office asking for an interview. Patrick spoke to him for thirty minutes and mailed a few photos, but the office was very busy working on the upcoming Festival and the phone call was soon forgotten. In September the article was printed, and this small pamphlet was sent to thousands of churches across America. A man in Texas noticed it and sent it to his brother, Brent Wilcoxson, who lived in Winona Lake, Indiana.

The small town of Winona Lake has a remarkable Christian heritage, having been the home of evangelist Billy Sunday and the place of encouragement to many great ministries – such as Young Life and Billy Graham’s crusades. In the first half of the 20th century, it annually hosted the largest Bible conferences in the world. But in the sixties and seventies, the town declined dramatically. Brent Wilcoxsen was determined to bring Winona Lake back to its former glory. With the help of a few key businessmen, he has already restored many of its beautiful buildings and built the well-known Village-at-Winona.

Another of Brent’s ideas for Winona Lake was to start a Christian music festival. Reading the Power for Living article, he realized that CPAF was already doing this and more. He immediately contacted Patrick. After a few visits, it was clear that the supportive Winona Lake community would help solve MasterWorks’ audience problem. Furthermore, Brent and Grace College offered CPAF a generous financial package to move the MasterWorks Festival there, which would greatly help to balance the ailing budgets. A great deal of prayer and discussion followed, but the CPAF Directors all believed that God was calling us to relocate the Festival. The first MasterWorks Festival in Winona Lake took place in the summer of 2002.

After two successful summers in Indiana, we prayerfully concluded that we should move our entire headquarters from Northern Virginia to Winona Lake, Indiana. It would allow us to bring on many more full-time workers and yearly interns to help with the ministry. The Village-at-Winona and Grace College provided both offices and living space for the CPAF staff. Furthermore, the move enabled CPAF’s vision of an “Artistic Colony” to develop and flourish, as more performing artists come together year-round, spurring one another on to the highest degrees of Biblical excellence.

The Future

The Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship is now in a position to make a major impact on the arts world for Christ. God has lead us for twenty years of fruitful ministry, but we have only scratched the surface. Most of the performing arts world is still without an effective Gospel witness. CPAF has started Bible Study and Prayer Groups in many colleges, but there are hundreds more which have not been reached. We now have professional members in many orchestra, dance and theatre ensembles, but many more around the world are without a single Christian to bring forth the love of Jesus Christ.

To meet these needs, CPAF is expanding rapidly. For several years, talented, but financially needy students from Europe have contacted us, desiring to be trained at our MasterWorks Festival. Yet even if given full scholarships, most of them could not afford the cost of flying to the United States. Since they cannot come to us, we decided to go to them. Like the man from Macedonia in Paul’s vision (Acts 16:9), we have many needy students imploring us: “Come over here.”

“MasterWorks Europe” began in the summer of 2004, taking place in London, England, in addition to the annual MasterWorks Festival that continues in Winona Lake. There are plans for a number of MasterWorks Festivals around the globe, in order to reach the young performing artists wherever they live. In the coming years, as the Lord opens the doors and brings the needed faculty and finances, annual Festivals will be held in Australia, Eastern Europe, and South America – as well as in the Western and Southern United States.

Another significant project CPAF is also now established, the intern program. This enables us to take talented young artists to train for an entire year, both spiritually and artistically. They live in Winona Lake and work and train in the CPAF office each day. Furthermore, they have ample performance opportunities in the many concerts CPAF sponsors throughout the year.

Finally, as more performers move into the artistic colony being established, we pray Winona Lake will become known world-wide as a center of Christian artistry. As with any long-term project, this will take time, perhaps years. But the fruit from such a dedicated colony will be extraordinary. We have a mandate from the Lord to hold a high standard for others to follow, a standard for excellence in the arts and a standard to walk a sincere Christian path, living a life worthy of the Gospel.

Please join us in prayer that this vision will be realized, and in such a way that gives God the greatest glory. Without the prayers of the saints and the blessing of the Lord, we labor in vain. Yet we believe that God has called this ministry into being, and that he “will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6b)