Mission Statement
“To unite Christians and break patterns of
racial and denominational division by the
power of God through music, education and
gatherings of worship and prayer”
Worship Band
The Heart of the City Worship Band is a 22 member group with 12 vocalists, a 4 piece brass section, drums, percussion, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar and keyboards. Led by founding members and ministry directors, Dan and Sandy Adler, this group has been leading once a month inter-racial, inter-denominational worship gatherings in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area since August of 1996. The members of this each come from different churches and denominations and are African-American, Caribbean-American, Latino, Asian, East Indian and Caucasian in racial heritage. The focus of their ministry is on bringing racial and denominational unity and reconciliation to the Body of Christ.
Besides the monthly Heart of the City Worship Celebration, the group often serves as guest worship leaders at other churches, conferences and worship seminars. They sometimes travel as a reduced size group instead of with the whole group.
Heart of the City is known for the variety of styles of worship music that they use – from Black Gospel to hymns, contemporary praise and worship, Caribbean and Latino rhythms and parts of some songs in Spanish and in Hmong –which reflect the make up of their band and the churches of the city.
The Heart of the City Worship Band’s first CD release is entitled What We Really Need. Although songs from many backgrounds and writers are used at Heart of the City Worship Celebrations, all of the songs on this project are written by Dan Adler. Adler has written over 100 songs and has had several published by WORD Music, Alegis Music, the United Methodist Publishing House, Lillenas, Integrity and others. The song “It is Good” off of this project was also released on Ron Kenoly’s project “We Offer Praises” in January of 2000 on the Integrity Music label.
An ensemble of 22 Heart of the City Worship Band members lead each monthly worship celebration. Members of the band include:
Singers:
Dan Adler
Sandy Adler
Edwin Adorno
Maria Soto
Kim Brown
Evangeline Jackson
Karen Austin
Ryan Daniel
Nancy Ellis
Levee Kong
Jessica Singh
Rick Murphy
Kenny Passmore
Jodie Sellers
Barbara Van Leer
Jake Thao
Drums:
Bass guitar:
Electric Guitar:
Trumpets:
Trombone:
Sax/woodwinds:
Keyboards:
Percussion:
Percy Gutierrez
Justin Smith
George Parrish
Aleta Anderson
Brad Anderson
Adam Bever
Troy Williams
Peter Shu
Stephan Roufs
Jim Ryberg
Alexis Santos
Carlos Gutierrez
You can reach the Heart of the City Worship band at the address below or via e-mail.
Vision Statement
The vision of HEART OF THE CITY MINISTRIES is to strengthen the Church and spiritually impact the Twin Cities by uniting Christians of varying denominations and races on a regular basis through large, gatherings of worship and prayer. Heart of the City Worship Celebrations are oriented toward families of all ages as well as singles, youth and children. They are led by Dan and Sandy Adler along with an inter-racial group called the Heart of the City Worship Band. This group is a 22 member group of singers and instrumentalists that are African-American, Caribbean, Caucasian, Hmong, East Indian and are from a cross-section churches and denominations. The goal of these gatherings is to build bridges between races and denominations and to unite and refresh the body of Christ through celebrative worship and prayer. These are not concerts, but evenings of participative worship. The words are up on a screen and several songs are sung in Spanish and in Hmong as well as English.
At each event, we have what we call our URBAN PASTOR SPOTLIGHT. During this time, an urban ethnic pastor is paid $100.00 to come and briefly share about his/her congregation and what God has called them to and what they are up against. Then all of those attending take time to pray for that church. Time is also spent in prayer for all of the congregations in the city and for the lost in the city. We also give 10% of our offering to the featured pastor’s congregation. One of our goals for the urban pastor spotlight is to bless this featured pastor and their congregation both financially and spiritually. The other goal is to expose those who attend to another congregation in the city. Our desire is to build a sense of connectedness in the Body of Christ, to encourage partnerships, to breakdown racial ignorance, prejudice and stereotyping and to build bridges between urban and suburban Christians and their congregations.
We believe that music is the language of contemporary culture and is the one medium besides corporate prayer that has enormous potential for uniting, communicating and breaking down barriers between people. Contemporary American music is made up of African-American, Caribbean, Hispanic, Asian and European influences--thus making the language of music very universal. We believe that worship through music and corporate prayer are the most unifying Christian activities where Christians of different races, sexes, ages, ability levels and denominational backgrounds can come together and glorify God in a united way. It is our vision to see walls of division between Christians of different races and denominations torn down as we unite in the presence of God to worship and pray in these gatherings.
In many ways, our vision is grandiose. We want to change the Church culture of the Twin Cities. Our vision is to see the average Christian begin to make it part of their routine to gather outside the walls of their own congregation with Christians of other denominations and ethnic groups. We are providing one way in both Minneapolis and St. Paul for Christians to easily do that on a monthly basis. We believe that the ultimate fruit of these events will be to break down the individualism, racism, fear, bitterness and apathy in the Church and to build a strong sense of ‘one Church with many congregations in the city’ and therefore making the Church far more effective in reaching the lost for Christ.
