We would like to personally introduce ourselves to you.
We're Eric and Dorenda Townsend and we have a
phenomenal son, Jonathan Townsend.
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We live in St. Louis, Missouri, however; our business has always caused us to travel. In 1987, we traveled to Quincy, IL to quench our entrepreneur spirit and opened a night club that we named the Q- Club. While many people thought the Q meant Quincy, it really represented the Quality of Entertainment and Quality of Atmosphere felt through out the club.
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We operated our club for successfully for two years averaging capacity of about 300 people on a good night. We worked out all the kinks a new business would have to encounter. We thought we had it all figured out. " In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9
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We hosted comedy shows, blues bands and other entertainment at the club as well as plan large comedy shows at civic centers pulling in around 500 people.
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Then one day a man named Nave Wilson walked through our nightclub parking lot. This would happen seemed like almost every other day. Each time he would invite us to his church and each time we would invite him to our club. This went on for about a year and a half. Then one day we finally accepted his invitation after the doctors told me my husband would expire and there was nothing they could do for him now and he was rapidly spirally down. We walk into a church called Cathedral of Worship headed by Bishop E.L. Warren. Our son had to go to the bathroom and for some strange reason he went without us and he know noone in this church and neither did we at the time. Well he evidently, hit his head on the door knob and started crying, he then went to the front of the church and held onto the visiting Bishop's leg. Which was strange because up until this time he never went to anyone other than his daddy.
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| The visiting Bishop, Robert Kayanja, called for the mother of this child and I reluctantly went up to get my child. Because at the time I didn't believe in all this slain in the Holy Spirit laying on the floor business. But little did I know that my husband who also did not believe in what he called doing the Church Thing, was right behind me. Ironically, my greatest deepest prayer was that my entire family would be saved at the same time.
Bishop Rober Kayanja said, "they will be lead by the child". This man did not know us and we did not know him but the Holy Spirit always knows. Bishop Kanyaja said, " Wife, you will weep no more. Husband, You shall live, You shall not die, There is life inside of you." Now we were standing there in total awe because this man did not know that the doctors had given my husband an expiration date, which is what doctors call death. He didn't know that we told ourselves that we are not falling on this floor like everyone else. Then it happened, He touched us lightly on our forehead and as I held our son in our arms and my husband on my side. We all fell to the ground and it felt so good. Imagine feeling as light as a feather an laying in your mothers bed.
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| Meanwhile, we wanted to share this wonderful feeling with everyone we knew and the only people we knew were our nightclub participants. So we started having church in the nightclub. That's right we had Motivational Monday's in the club and it was very success and on the weekend we would open the club. Well that didn't last long because my husband said, "I feel like we should close the club, I just feel it inside my gut". Well, that gut feeling was what we know know as the Holy Spirit. We closed and if we would not have closed then our lives and the lives of about 300 others would have ended. Obedience is better than sacriface.
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I know you must say, How does this relate to Outreach Entertainment?
Simply because the Q- Club was the stepping stone for Outreach Entertainment. We met alot of people who say they have been hurt by "Church Folk" and we urge them to press in to an interpersonal relationship with Christ instead of focusing on Folk. We also found out that many people want to go out and have a good time and they don't necessary want to go to a night club. So that's where we come intercede. Outreach Entertainment book national artist or work with local artist to design an event that will be pleasing to both the world and the church. So, through our personal and professional experiences, we are what you would call Kingdom Building Individuals.
We still enjoy bringing in national known entertainers, but now we offer comedy shows, national artist in concerts, gospel plays, basketball games and other events as fundraisers for organizations. These events are a platform with the mission in mind and our mission is to bridge the cap between the world and the church through entetertainment.
Photo: Receiving the Precious Stone Award from our Church Cathedral of Worship Senior Pastor Bishop E.L. Warren Quincy, IL. The Precious Stone Award was given to the individuals who gave up the most for God before they could see the evidence.
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