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LIFE

Ministry's a family affair with The Webbs

Sunday, October 26, 2008
(Updated 3:00 am)

HIGH POINT -- Phyllis Parker of High Point and Rick Webb of Cherryville had one thing in common when they met in Nashville more than 30 years ago -- singing Christian music. Both were members of the internationally acclaimed 10-member vocal group ReGeneration, which traveled more than 100,000 miles a year.

Parker, a soprano, caught the eye of Webb, a baritone whose main ambition since he was a boy had been to become a professional singer. Phyllis Parker changed Webb's No. 1 ambition to wooing her.

He won her hand, and they married in 1982. They left ReGeneration after four years. And it wouldn't be long before they would become a singing duet, following what they felt was their "calling" in Christian ministry.

Rick and Phyllis Webb of Colfax will celebrate 25 years of singing together in a concert at 6 p.m. Nov. 2 at Green Street Baptist Church, High Point.

There is no charge for the concert. A love offering will be taken.

"The Lord opened doors for ministry and then in 1997 we added a third singer to form The Rick Webb Trio," Rick Webb said. More recently, they have become The Rick Webb Family with son Parker, 22, and daughter Hannah, 18.

Besides The Webb Family, accompanied by the church's Celebration Choir and Orchestra, nationally prominent singer, songwriter and pianist Gordon Mote of Nashville also will be part of the celebration.

Mote, a member of the Bill Gaither Homecoming series of live performances across the country, will sing and play for about 40 minutes, said the Rev. Mark Loy, minister of music.

Mote has played and helped with backup vocals for country musicians such as Lee Greenwood.

Mote also has done gospel music programs for many years, often with his wife accompanying him as a singer. Mote, who is blind, has become a favorite among Bill Gaither's Homecoming performers.

The Webb Family will have available its latest recording, "The Webbs 25th Family Edition," a CD released at the National Quartet Convention last month in Louisville, Ky.

It wasn't long after Rick Webb graduated from Cherryville High School in 1972 that he had a good idea that his life would be spent singing gospel music. "I felt the call to ministry when I was 19 years old," said Webb, who was raised Baptist and made a profession of faith at 14. He was a church music director for a year before joining ReGeneration.

The daughter of the Rev. Clyde Parker, prominent pastor of First Wesleyan Church in High Point, Phyllis Parker gained an appreciation for Christian music and gospel singing early in life. Her father was a visionary, leading his church to build housing for retirees and the elderly and starting many programs in the church before being killed in a small-airplane crash in 1984.

The Webbs moved to Kernersville after they married but soon moved to Orlando.

Rick Webb and longtime friend Kevin Miles of Findley, Ohio, started the male duo of Webb and Miles, traveling throughout the United States and Canada. Alongside that male duet ministry, accompanying some of the leading pastors and ministers of today, Rick and Phyllis Webb also were doing another 100 performances a year as The Webbs.

The Webbs also participated in the Radio Bible Class sponsored by the TV ministry Day of Discovery for 10 years; The Wesleyan Hour International radio minister for 20 years; and evangelist Clyde Dupin's crusades for 20 years. Along the way, they made guest appearances in some of the most prominent churches in America. They have also been abroad, and one of their most memorable trips was to Russia where they said passing out Bibles and talking to Russians about Christ was an experience never to be forgotten.

More recently eldest son Parker Webb, 22, who works for the agency that books the Webb Family and several other groups, started singing with the group. His sister Hannah, 18, a senior in home school, soon joined, making the Webb an all-family group.

Parker Webb spent three years at the College of Southwestern in Ft. Worth, Texas, and will enroll at The College of Southeastern in Wake Forest this fall.

Younger brother Taylor is not ready to make the group a quintet.

Webb said the couple's ministry has provided opportunities to minister to many people and to meet many famous people.

They have been on cruises at sea, and participated just a few months ago in the 10th annual Scotland Gospel Music Convention in Fraserburgh. Singers are selected from around the world, and this year's singers included Allison Durham Spears, Lordsong,

The Regents Quartet and The Webbs, all from the United States; Amy Roberts of Northern Ireland; Gospel Heirs of Scotland; SALT of Faroe Islands; and SUM of Norway.

"Our full-time ministry of music is also to share the gospel -- in addition to the concert tour -- in many Bible conferences, crusades and various TV appearances, including our own TV program, "The Master's Music" produced by the TCT network in Marion, Ill.,'' Webb said.

Rick and Phyllis Webb grin when they think of maybe celebrating The Webbs' 50th anniversary. Even if they start slowing down in later years, they've raised the next generation to keep The Webbs ministry alive and well.

 

Contact Bob Burchette at bburchette@triad.rr.com

 

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