The Oak Hill Christian Church is using contemporary music to worship and praise the word of God.

Members of the church, located at 100 Township Line Road, gather Sunday evenings to celebrate their faith through music.

The Sunday Night Light service lasts an hour and includes about seven songs performed by the church’s Praise Band and a 10- to 20-minute sermon from Oak Hill’s pastor, the Rev. Kris Denning.

“It’s a more fluid, open service,” said Denning. “It’s not as structured.”

The music for the Sunday Night Light is provided by the Praise Band, which is led by Ricky Lake, the church’s music director.

“I wanted to bring contemporary music into the church,” Lake said.

Members of church are able to attend the service and sing and dance to the music, he said.

“There is more room for the spirit to move,” Denning said.

The Sunday Night Light service is at 6 p.m. each Sunday.

“The weekly service will mean more dedication from the band,” Denning said.

However, this should not be hard for the band members who practice 2 to 3 hours every week.

“There is a lot of preparation,” Lake said. “There are 10 people in the praise band with one on media.”

Members of the band include singers Kathy Brannon, Chleora Denning, Bonnie Dupe, Janice Giel, Judy Green and Becky Devin and Abby McCurdy. They are accompanied by Lake on the guitar and Ben McCurdy on the drums. Richard Mannas is the media director and operates the lights and PowerPoint displays for the group.

“We have a PowerPoint presentation with lyrics to the music,” Lake said.

All of the members help with the music selection.

“We all listen to a lot of Christian radio,” Lake said. “I think the music is key to the church.”

Denning and Lake are encouraging new people to come out and experience the service.

“We want to grow the church and share our faith through music,” Lake said.

The members of the church welcome all ages to join the Sunday night service.

Lake and Denning are also encouraging people to become involved in other aspects of the church.

“We are all invested in the church outside of the band,” Lake said.

Lake believes the best time to join a church is when it is small.

“We’re a small church, and we’re starting to grow,” Lake said.