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Born in 1955 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania the son of Presbyterian Minister, Frank W. Wingerter, James (Jim) was also the youngest of five children in a very musical family where everyone sang and played at least one musical instrument (the high school band program was excellent). He was especially blessed at the age of ten to have sung in a demo-recording group for Shawnee Press.
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James Wingerter
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At the age of twelve the family moved to Shawnee-on-Delaware, Pennsylvania and lived two houses from Fred Waring. Mr. Waring owned the Waring Music Workshops, which were held every summer in Delaware Water Gap, Pa. Jim was able to participate in three of those summer workshops and got to know the "Waring" director's staff well enough that when the family decided to move to Florida, they encouraged him to attend Florida State University School of Music, which he did. While he was there he majored in Music Education and Vocal Performance.
Jim began his teaching career in Yeadon, Pennsylvania where he taught Choral groups and general music appreciation.
"I found myself studying composition through the subject matter I was teaching. I had studied Music Theory in college, but most of composition assumes you have studied the theory. It looks more deeply at form and structure which was being drilled into my head while I was teaching it to others."
During that time he met the love of his life and married. In 1981 Jim took the choral director position at Roxbury High School in northern New Jersey. While there he directed his students in performances of Handel's "The Messiah," Beethoven's "Symphony #9 movement 4," Gilbert and Sullivan's "Trial by Jury," and many other major productions and performance tours that included the West Coast of the US (from Oregon through San Diego, California), and Europe (Germany, Austria, & Italy) while continuing to study singing with Randolph Symonette in New York City. He performed various leading roles in Broadway musicals and operas while there.
"I left Roxbury High School on bad terms and it was my fault. I was putting in over eight hundred unpaid overtime hours per year and it was taking its toll on me and my family," said James.
Employment problems tied with his unquenchable desire for the stage led to financial problems and in 1986 the couple (now with three children) moved to Orlando, Florida where he took the Choral Director position at Colonial High School. He also continued his vocal studies now with Professor Louis Roney and performed as leading tenor with the "Central Florida Light Opera Company." The family attended the First Presbyterian Church of Orlando and grew in faith and understanding.
In June of 1990, however, everything changed. The Lord used a small group of believers in south Florida to bring Jim into a revelation experience. On his face for more than a year, he dealt through the self-deception and self-idolatry he had been walking in. As the Lord carried him through a baptism of fire, he knew that there must be great purpose ahead. That fall the Lord provided for Jim and his whole family to travel to Israel for the "Feast of Booths" (Sukkot). Experiencing even greater revelation they returned home looking for the Lord to show them where He wanted them to be. In January 1991 they visited Fellowship Church and have been there ever since.
"I saw Jesus standing before the congregation while we were worshipping. I could not see His face, but I could see the scars in His wrists as His arms were stretched out as though embracing us as we worshipped. I knew that he was saying to me ' I am here and I want you here.' "
A couple of years later, while helping out with an ICEJ tour in Orlando, one of their musicians expressed the concept of a "drop song." A week later a woman in the congregation turned to Jim after a scripture was read and said, "That's a great scripture. Someone ought to write a song to that text." After she turned back in her seat the Lord dropped that song right into his head. Obviously that was just the beginning. Jim has been leading praise and worship since 1994. In 2004 Jim left public education to work full-time as Minister of Music for the congregation. He prefers to refer to himself as a praise and worship encourager, since the real praise and worship leader is Jesus. Because of his rich experiences in both vocal and instrumental music, Jim is very comfortable in writing orchestrations and sound engineering.
The Lord has led us as a congregation into many areas we never thought even possible. May His kingdom be advanced in us.
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