WEST POINT, Ala. – West Point Baptist Church invited its community in for a special evening of fellowship, music and a little ice cream Sunday.
Leading the evening service was a self-proclaimed “no-name quartet” made up of:
- Brian Witcher, Grace Chapel Baptist Church
- Jonathan Hayes, First Baptist Church Cullman
- Charlie Nesmith, First Baptist Church Cullman
- Bobby Bowden, Bethsadia Baptist Church
Before the concert, The Tribune enjoyed a fun, slightly silly, and informative sit-down with the guys.
What’s with the name, or lack thereof?
These guys were- that’s were– the Fortress Quartet, at one time. They started in Cullman, years ago, as the First Baptist Church Quartet and picked up the shorter and sweeter title along the way. While they were taking some time off, though, someone else slipped in; if you looked up the quartet name, you’d find a group from Illinois that has nothing to do with these men. Now the search for a new name is on.
Said Witcher, “We’ve been thinking about that. We used (Fortress). We did a CD a long time ago, and I don’t even remember what group (of members; the roster has changed a little over the years) it was. We had that name, Fortress. And it’s fine, it’s a fine name, but I don’t know what we are. We’re just kind of a horse with no name!”
With that, they may have found a new name. Between giggles and guffaws, they batted around the idea of the apocalyptic moniker “The Horsemen.” Well, there are four of them! If you don’t get that, read your Bibles, folks.
Witcher talked about the group’s history:
“A version of this group has sung together for a lot of years. Bobby and I went to college together, were roommates in college. And John and Julie (Brown, wife of West Point Pastor Stephen Brown) and I sang together in a group, so we’ve all been connected in a lot of different ways. We actually put a lot of miles on singing at First Baptist Church in Cullman.
“Southern Gospel music has deep roots here, for certain. And we kind of grew up, sort of, at least on the fringe listening to it some.”
Nesmith stepped in, insisting that he was not raised on gospel, since he grew up in a big city church in Oneonta!
Well, the conversation just kind of continued on that way, and then they sang. It was a good crowd of folks who seemed to enjoy the concert of hymn arrangements and classic gospel favorites. Afterward, the church hosted an ice cream social for the congregation and guests.
About West Point Baptist Church
Pastor Brown talked about his church, a longtime community fixture with an average attendance of around 150 and growing:
“We’ve been here a long time as a presence here in West Point- great history, a great impact, and I believe it’s a time now where we’re becoming more focused on discipling our own, but discipling the community, as well, having an outward focus. And it’s events like this that we want to use to bring people in, just to let them know the things that we believe and the things that we have hope in. It’s an opportunity just to touch the community.”
For more information, visit https://wpbaptist.church.
To reach the “No-Name Horsemen” (they should have that solved soon), call Witcher at 256-734-7381.
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