ELCA Congregation to Appear on the Letterman Show

LUTHERAN ?BOTTLE BAND? ON LETTERMAN
SHOW

David Letterman will feature the ?Bottle Band? from St.
Luke?s Lutheran Church in Park Ridge, Ill., on his
Monday night show Dec. 23.  The Bottle Band is
unique.  Led by Paul Phillips, a student at the Lutheran
School of Theology at Chicago, its 28 members ?play?
bottles filled with various amounts of water by blowing
over their top or striking or plucking them.  ?The band
is a way of showing humor as a way of ministering,?
said Phillips.  ?It provides a release for people -- an
opportunity to enjoy themselves and laugh.?  Phillips?
mother Doris was part of the draw for Letterman?s
producers.  Letterman playfully involves his own
mother in on-camera routines.  Doris Phillips, 80, who
sits front and center in the Bottle Band, will be
interviewed by Letterman as part of the band?s
appearance.  All the members of the band are
Lutherans, most are members of St. Luke?s Lutheran
Church where Phillips grew up.  He said the group?s
membership is ?stable and enduring.?  For the
Letterman show they will wear tuxedos and perform
popular Christmas tunes.  The Bottle Band attracted
the attention of a Letterman producer who saw the
group?s performance on ?Wild Chicago,? a program of
public television station WNET.

For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News
Service, (312) 380-2958 or AHAFFTEN@ELCA.ORG;
Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955 or
FRANKI@ELCA.ORG; Melissa Ramirez, Assist. Dir.,
(312) 380-2956 or MRAMIREZ@ELCA.ORG