By Nick Buglione
Though attendance at the Long Island Bible Baptist Church in Salisbury usually hovers around 250, there was over 100 people in the house last weekend.
They came to worship God but, more important, they came to have some fun.
This is not your average, run-of-the-mill Baptist church. There's no pulpit or altar-just a stage, some microphones and three very enthusiastic musicians.
"Is everybody ready to worship this morning?" called out Richard Dieguez, 43, worship pastor and church band front man. "Don't worry if you sing terrible, sing loud anyway."
Backed by Frank Del Santo on drums, Joe Anikewich on keyboards, and three female backup singers, Dieguez launched into their set with a smooth strum of his guitar.
But after the first two numbers produced only a tepid response from the crowd, Dieguez decided to make an adjustment.
"Hey, Chris, can you lower the volume of these ladies' [microphones] on stage?" he said to the sound man at the rear controls. "They're killing me."
The adjustment seemed to work. Just measures into "Better is One Day," the audience was on their feet and passionately clapping along, just like every other Sunday.
The Long Island Bible Baptist Church is undoubtedly thriving. Ever since the Rev. Steve Switzer took over as pastor four years ago and nurtured the growth of its now mammoth music program, new people have been coming in every week.
It's the music that truly sets this Baptist church apart from others across the Island, drawing congregants from as far east as Suffolk County and as far west as Brooklyn.
"In other churches when you come in you sing hymns that were written two and three hundred years ago, with lots of thee's and thou's and very little beat," said Dieguez, who, with a dark goatee and sideburns, more fits the profile of a rock star than a man of God. "For most people, in our generation, that's not the music we listen to on the radio."
Mud, the Baptist band's tentative name, puts a modern spin on traditional Christian songs, incorporating contemporary instruments and musical influences that are alien to most churches.
"I really enjoy it," said Elizabeth Hendley, a Salisbury resident and member of the church since 2001. "It's getting a lot more contemporary, and I know that the people coming in really enjoy it too."
Experimentation is apparently Mud's forte, as they regularly infuse reggae, rock, country, jazz and other styles into older hymns. A fan of Indian music, Dieguez is even mulling how he can fit a sitar into the band's weekly performances.
"I'm always buying new CDs and books and learning new styles," said Dieguez, who lives in Roslyn with his wife and two children and works as an entertainment lawyer. "We took a southern gospel song called 'Because He Lives,' it's a four-part barbershop thing, and we turned it into a Latin jazz number. We brought in timbales and cow bells and totally reinvented this song.
"We're still singing about God, but these are the new hymns now, these are the standards that maybe future generations will continue to sing."
When they're not reinventing old hymns, Mud is writing new ones and practicing some seven hours a week to make sure all the material will be tight on Sunday.
With each service kicking off with 30 minutes worth of music before Switzer even starts preaching, the band can certainly use the practice.
Each show is played over a professional sound system and under theatrical lights, accompanied by a 12-foot screen that projects each song's lyrics.
"I really believe that the main thing is to do whatever it takes to see that people answer to God's name," said Switzer, 39, of Levittown, which is why he's encouraged the expansion of the church's music and other artistic initiatives.
"The thing about our church is that you can walk in on one Sunday and on the next Sunday it would be completely different," he said. "We try not to do the same thing every week. For one, so people are not bored and, for two, because I think it allows for some freedom of expression."
Out of the church's music program has grown a "worship arts ministry," aimed at getting congregants in touch with their creative side. In lieu of music, Switzer recently invited members to write poems and read them during a few Sunday services.
The church has also started Lighthouse Jam, a quarterly concert series featuring live bands and Christian house music.
The church's brand of worship has attracted people from all walks of life. On any given Sunday between 18 to 20 different countries are represented in the pews, Switzer said, including Greeks, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Guatemalans, Filipinos, Chinese, Koreans and Scots.
"If anyone visits the church, they feel at ease coming here," said Ron Foster, 26, who heads up the church's burgeoning youth ministry. "Our music is something that keeps a lot of people coming here."
For Switzer, a minister born in Kansas and last assigned to a church in Fort Worth, Texas, the diversity is a bit of a culture shock, but a welcomed one at that.
"The culture is much more intense here; it's definitely more diverse. There are cultures in Texas, but they don't mix much," he said. "It's extremely positive; it would be hard to go back to anything else. I've always believed this is how church is supposed to be."
The Long Island Bible Baptist Church is at 600 Bob Reed Lane. For more information, call (516) 334-1832. To find out more about the Lighthouse Jam series, visit www.lighthousejam.com.
