OUT OF THE BARS AND INTO THE CHURCHES; LONGTIME CLUB PERFORMER CHRIS BELL TO MAKE CHRISTIAN MUSIC DEBUT

Chris Bell has spent many of his 34 years playing rhythm and blues in bars. Sunday, for the first time, he'll play music that sounds much the same in church.

Bell, a keyboardist, vocalist and guitarist, will provide the music for a 5 p.m. joint service between the House of Prayer and the Livingway Foursquare Church. The service will be held at the latter church at 1224 Bloomfield.

As a session player at Riverside Recording Studios in downtown Cape Girardeau, Bell has backed many Southern gospel groups. This will be his own first venture into the Christian music field.

His approach owes more to R&B, rock 'n' roll and pop groups than to the Oak Ridge Boys. "I like rocked out stuff," he says.

But Bell doesn't like playing in bars, though they have provided him with a living. "You see people at their worst, unhappy people," he says. "There's a lot of alcoholism, it's smoky, there are a lot fights.

"And somebody's hitting on somebody else's wife."

Until now, Bell, who is blind, has stayed clear of Christian music. "I didn't think I could eat that way," he said.

But he thinks God might have other plans for him now.

"This is a walk of faith for me," Bell said.

"... I think the Lord is working me to a different level here."

He feels the same toward secular music as he does about bars. "People are doing everything they can to try to feel better," he says. "They're missing the point."

Armed with a guitar and MIDI setup, Bell can sound like a 10-piece band. His singing voice is reminiscent of Michael McDonald's but can fly up to a falsetto note in a blink.

One of the songs he will perform Sunday is called "Put on the Armor," which is filled with metaphors for salvation.

Another is "Love Lifted Me," a traditional hymn Bell has fortified with a modern beat.

"That's the key behind it all," he says. "Love Lifts You."

A Texas native, Bell has gone to church on and off since he was a teen-ager. "I'm an unorthodox Christian in many ways," he says.

Noting that rock musicians have a certain bohemian reputation anyway, he says, "I've got a hippie mentality.

"I like freedom in worship."

Foursquare is a denomination with a colorful background itself. It was founded 75 years by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson and now attracts large numbers of Baby Boomers and Generation Xers in its mostly West Coast strongholds. There are only 20 Foursquare churches in Missouri.

The pastor here, the Rev. Mike Woelk, says Bell's debut signals his growing spirituality.

"In the last few months, Chris has really kind of focussed his life on the walk with God," Woelk said.

He thinks Bell will be effective in leading worship and in evangelization.

"He's a great encourager with his music, a very positive person," Woelk said.

A musical ministry is "a natural fit for him," the pastor says.

At Foursquare as at the predominately black House of Prayer led by the Rev. Jo Anne McCauley, "a key part of our beliefs is that every Christian in a sense has a ministry," Woelk says.

"I think church ought to be like a concert -- a total joyous occasion," Bell says. "It ought to have killer music going on."