Bridge back to Burbank

Joshua Pelzer

HILLSIDE DISTRICT-- Crimson Bridge will return to Emmanuel

Evangelical Free Church, where the group was conceived, to help needy

children by entertaining Sunday evening church-goers.

The four-member women’s Christian music group includes three

Burbank residents. The singers, who met while in the church choir,

share a 17-year friendship and partner with Seattle area-based World

Vision, a Christian disaster hunger-relief organization aiding

children in Third World nations.

“The four of us simultaneously and independently had this real

desire to do something tangible for people who were less fortunate

than we were, and it was about that time that the group came together

and was presented with the opportunity [to partner with World

Vision],” said Sylvia Lange, 43, the group’s managing director.

Lange said the group has toured for more than three years and

makes about 65 appearances across the country annually. At

performances, people can sign up to sponsor a needy child for less

than a $1 a day for medical needs, food, clean water and education.

“Many of these kids don’t even have a fraction of these things,”

she said. “It’s a really great way to put compassion into action and

it’s a really simple way to change the life of a kid.”

Lange, now living in San Diego, attended the church before moving

away from the area. Group members and Burbank residents Robin

Whitmore, 50; Patti DeFelicis, 43; and Billye Sluyter, 32, still

attend.

“It’s kind of a big deal for us from an emotional and spiritual

perspective because this church is where our group was really born,

and we believe a lot of the success of the group is because of the

prayers of these people.”

The group has toured with Christian music greats Sandi Patty,

Larnelle Harris and Jonathan Pierce. Lange and Sluyter also toured

with The Ray Conniff Singers, a popular big band group in the ‘60s

and ‘70s.

The group will perform at Grandview Presbyterian Church in

Glendale, Whitmore’s church as a youth.

“When I go in there, it brings back a lot of memories and it

really feels like home,” she said. “It’s such a warm feeling to look

out into the congregation and see these faces that I remember from

years ago that are still there.”

The group will also be celebrating their CD titled “Common Bond,”

released last month, and will remain after the performance to sign

copies.

The free performance will be at 6 p.m. Sunday at the church on 438

E. Harvard Road. For more information, call 843-0900.