Hello all,
It has been a long time since you heard from me and since then I have been on a roller coaster of emotions.  In the past month we have sung at Cottonwood Christian Church, and Northside Community United Methodist Church, just to name a couple of the wonderful engagements that we have had.  The Lord has truly blessed these churches, and has blessed our quartet by their love and friendship!  The reasons for the cancellation of our Meridian Towers concert today are two-fold:  They now have no neighborhood committee to organize such an event, and on Monday July 6th my father William H. Shields, a resident of Meridian Towers was killed in an automobile accident.  Dad was so special to me, but also to our quartet, and we sang him a song yesterday before he was laid to rest.  Many people never get to know their father as a friend, but I did, and I know this separation is but for a little while.  We will; however, be singing as planned on Sunday night at Brazil First Christian Church at 7 PM.  Dad was planning on attending this concert, and my friends at FCC have been so loving and gracious to our family through this past week, that I believe we must continue to do what God has called us to, my dad would expect that, and we will sing in his memory and continue the work that he believed so much in.  So we hope to see a full house on Sunday- let's celebrate dad's life and exalt the name of Jesus with all that is within us!

John- CVQ lead

Hey everybody,
It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you all that the CVQ will be withdrawing from the 1st Annual Branson Gospel Music Convention in July.  This was primarily a financial decision, as times are really tough right now.  We feel we can be more effective, and a greater blessing just staying a little closer to home.  We do plan on making this trip in the future, maybe even next year.  Until then, stay tuned and we'll catch you somewhere else farther down the road.

John- CVQ lead

Hey all,
The boys had quite a time this past weekend.  On Saturday we were pleased to be able to participate in the first annual Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Gospel Concert at the Southwood Nursing Home in Terre Haute.  We saw many old friends, and made a few new ones as well.  Thom, you are still as smooth as silk!  On Sunday morning we were at the Prairieton United Methodist Church to a crowd of folks that are like family to me.  It is always more like a family reunion, than a concert- and I think everybody had a ball!!!  We then got in the van and headed East; which reminds me of an old band I used to listen to, anyway we sang that evening to a bunch of great folks at the Bee Ridge Congregational Christian Church in Brazil.  It is always a hoot singing at our old buddy Jeff Bridgewater's church, because we can have fun in the Lord and still know that the Word was preached and that lives were changed- keep up the good work that is going on at Bee Ridge!  We are going to be calling 2 of our old friends into service over the next 2 weeks to cover for our Tenor:  Bill Harbour, who is having hip replacement surgery on June 3rd.  Please keep Bill in your prayers!  Jeff Bridgewater will be singing the "girl's" part on June 5, and June 11, and Steve Rigdon, of Crimson Cross fame, will be singing Tenor on the 14th of June.  Without the help of these dear friends we would not be able to keep going, but God is good, and has blessed the CVQ with many great friends.  I wish you all God's peace until we meet again farther down the road!

John- CVQ lead

Hey all,
I suppose you wonder where I've been.  The last several weeks I have been preparing for the Indiana State Insurance Exam, and thank the Lord I passed!!!  I have been wanting to share about the revival for over a week and just couldn't find the time to sit here and write you all.  First of all, if you missed the 3 services two weeks ago- you really missed a lot.  Pastor VanWinkle is a Spirit-filled preacher that is not ashamed to speak the Word of God with boldness and conviction- he's my former pastor you know!  Second of all, he spoke to the Church in a prophetic way- to prepare itself for the end times that are quickly coming.  As a Church, we all must be ready to not only survive as things in this world get more and more evil, but we must also be prepared to help those who do not know the Lord.  We need to be ready for the massive "Soul Harvest" that is spoken of in Revelation.  I know we were all challenged by his powerful and educational sermons.  As far as the music went- we had a ball!  On the second night of services, our old tenor- Tony sang a few songs with us, it is always fun sharing the stage with dear friends!!  The only 2 drawbacks of the whole experience came on the first evening of the revival.  Phil got our van and trailer bogged down in the church yard, and it took a 4-wheel drive to pull the van out, and a backhoe to extracate the trailer!  Boy did we all get muddy, but we still enjoyed each other's company through it all.  Then we went to eat, thinking this was our "glitch" for the evening, wrong!!!  About 5 miles out of Robinson we noticed the battery light on the van was lit, and the other lights kept getting dimmer and dimmer, until we were dead on the road about 2 miles north of West Union!  It turned out to be a dead alternator, and we got home about 4 AM!!!  The van was fixed the next day, and we were back at it once again.  I believe the revival fires started at Hardinville will fan all over Illinois and Indiana, and usher in the return of Jesus, may He come quickly!  After the services concluded, we had no time to relax, for it was on to Marshall, IN to the Baptist Church for a Sunday evening service.  We had a great time there as always with old friends, that still call us boys- isn't that cool?!  We then spent a quiet evening with our families, and enjoyed some much needed sleep, isn't God awesome?!!!  We will be at it again this weekend, and Lord willing we will see you all down the road.

