Meet GospelFest Ministries

GospelFest Ministries exists primarily to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ through music! This is done on several different levels: personal contact at concerts and over the radio program, and indirectly, by helping train and equip other ministries to do the same. To achieve this goal, we have developed 4 different areas of ministry:

• CONCERT PRODUCTION: Every year, GospelFest Ministries presents several large gospel music events, including the Summertime GospelFest concert (along with the GospelFest Singers and community choir), the Christmastime GospelFest and Harvest of Thanks concerts with the GospelFest Singers, and many other smaller events. Shawn also ministers on his own at local nursing homes and churches. Through these concerts, it’s our desire to share the gospel of Christ with the lost, as well as provide encourage believers.

• GOSPELFEST HOUR RADIO SHOW: For the past 7 years, Shawn has been producing and hosting “The GospelFest Hour” six nights a week on WBNH radio (central Illinois’ Moody Radio affiliate). Since 2009, the program has been syndicated as a weekly hour-long program that is currently spreading gospel on over 130 stations in the United States and around the world. The program features vintage southern gospel recordings from the pioneers of the genre, as well as music from groups on the road today.

• EDUCATION: GospelFest Ministries desires not only to share Jesus with others, but also to help train others to do so. To that end, Shawn is involved with gospel music schools in Nashville, TN, whose purpose is to train up future gospel musicians and ministers. For 8 years, Shawn has been a classroom teacher at the Stamps-Baxter School of Music in Nashville, and just recently has founded the “GodSong Music Academy” with Brian & Allison Speer. With this school, Shawn serves as the Director of Curriculum and Development and is responsible for the creation of online content, expansion of classes and overall development. (www.godsongmusicacademy.com)

• PUBLISHING: GospelFest Ministries also provides “functional” support to other music ministries, including publishing, arranging and typesetting services. Shawn has created sheet music and songbooks for various groups and publishers in the southern gospel world and is currently working on a hymnal project for the Church of Christ publshing house in Atlanta, GA.

About Us

Meet Shawn Degenhart

Shawn was born and raised in central Illinois, attending Highvew Church of God in Washington, where he became a believer at the age of 9. His exposure to gospel hymns and the songs of Bill & Gloria Gaither laid a very important foundation for what the future held for Shawn. Piano lessons in junior high along with musicals and choirs in high school led him to the music program at Illinois State University where he received a bachelors degree in music theory/composition and music history.

While intending for a career in musical theatre or collegiate teaching, that changed forever when he attended his first Gaither Homecoming concert in February of 1997. It was there that he was introduced to names like Speer, Goodman and Hess, and it was there he fell in love with southern gospel music. That fall, he attended the National Quartet Convention in Lousiville, where he met many people, including Ben Speer, who talked with him about the Stamps-Baxter School of Music.

Contact Us For bookings, ordering or other information, please contact:

GospelFest Ministries
14 Pin Oak Ct., Washington, IL 61571
Phone: 309.472.0027

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