Bio - Heart of the City
Mission Statement
“To unite Christians and break patterns of
racial and denominational division by the
power of God through music, education and
gatherings of worship and prayer”
Worship Band
The Heart of the City Worship Band is a 22 member group with 12 vocalists, a 4 piece brass section, drums, percussion, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar and keyboards. Led by founding members and ministry directors, Dan and Sandy Adler, this group has been leading once a month inter-racial, inter-denominational worship gatherings in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area since August of 1996. The members of this each come from different churches and denominations and are African-American, Caribbean-American, Latino, Asian, East Indian and Caucasian in racial heritage. The focus of their ministry is on bringing racial and denominational unity and reconciliation to the Body of Christ.
Besides the monthly Heart of the City Worship Celebration, the group often serves as guest worship leaders at other churches, conferences and worship seminars. They sometimes travel as a reduced size group instead of with the whole group.
Heart of the City is known for the variety of styles of worship music that they use – from Black Gospel to hymns, contemporary praise and worship, Caribbean and Latino rhythms and parts of some songs in Spanish and in Hmong –which reflect the make up of their band and the churches of the city.
The Heart of the City Worship Band’s first CD release is entitled What We Really Need. Although songs from many backgrounds and writers are used at Heart of the City Worship Celebrations, all of the songs on this project are written by Dan Adler. Adler has written over 100 songs and has had several published by WORD Music, Alegis Music, the United Methodist Publishing House, Lillenas, Integrity and others. The song “It is Good” off of this project was also released on Ron Kenoly’s project “We Offer Praises” in January of 2000 on the Integrity Music label.
An ensemble of 22 Heart of the City Worship Band members lead each monthly worship celebration. Members of the band include:
Singers:
Dan Adler
Sandy Adler
Edwin Adorno
Maria Soto
Kim Brown
Evangeline Jackson
Karen Austin
Ryan Daniel
Nancy Ellis
Levee Kong
Jessica Singh
Rick Murphy
Kenny Passmore
Jodie Sellers
Barbara Van Leer
Jake Thao
Drums:
Bass guitar:
Electric Guitar:
Trumpets:
Trombone:
Sax/woodwinds:
Keyboards:
Percussion:
Percy Gutierrez
Justin Smith
George Parrish
Aleta Anderson
Brad Anderson
Adam Bever
Troy Williams
Peter Shu
Stephan Roufs
Jim Ryberg
Alexis Santos
Carlos Gutierrez
You can reach the Heart of the City Worship band at the address below or via e-mail.
Vision Statement
The vision of HEART OF THE CITY MINISTRIES is to strengthen the Church and spiritually impact the Twin Cities by uniting Christians of varying denominations and races on a regular basis through large, gatherings of worship and prayer. Heart of the City Worship Celebrations are oriented toward families of all ages as well as singles, youth and children. They are led by Dan and Sandy Adler along with an inter-racial group called the Heart of the City Worship Band. This group is a 22 member group of singers and instrumentalists that are African-American, Caribbean, Caucasian, Hmong, East Indian and are from a cross-section churches and denominations. The goal of these gatherings is to build bridges between races and denominations and to unite and refresh the body of Christ through celebrative worship and prayer. These are not concerts, but evenings of participative worship. The words are up on a screen and several songs are sung in Spanish and in Hmong as well as English.
At each event, we have what we call our URBAN PASTOR SPOTLIGHT. During this time, an urban ethnic pastor is paid $100.00 to come and briefly share about his/her congregation and what God has called them to and what they are up against. Then all of those attending take time to pray for that church. Time is also spent in prayer for all of the congregations in the city and for the lost in the city. We also give 10% of our offering to the featured pastor’s congregation. One of our goals for the urban pastor spotlight is to bless this featured pastor and their congregation both financially and spiritually. The other goal is to expose those who attend to another congregation in the city. Our desire is to build a sense of connectedness in the Body of Christ, to encourage partnerships, to breakdown racial ignorance, prejudice and stereotyping and to build bridges between urban and suburban Christians and their congregations.
We believe that music is the language of contemporary culture and is the one medium besides corporate prayer that has enormous potential for uniting, communicating and breaking down barriers between people. Contemporary American music is made up of African-American, Caribbean, Hispanic, Asian and European influences--thus making the language of music very universal. We believe that worship through music and corporate prayer are the most unifying Christian activities where Christians of different races, sexes, ages, ability levels and denominational backgrounds can come together and glorify God in a united way. It is our vision to see walls of division between Christians of different races and denominations torn down as we unite in the presence of God to worship and pray in these gatherings.
In many ways, our vision is grandiose. We want to change the Church culture of the Twin Cities. Our vision is to see the average Christian begin to make it part of their routine to gather outside the walls of their own congregation with Christians of other denominations and ethnic groups. We are providing one way in both Minneapolis and St. Paul for Christians to easily do that on a monthly basis. We believe that the ultimate fruit of these events will be to break down the individualism, racism, fear, bitterness and apathy in the Church and to build a strong sense of ‘one Church with many congregations in the city’ and therefore making the Church far more effective in reaching the lost for Christ.