John- CVQ lead

Well hello bloggers!
It has been a while since I have written y'all, because I have been studying for the Indiana State Insurance Exam!  I did not know how deep this subject was.  We had a wonderful time again on the 26th of April at the Lighthouse Mission.  It is always a joy to work with Brother Terrell Jones, and all the sweet people at the mission.  God is doing great things through the effort of many Godly men and women who have dedicated their lives to those who need the love and compassion of Jesus Christ more than anything!  Keep on the firing line Brother Terrell, and know we will be with you always in spirit.  Last Sunday we visited our old friends at the Brown's Valley Christian Church, as we do every May.  And wow, what a great day we had together.  We were the last group to sing in their old sanctuary and the first group to sing in their new sanctuary, but as it was pointed out- nobody in a hundred years will know or care who was there, but the faithfulness of Pastor Bock and the other leaders of this church will reap eternal rewards in Heaven!  I am thankful that we could play a small part in the effective work of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to these wonderful folks.  May we all be found about our Father's business when He returns for His own!!!  God bless you all, and we hope to see you in revival services this coming weekend at Hardinville United Church(Robinson, IL), if not, we will see you farther down the road.

John- CVQ lead

Hey all,
I hope this email finds you well!  The CVQ had a busy "early" weekend this past week.  We sang at the Westridge Health Center on Thursday evening to a packed house, and we had an awesome time.  I got to see 2 very dear friends of mine; Sue Thompson, and her husband Mike, who were like parents to me when I was a Boy Scout!  Sue, I pray every day that you will have a full recovery- God is great!!!  We also got to sing to Marlene Trotzke's dad, as he lives at Westridge- what a sweet man.  Everything was great on Thursday evening, then came Friday.  We sang at my old church:  Victory Christian Center in Seelyville, IN.  We set up like usual, and only 1/2 of the system worked.  We tried everything to fix the problem, but about 10 minutes before sing time had to hoist the white flag!  Pastor Dana was gracious enough to let us use their sound system, and he himself ran the sound for us.  All in all, we had a ball- and Satan was defeated!!!  We would like to thank all that came out this past weekend to hear us- we love you all so much.  We will catch you again on Sunday at the Lighthouse Mission.  God bless, and we'll see you farther down the road.
John- CVQ lead

It is my sad news to inform you all that due to scheduling conflicts we will not be singing at the World Gospel Church on the 26th of April.  We are working diligently with Kendra Kirby to reschedule later in the year.  We'll see you farther down the road- God bless!!
John- CVQ lead

The boys of the CVQ had a great, and extremely busy 3 day weekend that I am still recuperating from!  We began on Friday evening by singing for the nice folks at the Cooper Towers Senior Housing complex.  There was a great turnout and all enjoyed the sweet gospel music that we had to share.  After this sing, we hauled our gear across the street and set up in the Meridian Towers Senior Housing complex for a breakfast concert on Saturday morning.  Let me tell you, the biscuits and gravy were well worth the price of admission and then some.  We sang to an even larger crowd there, and shared with them long after the concert ended.  After the breakfast concert, we had a few hours to relax before singing on Saturday evening at the House of Hope.  We always look forward to singing here because there is such a freedom of worship, and it is just a whole lot of fun!!!  We shared a Bible study on the Year of Jubilee, and sang our lungs out.  Then came Sunday evening.  On Sunday we sang for the Oak Ridge UMC in rural Flat Rock, Illinois.  We have sung here several times, but never get tired of the joy these folks have, and of how well they know our type of music.  Many were singing along with us word for word, that excites us and helps us remember the words!!  We finished the evening with a sampling of some fine finger foods and desserts, then it was back on the road to Hoosier land and another weekend in the books.  God continually blesses this group, and we would like to thank all those who support us with your prayers and contributions, as we would not be able to continue for long without them.  God bless all the CVQ faithful- you know who you are, and more importantly God knows, and has a crown reserved in Glory for you all!  Keep on serving Jesus until He comes for us all, and we'll see you farther down the road.

John- CVQ lead

Hey all,
Well if you ventured down to Bloomfield on the 27th and caught the CVQ at Bethany Christian, you undoubtedly had a great time- we sure did!  The house was full of old friends, and one friendly old dog.  This dog sat outside of the church door through the whole concert, and then came in several times as folks left to go home.  He sure was a sweet dog, and we'll never forget this evening.  Red was there to welcome us to Bloomfield, and I tell you there never was a better ambassador for the town.  We look forward to returning in the late fall, or winter to share another great evening together, and I sure hope that our four-legged friend comes out to join us!  God bless you all, and we will see you farther down the road.

John-CVQ lead

Hey all,
We had quite a night on Saturday the 21st!  We sang for Jerry Fleming's 29th anniversary in gospel music at the Bridgeport Free Methodist Church.  Before we took the stage there was a local trio, a 10 year old violin virtuoso, and Jerry himself sharing in song.  We hit the stage around 7:30PM and boy did we have a time!  We look forward to returning, possibly to help Jerry celebrate 30 years in the music ministry!  Keep serving the Lord Jerry, and we were glad to be able to share in your special evening, I know Linda would be pleased!  God bless, and we'll see you all down the road.

John-CVQ lead