Meet Kathleen Bobeldyk

We recently connected with Kathleen Bobeldyk and have shared our conversation below.

Kathleen, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I had many different life experiences that led me to my purpose. It was basically learning more about myself from these experiences, praying that something good would come out of them and then following the gentle nudge of God’s leading and me listening to His plan. Obedience to a God who loves me and my personality of being a ‘doer’ and work ethic led me to where I am today. Being a concert promoter was never something that I intentionally set out to do. I never dreamed I’d be running a non-profit. My passion and the skill set that I was given led me to the path I have been on for the past 15 plus years.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Promoting and running concerts came first and the non-profit came out of those experiences. Music/Christian music brings hope and encouragement to me and as I’ve discovered, it reaches people universally, not just a certain race, gender or income level but all people. Music was very present in Biblical times as a way of expressing oneself. The concert promotion part of my work was born to bring hope & encouragement to my community thru positive music. The non-profit evolved as expenses rose to bring in nationally known Christian artists and ticket prices had to rise accordingly to break even on these events. By raising ticket prices, it excluded a whole group of people who would benefit greatly from these events but due to financial hardship, could not attend. I saw a void and knew that community support and sponsorships was the answer to this situation and so Community Concert Connections of West Michigan, a 501c3 nonprofit, was born and we do business as Worship on the Waterfront.

There is much behind the scenes planning that goes into bringing in these concert events, which comes to fruition the day of the event. I feel the ‘day of’ is the easiest part. . When you are working with budgets, my schedule, the artists schedules, lining up the talent is not as easy as it might look at first glance. This, however, is one of my most favorite parts of the work I do. I love to connect the right artist with the right audience. I look at what I do as simply the connector between the artist and the audience. I intentionally try to, make our schedule diverse so the people who come to our events are not seeing the same thing with a new face week after week. I particularly enjoy artists who write their own music from their experiences. They have lived it and sing it from their heart and believe it with their very soul.

My focus has always been to treat the artist and attendees as guests in our city and venue. I want to make the day of a show as smooth as possible and a great memory for all. I could not do this without the amazing support of a small core of volunteers that have been with me for most of my journey. I also try to be considerate to the fact that the artist has left family, comforts of home to go on the road to share their gifts with us. They are just people who have personal stuff going on just like the rest of us, but they get onstage night after night, city after city to share the Gospel and glorify God.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Pray Big
Dream Big
Take Risks

Jerimiah 29:11 (NLT)-” For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

Fundraising is always a challenge. We do a 9 week outdoor summer Sunday night concert series with the average weekly cost of $14,000 per week with the talent, production, food, & lodging. We bring in nationally known Christian artists and have free general admission with a suggested donation of $5 per person. In attendance have been prison ministries, teen challenge, youth and special needs groups. This is an outreach ministry.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: worshiponthewaterfront
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worshiponthewaterfront
• Other: We are building a website and it should be up and running in the next month.