Back On The Bus
A History of Lost & Found Ministries
The bus is loaded and all the equipment is in place. The suits are hung in the closets and the guys all climb on the bus ready to take the next road trip. It's very exciting to travel and sing, especially knowing that we have a valid ministry of sharing the gospel wherever we go through a style of music that we all enjoy so much. Even so, it has been quite a journey to get us to this place in time. We've come a long way from that first rehearsal at Crossroads Community Church in Calgary, back in July of 1999, when five guys got together to give this a try...
How it all Started
Lost & Found Quartet started out as a dream in one person. That person was Woody Martens, founder and original member of Lost & Found Quartet. For many years, he had envisioned a group that would sing Southern Gospel Music in a style with an edge to it. A style very similar to the sound of the legendary " Oak Ridge Boys", a Gospel quartet he had followed since he was a young man. He wanted to do songs that were not necessarily being sung by other Southern Gospel groups. The music needed to have a contemporary feel but still be identified as Southern Gospel.
Over the years, he had moved from church to church, due, primarily, to the change in ministry of Valerie, his wife and ordained minister and consequently, very involved in the work of the church. In each congregation he would watch and listen to a variety of singers and wonder if they might fit into the group. He talked with selected men and one by one they agreed that they might be interested in singing in such a group at some point in time. They came together from time to time but things never seemed to work out. Not the right mix of people; the wrong personalities; not the right timing; one voice or another that didn't work out...that is until late spring in '99 when Doug Schroeder called Woody and said "I'm ready! I think it's time we give this a try."
By this time Woody had assembled most of the group; Alf Unger had been part of a worship team at Crossroads Community Church. He could sing high tenor. Ed Nordvall would sing second tenor or lead as it is more commonly known. He had a lot of experience as a worship leader and was confident on stage. Doug Schroeder, a bible school graduate and teacher, had a great ear for harmonies, a talent that would become very well utilized in working out the harmonies for the group. He would sing the baritone part. Woody would play the piano. He learned to play as a child and this was his time and his kind of music. The four of them got together to organize and establish the guidelines under which the group would function. They all agreed to give it a try. This just left the task of finding a bass singer.
Woody had tried out a number of men who sang bass over the years but none seemed to work out. He was in church one Sunday when he heard this bass voice during the worship segment of the service. After a few Sundays, he approached the singer, who turned out to be Ken Harder, someone who he had met years earlier. Ken had sung in a gospel quartet, known as "The Masters Touch", in the early 70's. He had also been involved in promoting gospel music for a number of years. He had not sung in a quartet for more than eighteen years and this, along with fact that he had some health problems to deal with, gave him some doubts as to his ability to handle the job. Although somewhat hesitant at first, he agreed to give it a try. His health problems had affected his memory and as the group began rehearsing it was obvious that he would have to work extra hard to keep up. Woody had confidence that he would be able to make it happen and encouraged him to keep going.
As we came to know each other, we realized that all of us had reached this point in our lives where we were cut and wounded by the hurts and problems around us. Each one of us carried some baggage. Due to mistakes or mis-steps in our lives, not one of us felt worthy to be on stage singing the gospel. As we talked it through we came to realize that it was only in the strength of Jesus Christ and His grace and mercy in our lives that we could do this.
We knew we were not "good enough" in our own right, but then the message in the famous John Newton song "Amazing Grace" became very real to us. Woody suggested that we call our quartet "Lost & Found." This spoke to who we are in Christ Jesus. As the song says "I once was lost but now am found was blind but now I see." We now had an official name. Lost & Found was borne!
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