Glen Vienneau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 30/00) - Who says religious worship can't be fun? One Yellowknife pastor believes it can.

"It's worship music and it's also relevant, fun and a great time," Shawn MacLellan, pastor with the Yellowknife Vineyard.

The musical ministry will be performed by a five-piece Christian rock group called Flood, of Langley, B.C. They will hit the stage at the Folk on the Rocks site during a youth weekend which begins on Saturday. Admission is $5.

"The idea to host a concert came from a trip we made to Youth Conference 2000 this spring," said Karyn Ruettnauer, leader of Yellowknife's God's Property Youth Group.

After hearing Flood perform at the Edmonton Skyreach Centre, Ruettnauer caught up with the band members to discuss turning their performance into a two-day weekend event.

"There were lots of bands there, I don't know why I felt so strongly about that particular band," said Ruettnauer.

"I think it was really meant to be, God really wanted it to be."

So, the idea of having a youth weekend in Yellowknife was born.

In just a few months, Ruettnauer was able to get the support and sponsors they needed.

Kicking-off the event will be three church services on Saturday morning, followed by a musical dance from the youth group at 5 p.m.

"I think it would good for them to come up because lots of youth will come to it, but don't belong to the churches," said Brianne Ashby of the dance group.

There will also be concession stands and various booths, including Arctic Craze.

Flood will hit the stage at 8 p.m., performing for at least two hours.

On Sunday the Yellowknife Vineyard will have another morning church service, followed by music for all ages in the afternoon.

"We're having back-to-back musical bands all afternoon and then Flood will be playing again on Sunday night," said Ruettnauer.

So far, the groups have raised about $1,000 through two garage sales and a car wash to help pay some of the costs.

Ruettnauer expects to raise about $2,000 from the event's concessions. A post-event grocery bagging fund-raiser will take place in November and December.

Other youth groups from Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, as well as northern Alberta are expected to be in Yellowknife for the event.