MINISTRY

Hi! I am Yancey Brown. The year 2010 will mark my 32nd year singing gospel music. For several years after I was saved at the age of 14, I sang with a local group called "The Gospelaires", a quartet from East Branch Community Church. In the nine years of singing with The Gospelaires, I really felt the call to minister in the form of music. We traveled almost every Saturday night, ministering in New York and Pennsyvlania.

In the fall of 1986, David Burdick (right) and I saw an ad for a talent contest in Monticello, NY, sponsored by the local rotary club. In response to the ad, we formed what is known as the "Northern Lights" (some members are pictured left). Bruce Davis agreed to sing and Gary Steele was asked to play piano. After placing 2nd in the contest, we decided to continue to practice. Many local churches heard what we were doing and asked Northern Lights to minister in their churches. Over the years, a full band traveled with us. The full band included David Burdick, Bruce Davis, Gary Steele, Joe Failla, Doug Norwood and myself. Slowly, one by one, members of the band started to leave to pursue other interests. David Burdick has a solo ministry now.

Since 2001, Northern Lights consisted of Gary Steele and myself, as pictured on the right with John Osborne in the center. In February of 2007, Gary reluctantly had to retire from music ministry because of the extreme back pain he had suffered for many years. In 20 years of ministering in music, Northern Lights traveled thousands of miles up and down the east coast performing in just about every setting that could be thought of. We had the pleasure of ministering with many of the top southern and country gospel groups in the country. Some of them include The Freemans, Jeff & Sheri Easter, The Dixie Melody Boys, David Patillo, Pete Whitebird, Chuck Day, Mike Manual, Lulu Roman, etc. We had good success with songs we sent to radio over years, with some climbing up some of the industry's charts, both in the United States and in Europe. Most importantly, we saw many individuals give their lives to Jesus Christ, many rededicated hearts and many uplifted in their Christian walk. This, too, is my prayer for the future as I journey in a solo ministry. Like the song says, "I can't even walk with you holding my hand". I thank God that He is there for us every step of the way!