The quartet decided to surprise Pastor Reynold Jones with their new plan, thus letting him worry as to why some of the choir members were not present to sing. The event was a complete success and the group was asked to sing again, this time at Hickorytown UMC. This began a long history of performances for the group, including churches, fairs and festivals. The group named themselves Chapter VII, a name derived the Bible. The word Chapter stems from the fact that although each individual of the group comes from different backgrounds, they are all from just one small chapter in the big book of life. The word seven comes from the perfect number of the Bible.

Thirty-four years later, Chapter VII has undergone many changes. The group has created and produced seven recordings and sings an average of three weekends a month. Their style of music is Southern Gospel and they do not charge for their services but accept donations. The Lord has always provided for their needs. Often Chapter VII donates money back to the churches where they perform in order to help with any special needs of the church. Over the years, several group members have changed, including guitar players, banjo players and drummers. Many of these individuals have moved on to different groups or other musical opportunities. Chapter VII’s current group members are Alison Beidel, singing lead; Nancy Snyder, singing alto; Tom Lebo, singing tenor; Jayson Mellott, singing bass; Debe Baldwin, piano; Lee Cramer, guitar; Sean Thompson, guitar, Brian McPherson guitar; Daryl Mellott, bass guitar; and Don Zeigler, drums. Their mission is to continue to provide God’s message through the music they sing. They plan to continue to sing God’s praises as long as they have an audience to listen.

About Us

  

CHAPTER VII

Gospel Quartet

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

In 1976, Waggoners United Methodist Church was part of a three-church alliance with Letort United Methodist Church and Hickorytown United Methodist Church. At this time, it was common practice to move the services on special days to different churches in order for the congregations to get to know one another and to provide a larger audience for the service’s message. It was decided that the Thanksgiving Eve service on November 24, 1976 would be held at Letort United Methodist Church. The pastor, Reynold Jones, requested that the church choir from Waggoners UMC provide the special music for the evening. Daryl Mellott, choir director at the time agreed to do what he could to help.

Upon questioning the choir from Waggoners UMC, it became apparent to Daryl that there would not be enough members available to sing at the service. Daryl decided to ask four people from the church to form a small quartet to sing two songs for the service. The members who volunteered to sing were Barbara Oyler, Cathy Tailor, Tom Lebo and Robert Hays. Romaine Mellott volunteered to accompany the quartet on piano and Daryl Mellott would play bass guitar.