Popular Brethren singers will appear at Elgin church

Among the Church of the Brethren members across the country, Andy and Terry Murray are celebrities who have been beloved by the youth and young adults for three decades.

The local Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren has invited the Murrays to give a concert at 3 p.m. Sunday to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the denomination. The Church of the Brethren is at 783 W. Highland Ave., Elgin.

The "A River Runs Through Us" program will present stories in song of Brethren from 1708, when the first eight members were baptized in the Eder River in Germany, to current times.

Other congregations in the Illinois-Wisconsin District of the Church of the Brethren are welcome, as are people from the greater Elgin community. A reception follows.

The day of celebration will begin with the morning worship service where Andy is the guest preacher, preaching on "Hats Off (to the) Brethren." During church school Andy and Terry will lead a program for elementary- and middle-schoolers, which will prepare the young people to join them on stage during the afternoon concert.

During a sabbatical early in 2007, Andy composed a new song, "River Still Running," which is also the title of a CD featuring songs on Brethren heroes, using the various rivers where Brethren have been baptized as a metaphor for the spirit that has been with the Brethren.

A line from the song, "I have a river running in my soul," gives rise to the theme of Sunday's concert. The album complements the CD curriculum produced by the 300th Anniversary Committee that is to be used with children's classes at Highland Avenue beginning this month.