A night of worship in the Gardnerville Ranchos

Four worship bands from around the region will present a night of uplifting music Thursday at Valley Christian Fellowship in Gardnerville Ranchos. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the concert beginning at 7 p.m.

Although considered worship music, the bands' styles have a definite modern sound with guitars, drums, keyboards and more.

"It's a night of good fellowship, fun and good music," said concert organizer Dennis Nau.

Nau, a bilateral amputee, speaks in hospitals and support groups. More recently, he has expanded to concerts organized by Inline Music Productions.

"You can reach more people through bigger venues," he said. The concert is an outreach ministry, and "it's a way to get people into a church that don't normally come to church."

Playing Thursday are the bands Once Refused from Carson Valley, FireFire from Reno, Jacob Thomas from Reno, and the featured band, I Am "They," based in Carson City.

I Am "They" started playing together at Calvary Chapel in Carson City in 2008 at a regular event called Solomon's Porch, which until recently, is also what the band was named.

"March of this year, we got signed to a management company, Inline Music Productions," said Sarah Palmer, the drummer for I Am "They," "and we had to change our name. Solomon's Porch is a name that's used a lot."

Palmer explained that the new name comes from John 17:16, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

"All of John 17 is Jesus talking about his disciples and he calls them 'they' throughout," she said. "We made it personal."

The group consists of Sarah's husband, Adam Palmer, plus Matthew Hein, Stephanie Kulla, Justin Shinn, and Raul Aguilar, who all grew up and still live in the Carson-Tahoe region.

Since signing with Inline, the group has scheduled about one major concert a month - they'll head to festivals in Red Bluff, Calif., in June and Monterey, Calif., in August - but continue to play Solomon's Porch at Calvary Chapel every other month.

"When we started the whole ministry of Solomon's Porch," Palmer said, "our intent was to encourage believers to set aside denominational differences. We started with us, from five different churches, coming together in one accord to play.

"That's the main idea and God continues to bless it."

The band Once Refused got their start as Valley Christian Fellowship's Saturday night worship team. The members of the band, all from Carson Valley, are Matt Simpson, Austin Sims, Wayne Johnson, Scott Blaha and Tami Simpson.

FireFire consists of Nate Teel, Steve Lewis, Nicole Montero and Jess Lemaire. They also double as a church worship team at Reno Vineyard. One of their goals is to write songs that are "uncomfortably honest."

Reno's Jacob Thomas has toured the West Coast, and made appearances at various music festivals. His band members are Ricky Vasquez, Jordan Smith and Ben Guzman.

All the bands will have tables set-up selling CD's and other merchandise at the concert.

Valley Christian Fellowship is located at 811 Short Court in Gardnerville Ranchos. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door, and are available at Valley Christian Fellowship, Napa Auto Parts in Gardnerville, The Manger Bookstore in Carson City, Itickets.com, Calvary Chapel in Carson City and San Rafael Coffee Co. in Carson City.

Youth groups and other groups can contact Nau at 214-564-4338 for group-ticket prices.

There will also be childcare available for a small fee.

For more information, call Nau or the church at 265-4100.