The “President’s Quartet” at North Greenville University has long been a part of campus life. Now, with the release of a CD, the Southern gospel quartet has attracted outside attention and is finding itself with more opportunities to perform and tell of what God is doing at the university.
NGU president Jimmy Epting, right, and his “President’s Quartet” get a kick out of singing Southern gospel songs and telling the North Greenville story.The President’s Quartet has been around almost as long as Epting has been president. It started around 1992 when the two remaining original members – Epting and vice president for campus ministries Steve Crouse — got together with two others to perform at a Christian ministry scholarship dinner. Their appearance at the dinner soon became a tradition. Around 1995, the President’s Quartet began singing in chapel whenever Epting was speaker.
The group consists of Epting (bass), Crouse (tenor), LaVerne Howell, director of public relations and stewardship (baritone) and Scott Lewellen (lead). Lewellen is a former student and is pastor of Crescent Valley Baptist Church, a church plant that meets on the North Greenville campus.
Last year the quartet recorded a collection called “The Master’s Touch.” The CD is comprised of Southern gospel songs and monologues of Epting telling the story of North Greenville. The overarching theme of the album is how God’s touch was, and still is, apparent at North Greenville, from its troubled times in the early 1990s to its time of prosperity today. On the album, Epting says, “As we sum up what’s happening at North Greenville University, we like to think it’s just simply a touch of the Master’s hand.”
The members of the quartet say they enjoy singing and sharing the story of North Greenville in area churches.
Epting admits to not being the strongest singer and gives credit to the other three members for the success of the group. “I’m smart enough to surround myself with better singers, and I appreciate their willingness to tolerate me,” he said. “The most important thing is that we have fun sharing Jesus Christ through song and through his word.”
Copies of “The Master’s Touch” can be purchased from North Greenville for $5 at (864) 977-7013.