Instruments of Faith (IOF) started out as a dream that Gary Brannaman had at a young age. He wanted to have his own Southern Gospel group. Gary attended Eastview Baptist church in 1998. There he prayed and, with God's guidance, decided to go foward with starting a group at his church. The group officially formed in 2000 as Men of Faith quartet but was later changed to Instruments of Faith in 2001. The original members were: Lead, Mark Rothwell; Baritone, John Schemerhorn; Bass, Ron Fenster; and tenor, Gary Brannaman. John left the group not too long after the group was formed. Later in 2000, Sam Hahn, was invited to join.
The group were enjoying success as they sang and praised God. But in June of 2003 their bass singer went home to be with the Lord. It took them almost a year to find a bass. James Rose joined and they began singing in earnest again in 2004. These four men ministered together for almost two years, when in 2006, James left. Then later that same year the group took another loss as both their bass and lead singer left. The group brought in Alan Johnston to fill the lead position and his son to sing bass. The group did a few singings but almost came to an end. Gary Brannaman and Sam Hahn decided to keep going. They two men went in a different direction, just before Alan left, adding Paula Hamilton and several ladies trying to become a mixed quartet. The group began to write their own songs for the current configuration, but did not get too far before the ladies left.
It was then that Gary and Sam chose to go back to their roots. They once again formed a men's quartet. In January 2009 Gary Voelker and Gary Metze became members of IOF. Both men had been a part of the quartet Gateway Quartet. The group had a great year putting together their 1st DVD of the song "Climb the Stairs to Heaven" and a 3 song demo CD. The group had the opportunity to be a part of the 1st Southern Gospel convention in Branson MO with the organization CMG (country music gospel). This group of men traveled and did over 10 concerts on a limited schedule their last year together. Gary Metze left the group to pursue family activities.
But the story continues...Andy Voelker joined the group to fill the tenor spot. The son of our bass singer, Andy, is a talented musician and singer. He plays several instruments and has a great ear for music. At a very young age he was inspired by Southern Gospel pianists. One in particular, Roger Bennett, took time at a concert to encourage him in his piano playing. "When your teacher tells you to practice something one time, practice it three times.", Roger said to him. So, Andy did just that. In late summer 2010, Andy left to attend college in Dekalb, IL. He has a scholarship in music. No surprise there!
As Andy was beginning to prepare for college the group was finding itself without a tenor once again. They had no desire to be a trio. They felt they were to be a quartet! IOF began to audition and to talk to people about the tenor position. But no one quite fit. One day while having devotions, Gary Brannaman heard the Lord whisper in his spirit, "Just let go and get out of the way. It won't be much longer." So, Gary put his faith in the Lord. A couple days later Gary received an email from Scot Womble. Then on Saturday they spoke on the phone and Gary invited Scot to the Monday night rehearsal. Scot came and talked with the group and sang a couple songs. Before the night was through the group had a new tenor!
Scot has sung almost 2 years and is leaving now to start a new journey in his life as a pastry chef. Andy Voelker will be joining the group this summer as we search for our new tenor. We got a great lead, stay tuned!!
