They’re all a part of Bluefield College’s Winter Blast, a three-day ski adventure worship weekend, January 14-16, on the beautiful BC campus and the exciting slopes of nearby Winterplace Ski Resort.
Outdoor enthusiasts, church youth groups, Christian music fans, prospective college students, and all other Bluefield College friends are invited to participate in the winter youth event that will feature worship leaders Eric Samuel Timm and Andy Kirk and Christian rockers Seabird and B. Reith.
Winter Blast will begin Saturday, January 14 with dinner at 5 p.m. in BC’s Shott Hall, followed by music and a worship session led by Timm and Kirk at 6 p.m. in Harman Chapel.
Kirk is a 22-year-old worship artist from Nashville, Tennessee, who travels the country leading praise services in churches, camps, and conventions. He recorded his first independent worship project at age 18 with Jeff Deyo (formerly of Sonicflood) before signing a publishing deal with Brentwood Benson to not only record, but also write songs with many of the most prolific songwriters in Christian music today. His much-anticipated Benson debut release, “Wake Up My Soul” was released in the spring of 2010.
“As a teenager I watched as God brought leaders into my life,” said Kirk, who is also worship leader for the second-largest and most innovative church in America, LifeChurch.tv, “shaping me into what he had designed for me, into a life devoted to worshiping him in song.”
Timm is a unique worship leader in that he reaches out to people for Christ through the arts. In fact, he speaks, paints and performs his message of truth and love in an effort to bring hope to the world and to inspire artists to create with purpose. As he speaks and paints, he captivates audiences with his unforgettable live art performances. When he speaks, people listen. When he paints, people see what they could not hear.
Day one of Winter Blast will conclude with a pizza party, inflatable games and a dodgeball tournament at 8 p.m., along with a late-night concert at 10:30 p.m., featuring B. Reith, Christian singer, rapper, songwriter and producer. Speaking the relevant dialect of today’s culture, B. Reith addresses real issues faced by teens today. With influences ranging from Stevie Wonder to Lauryn Hill, he combines classic soul with modern hip-hop to present hope and shed light into a decaying world.
“My number one passion is to connect with people, to entertain them, to stir up emotion in them, and to challenge them by sharing life from a different perspective,” said B. Reith. “There is something we’re all yearning for. I’m just trying to help direct our attention to it, and music is the most powerful way I know how.”
Following breakfast on Sunday, January 15, Winter Blast participants will head to the slopes at nearby Winterplace Ski Resort for a Ski Celebration from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. With 28 trails on more than 90 acres of skiable terrain, Winterplace will serve as the off-campus setting for BC’s Winter Blast. Winterplace has nine lifts, a top elevation of 3,600 feet, and a long run of more than a mile, not to mention the fact that it has the largest snowtubing park in the state of West Virginia.
Dinner at Winterplace will follow the long day on the slopes at 6 p.m., followed by another concert back on the Bluefield College campus at 7 p.m., this time featuring Seabird, a Cincinnati-based modern rock band with soul-searching music influenced by Coldplay, The David Crowder Band, and Switchfoot. Seabird’s 2008 debut album, “‘Til We See the Shore,” turned the piano pop rockers into a national name with the hit single, “Rescue.” Soon after, the group released a sophomore CD, “Rocks Into Rivers,” which walks the line between earthy and urban, blue collar and big city, with emotionally bare lyrics about running into walls, finding new paths, and questioning yourself in the process.
Depending on the level of the Winter Blast package preferred, fees for the weekend range from $105 (which includes meals, games, hotel accommodations, the concerts, and worship services) to $205 (which includes skiing/rentals, snowboarding/rentals, meals, games, hotel accommodations, the concerts, and worship services) per person.