On the evening of Saturday 3/24/19 we hosted a Praise Band Concert to benefit our friends in the La Palmilla Mexico Methodist Church. This was actually the Fifth Annual (?) Concert! Over these 5 years we’ve heard a lot of great music and have experienced God’s presence in many ways. And over the years, we have helped a vibrant church in Mexico to expand their ministries by expanding their building.
Making the Connection

La Palmilla Educational Building (circled) is next to the Sanctuary, but not connected
The fifth Annual Concert didn’t let us down. The music, fellowship, and worship were inspiring, and the free will offering garnered over $1000 which will greatly assist our friends in La Palmilla.
Connecting Buildings…
The folks in La Palmilla will use the money we raised to build a connection between their Sanctuary and Educational Building. The buildings are next to each other, but if you’re in the Sanctuary, you can’t get to the Educational Building’s restrooms. This new connection will link the buildings and will improve access to restroom facilities from the Sanctuary. It’s a very practical need, but it will allow this church to minister to more people. We Methodists all have the same goal: to make disciples of Jesus Christ!
Connecting People…
The concert didn’t specifically benefit our child sponsorship efforts, but one of the connections we have with the people of La Palmilla comes through our Sponsorship Program.

One of our sponsored children with his aunt
In what started as a way to help cover some of the educational costs for the children of La Palmilla, this program has expanded to helping the children and youth of the La Palmilla church’s mission (satellite) churches. This church is not bounded by their village! They are growing and planting other churches in the area, and through sponsorship, we are reaching out to these families too.
Approximately 450 children and youth are now part of our sponsorship roster (and many of them are waiting for sponsors).
Over the past seven years, we have seen the Middle School and High School enrollments rise and now we have an unprecedented number of youth in or going into some type of college, university or trade school. College is very cheap there (compared to here), but High School isn’t free. Without aid or sponsorship, most students can’t afford to go to High School in order to make it to college.
By sponsoring High School and Middle School students, we have bridged that gap; students are able to complete grade school and then earn college degrees.
Connecting Through Commitment
PUMC has been involved with our friends in La Palmilla for many years. In addition to these Praise Band Concerts, we’ve raised money in different ways and we’ve traveled to La Palmilla in person on several occasions. These mission trips have helped this church in Mexico to expand their ministry by replacing their “bursting to the seams” sanctuary with a “state of the art” facility.
Here are some “before and after” photos of this construction project…
The sanctuary’s balcony has grown from a cleaning and painting project into an inspiring space for worship…
The sanctuary’s concrete structure has been transformed into a sacred place for communing with God…
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Connecting Through Music!
The purpose of our event was to join with the ministry of La Pamilla by helping them fund their construction project. But the focus of our evening together was music! Five local churches pulled together to create this worshipful experience by sending one of their bands to participate in this concert. This is the fifth concert for La Palmilla, but these same bands have come together for similar concerts for other ministries.
Over the years, any notion of “battle of the bands” has completely gone away. These concerts are a celebration! We’ve all come to appreciate the variety of music styles, and, more importantly, we’ve grown together in relationships as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Each band took their turn on the chancel and presented a selection of three songs. For the finale, we all got together and sang “Carrier” (a fitting benediction, to go forth into the world). Here’s a band by band summary…
Pitman UMC….
PUMC’s own Praise Team opened up the concert with “Everlasting God.”
Mary, Chris, and Ann then sang a beautiful acappepla rendition of “All People that on Earth Do Dwell” (an arrangement on the “Doxology”). It was a great way to get the evening started.
The full PUMC “Praise Team” then got together and sang their three-song set:
- Living Hope
- Old Church Choir
- One True God
First UMC, Glassboro “Magnify…
It was then the Glassboro UMC’s turn. Our neighbors to the south have consistently supported these concerts. And the bond goes both ways as we have also participated in concerts held in their church. Together we have sent missions teams around the world.
Magnify sang:
- Grace God You
- Reckless Love
- My Feet are on the Rock
Trinity UMC (Mullica Hill), “Synergy”
Over the years, Trinity has participated in these concerts with several of their bands. This year, Synergy appeared and got us going with some familiar choruses:
- This is Amazing Grace
- The River is Here
- 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord o My Soul)
Washington Township Baptist
Washington Township Baptist’s Praise Team joined the concert last year, and we were blessed to have them back again. They inspired us with their own music and wrapped up with a moving rendition of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” Here was their set:
- Show Me the Way
- Gifts
- Just a Closer Walk with Thee
Richwood UMC, “Sanctified”
Richwood UMC then wrapped up the evening when their band took the chancel. “Sanctified” has been a fixture at these concerts and at the Pitman Camp Meetings in the summer, and they are always a powerful and inspiring voice. They sang:
- Creed (a musical rendition of the Apostle’s Creed)
- Undivided
- Hands of God
The Final Connection…
After all of the bands had “performed”, all of the bands gathered on the chancel to sing the closing song, “Carrier.”…
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Continuing to Connect
This year’s concert ended, but each church’s mission of connecting people to Christ continues. We may have different age groups, musical styles, and maybe even differing theologies, but we are all captivated by the Love of Jesus Christ. We use whatever musical talents God has gifted us with in order to worship Him and to share His love with the community (whether that community is in Gloucester County, USA or if it’s in Veracruz, Mexico).
To learn more about the concert and La Palmilla, here’s the article that announced this event…
Announcement Post
In what has become an annual tradition at PUMC, we will host a Praise Band concert. The concert will be a time of worship and celebration, but it will also include a love offering that will raise funds for our sister church in La Palmilla Mexico.
Praise Band Concert
- Date: Sunday, March 24 2019
- Time: 6:00 PM
- Where: In our Sanctuary
Free admission, but a Love Offering will be taken to benefit our sister church in La Palmilla Mexico.
Several Praise bands from area churches will gather in our sanctuary for an evening of music and worship (six are currently scheduled). There’s no “battle of the Bands”‘ no competition. Just an evening of brothers and sisters in Christ getting together to sing and celebrate the Joy of our Lord. Here’s a look at the 2017 concert:
(Note: Use your browser’s “back button” to return to this article)…
Here are some views of some of the local bands that will be participating…
- PUMC Praise Team
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To Learn more about our mission to La Palmilla, click this button: La Palmilla
For more on our Music Ministry, try clicking this button: Music