Ready, Set, Go!! Our Summer WOW 2024 Seasonal Skip the Line and individual week Skip the Line passes are now on sale. We have a new ticket outlet with lower fees! The STL pass gets you an early 5:30pm entry and a guaranteed seat inside should we have to move indoors and limit seating. This is the concert bargain of the summer. There is a limited amount available.

Interview from ‘Bold Journey Magazine’
by Anna Moore

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathleen Bobeldyk.

Hi Kathleen, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

Music has always spoken to me and was a part of my life. A series of events led me to the prayer to ‘make something good come out of this.’ That prayer was answered when I saw a void in West Michigan’s environment. We needed to bring live, nationally known Christian music artists to the area. Music speaks in ways that words cannot and so Community Concert Connections, LLC was born in 2007. CCC became known as West Michigan’s hotspot for Christian music. Through that, I was contacted by a church in Grand Haven that was overseeing Worship on the Waterfront. Their attendance was dropping, and I was asked to be their talent buyer for their Sunday night summer concert events. It re-energized but became too much for the church to handle, so we were asked to take it over. After prayerfully considering this’, I agreed. The next step was to become our own 501 (c)(3) non-profit. In 2010, we achieved this status as Community Concert Connections of West Michigan, doing business as Worship on the Waterfront. Today, we promote 4-5 ticketed concert events September-May. Worship on the Waterfront is also alive and well. In 2021, the summer concert series was moved to the outdoor campus of Beechwood Church in Holland, Michigan. Our growth and the logistics of putting on these concerts were no longer conducive to Grand Haven’s small & crowded waterfront space. The 80 acres of outdoor space across from Lake Macata wa and down the road from Holland State Park gave us plenty of greenspace for artists, attendees & conveniences, such as convenient parking for all. These summer Sunday night concert experiences take place June-August and are free to the public with a suggested donation of $5 per person to help defray some of the costs. We are a completely community-supported non-profit ministry. We are totally dependent on area businesses, individuals & churches for our support. We have no paid staff, no overhead, and the world’s best volunteers on planet Earth! Our mission is simple: to make Christ known through the music and testimony of the artists we bring. We do not want financial burden to keep people from experiencing the live performances of these gifted talents.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

Fundraising is always a struggle. We get comments like “How to you get these artists to come for free”? The answer is, we don’t. I compare these artists to traveling ministers, and this is their purpose, their work. Our non-profit outreach ministry is building our own church community, a church without walls. I thank God for the businesses, people, and organizations that believe in what we are doing to further the Kingdom. I pray that people will continue to come forward as a full concert series for 2024 will cost over $200,000.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

I love what I do. I look at myself as a connector, connecting the audience with the right artist. I also am a host to those that attend the event and the artists themselves. I love the show to go smoothly for all and make everyone’s day/evening a place they can forget about the things of this world for a while and focus on the Biblical truths that are unchanging. I am truly grateful for everything good happening in my life and how God used me in this way to serve. As I stated before, I could not do what I do without the amazing volunteers who serve at these events and the sponsors who believe in what we are doing to further His Kingdom.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?

I was born and raised in Holland, attending Holland public schools and churches. Music was always in our home. There have been many life experiences that have shaped and molded me to whom I am today, but my parents’ solid, unchanging love & support made it easy to see God’s love through them. Humanness came into play many times, and I did have my share of screw-ups, but my moral foundation was firm. I did/do not want to disappoint my parents or God.