Following Rick Warren's purpose- driven church model and currently meeting at the Galleria Cinemas in Centerville, Harvest Church has expanded to four worship services each Sunday for the 800 or so regular attendees. Harvest has experienced phenomenal growth since launching its weekly contemporary worship services in February 2001, in the liberal arts building of Houston County High School. From there the growing congregation moved to the Ramada Inn on Watson, and when it outgrew that facility in 2002, Harvest Church moved to its present home—the Galleria Cinemas, and, enjoying the growth, Harvest is purchasing land on Highway 41 and is planning to build.

What keeps people coming back week after week? Why is this church growing so rapidly? One reason is the life-relevant messages of hope given by Pastor Jim Cowart each week, and another is the Harvest music!Glenn and Pam Floyd lead one of the engaging worship bands. "We've been at Harvest for 4-1/2 years now. The music ministry has grown from a very small scale to two worship bands and a youth band, plus, our Kid's Café program has its own dynamic worship with live music. God has sent us an incredible group of talented musicians in all our venues," said Pam. "The music at Harvest is exciting and alive creating a dynamic place to worship. Music sets the mood for a worship service. It engages the heart."

"I came on board full time about two years ago from a partime worship leader position here at Harvest," said Pam. "I left a wonderful 32-year career in dentistry because I knew God had a purpose and a plan for my life, and I was stepping out in faith and trusting Him with this new journey. It's been amazing! My primary role at Harvest is "Creative Arts," to pull together creative elements that drive home the sermon message, from music to technology and beyond. Jim, our pastor, and our creative team work closely together to create a service that is inspiring, uplifting and our goal, with God's help. . life changing. God can do amazing things through His people. I love what I do. . it's such an honor to be in full-time ministry, especially at a church like Harvest."

"I carve out a chunk of my day to pray and seek the Lord and that discipline gets my day started out right. Often we get so caught up in the busy details of everyday life that we don't give ourselves time to dream, to imagine and to create. I schedule my day and try to stay focused but also to include some time for creative reflection because it's such a big part of what I do." Pam said.

The Harvest music ministry released its first 14-song CD entitled, "Listen," about eight months ago and is preparing to produce another one. "We decided to record the favorite worship songs from Sunday morning. It's upbeat. The words are passionate for Jesus. You can hear the rock and roll roots in it. The studio experience was awesome and we can't wait to move forward with the next project." Pam said. Pam and Glenn have been involved in the Christian music scene for about 20 years. "Glenn and I were both saved in our early teens, but we rededicated our lives when we were in our early thirties. Before we rededicated our lives, we played and sang rock and roll music at any venue we could find. God took music we played in clubs, etc. , and amazingly used what we thought were ‘lost years.' He showed us that He doesn't waste a thing. We started singing contemporary Christian music back when it wasn't hip. We were bucking the system a little bit, but rock and roll was the music we were familiar with and the sound that was authentic to our roots," she said.

The Floyd's journey to Christian worship leaders began when they were asked to lead some music for the youth group at Martha Bowman United Methodist Church in Macon. "We felt shy and intimidated and only knew about five songs. Glenn was rusty on the guitar from having laid it down for years, but we would gather in the home of our youth pastor and sing some of the simple praise choruses that were being written at the time. God was teaching us to be in front of people and to lead people in worship. Then we began to lead worship on Sunday nights with a group of 75 to 100 youth. God believed in us more than we believed in ourselves. He is so faithful to never leave us and continually sand off the rough edges. He was just preparing us for what was to come, and we are still in the sanding process," Pam said.

The Floyds remained at Martha Bowman UMC for about 13 years. "We were instrumental in starting a contemporary service there. We put together a band and took more of a leadership role. That's when we began to write music, something that we really love. I typically write the lyrics, and I'll tell Glenn what I'm hearing in my head and together a song is birthed. It's been a joy to write music that ties into the messages on Sundays. Songwriting is such an art, a work in progress, and we have numerous talented writers in our bands," Pam added. The Floyds had been leading worship at Martha Bowman for the contemporary service for about five years when they sensed that God was preparing their hearts for a change.

"We got a call from a pastor friend of ours, Steve Waldorf, who wanted us to meet Pastor Jim Cowart, who was starting a new church in Warner Robins. Glenn and I owned a Christian coffee house in Macon at the time, "The Vine" and Jim and came to see us one day at lunchtime. He invited us to visit Harvest. About a month later, we decided to take a week off and come down. Harvest was meeting in the Ramada Inn at that time. We were intrigued and felt very drawn to Harvest. Jim and Jen asked us to come and lead worship for Harvest one Sunday; we did with a guitar and a conga, and the rest is history! It was such a God thing!"

The Floyds have felt at home at Harvest Church. "Jim has such a unique way of communicating God's word. He's so inviting, he makes you feel right at home; he's very unpretentious, and has a great sense of humor! The messages are relevant to our lives today. His wife Jennifer is also an awesome teacher and a powerful speaker, and they "tag-team" speak sometimes. Their styles compliment each other. . they are a dynamic duo!"

Pam is excited about the bright future of contemporary Christian music. "Some incredible artists are writing new songs for today's church, artists like Third Day, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Lincoln Brewster, Jami Smith, Matt Redmond, and Paul Baloche, and so many more. It doesn't matter what music style you like, there are Christian artists who are doing the same style and usually better at it. . the negative lyrics are replaced with a positive message. We want to be a part of that. We have a real passion for the lost and want to play and write music that will get their attention. Rick Warren has said that there's no such thing as Christian music, there's just Christian lyrics. Music is a powerful thing, and we have a lot of faith in what God can do through music."

Harvest Church is looking to the future while envisioning their new church home. "Brian Conner, architect of Saddleback Church in California, has been helpful in planning our new church. He's been here in Warner Robins several times now and has been dreaming Harvest's dream with us. He is translating that dream onto paper. It's amazing to watch him work. We want the land to be used as a place for families in the community. We envision nature trails with lots of trees and picnic areas in a campus- like setting. We want the land to be open to the entire community to come out and promote family life, a refuge to our busy lives," Pam said.

"We are real people doing life together. . it's exciting. Our first service starts at 9 a.m. We have two 10:15 services (one of which is a video venue that has its own live band), and the last service starts at 11:15. So throw on some jeans, grab a cup of coffee and a muffin in the lobby, and join us for worship in a movie theater!"

For more information about Harvest Church and its music, visit their website at www.harvestchurch4u.org.