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James & the Parishioners began as a ministry to serve the Clemson University Catholic Student Association after a few of us saw the need for a new and different form of worship than we already had at Clemson! A trip to Nashville and many doodled-on napkins later, a band was formed, a name had stuck, and James & the Parishioners was born!
After playing for a year and a half at the local church in Clemson, we decided that God was calling us to take our talents on the road and minister to people wherever He would send us. So that's what we did! When we aren't running Praise & Worship for the Clemson University CSA, or leading XLT Upstate in South Carolina, we're running around sharing our gifts and love for Christ with others!
At the heart of our ministry lies our love for Jesus Christ and His church, so we love to share that same love with everyone we meet - mostly through music! We really believe that music is one of the best ways to enter into prayer and worship, but don't just take OUR word for it, give it a try! We promise you won't be disappointed.
- James & the Parishioners
"Griffin and Stasia came and led worship at our fall retreat this year for 70+ teenagers. It was a challenging environment for them, because these students are notorious for not singing. Griffin and Stasia both did a great job of engaging the teens, getting them up and moving, getting them singing, and leading them closer to Christ through music and song. The teenagers had a great time, and enjoyed the experience that Griffin and Stasia provided."
Paul Bates - Director of Youth Ministry at St. Andrew Catholic Church
"James & the Parishioners is a tremendous asset to our ministry and outreach to the students and young adults in the greater Clemson area. Because of their talent and the quality of the programming they have put on, attendance at our weekly Praise & Worship and our monthly XLT program has continued to increase. If you are looking for a group of young adults, committed to their faith, and sharing their God-given talents with others, I recommend them."
Darien Clark - Associate Campus Minister at Clemson University
“James and the Parishioners breathe life into our campus ministry. Every Tuesday night, they create an environment of prayerful worship with their music that helps their peers grow closer to Christ. For me personally, it’s the best part of my week and the moments I feel most connected to my peers in campus ministry and also to God.”
Erin Moran - President of Clemson University Catholic Student Association
Unlike a lot of other groups, we're more than just musicians. We didn't go into ministry just to go somewhere, play music, and get out - we really want to do ministry, and do ministry right. That's why our Praise & Worship nights and XLT sessions are more than just music, because we know the importance of diversified worship!
A typical Praise & Worship night will consist of music AND a short talk on faith by our in-house speaker, both of which can be a powerful and sometimes even transformative experience of Jesus on any given night. After the night is over, we aren't the kind of band who packs up and bolts - we WANT to form relationships with the people we worshiped with that night, because what more powerful a bond is there than coming together to praise God?
At the end of the day, the beauty about this ministry is that what you want is what you'll get. Want us to lead worship with one of our highly-successful Praise & Worship nights? Done. Want us to speak on a specific topic for a retreat or conference? You got it. Want us to do cartwheels and ride on unicycles? We will certainly try.
You know, we get asked an awful lot about what genre we find ourselves in, so after many long beard-stroking, pencil-scribbling, thought-provoking days, we've finally figured it out! We, James & the Parishioners, sit at the corner of folk, pop, and awesome!
But really though, we pride ourselves on being able to fit our music to any need. Really, at the end of the day, we just play whatever style fits the best for a particular worship setting. Whether it be upbeat and fully-electric, meditative and gently-acoustic, or anywhere in between, we have the people that can set the stage for whatever kind of worship session you're looking for!
Want to see more of the kind of music that WE like to worship to or some of our covers of our favorite songs? Check out our spotify playlist and our own recordings by clicking the buttons below!
One of our favorite ways to learn is through stories, and we would hazard a guess that we're not the only ones who think so! Think about it: how much easier is it to remember the stories that your friends and family tell you compared to random facts that you learn in school or at work? That's why we love to speak and teach about faith using our own personal stories, because each person's journey of faith is individually theirs, but crafted so that it can be used to bring glory to God.
We give talks on all sorts of topics, but at the end of the day, we relate everything back to personal experiences. We really think that this sort of realness is what people can latch onto, and is where God can really work.
Want to see more examples of talks and topics that we like to talk about? Check out our video playlist by clicking the button below!
Interested in having James & the Parishioners come out to YOU and lead a Praise & Worship session, XLT, or something else? Drop us a line at:
jamesandparishioners@gmail.com
and we'll get back to you as soon as possible! YES, real people will get back to you, so don't be surprised when we send back an awesome joke or a great cat picture!
Thanks for taking the time to learn a little bit more about us! We hope to get to do the same for you in the near future! God Bless!
- James & the Parishioners
Here's a quick rundown of the dates and places where we're booked, in case you wanted to be a groupie, or something. We've always wanted a groupie!
2017: