SEEK HIM FIRST
In January of 2007, we made the decision to focus on what we believe God has called us to do. In doing so, we have changed genres a bit and moved over to Worship!

When you are in God's will, things happen but not without a few bumps and bruises along the way. In our faithfulness to follow the call, God has delivered, as only He can, and has provided us with many opportunities with churches, festivals, youth events, camps, etc....Wow, go with GOD and the rest is taken care of!

MEANING AND REASON
The name "The Great Romance" stems from what the band sees as our goal in leading others into worship. We want people to experience an intimate relationship with God, which is better than any other experience in life -- even better than the most passionate, romantic relationship imaginable! The Bible says that we are the bride and Christ is the groom. In the New Testament, Christ (the bridegroom) has sacrificially and lovingly chosen the Church (His body of believers) to be His bride (Ephesians 5:25-27). It's our goal to help people know the greatest romance possible, the one with our Savior!

THE NEW WORSHIP ALBUM, "CREATOR"
We are seeing God use and bless us in mighty ways by providing words to minister to a lost and misguided world. The Great Romance wrote 7 of the 10 tracks on "Creator" and added its own mark on public domain favorites "Hosanna" and "Just As I AM." The Matt Redman penned anthem, "You Never Let Go," rounds out the 10-song Worship album.

OUR COMMITMENT TO COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL
Compassion International and The Great Romance have teamed up to help put an end to poverty. We will be representing Compassion by presenting the opportunity to sponsor children at each of our worship services. We are excited to extend an arm of ministry from our own. Chad Carpenter has sponsored a child for several years and will testify to the blessings he has experienced through this time. Each of us now sponsor our very own child, as it is that important to us. By joining Compassion, we join the team of Michael W. Smith, Third Day and many others all working towards helping children and meeting needs all across the world.

ON THE SCENE
The Great Romance has opened for many of today's top Christian artists including Audio Adrenaline, By The Tree, Big Daddy Weave, Tait, Kutless, and many others. Within the last year, we've played most of the larger festivals in the Midwest including Ichthus, Rock the Light, and Godstock, going on right before the headliner. TGR is receiving radio play in the Springfield and St. Louis, MO areas as well as a few other places throughout the Midwest.

Band members:
Andy Schneider - Bass Guitar
Matt Stephens - Lead Guitar
Matt Vollmar - Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar
Chad Carpenter - Drums/Backing Vocals