UNIONVILLE, Mo. – Several churches from the Putnam County Ministerial Alliance are working together to bring contemporary Christian group “Casting Crowns” to the Putnam County Fair, Sept. 5.
“The fair is usually a big deal, not only locally but in a large area. There can be 35,000 that attend the fair. They usually have good entertainment,” said Kevin Collins, pastor of Omaha Baptist Church.
Collins said when the fair board set up a beer tent several years ago, it upset the local churches. In planning this year’s fair, the churches suggested a Christian concert.
“The fair board said okay, but they wanted a quality concert. And it was going to cost. We got a list of entertainers and their prices. And from the list, we came up with Casting Crowns. The ministerial alliance came up with $35,000, which is half of the cost to bring the band.
“It’s bringing good community and fair board relationships. It has generated a lot of excitement. The fair normally gets 6,000 social media hits on entertainment, but by August 21, had already generated over 18,000 hits,” he said.
There are about a half dozen participating churches in the ministerial alliance.