Picture of Reggie by Bryan Morrison

As Executive Director of  Heartfelt Music, I am training and encouraging Christians throughout the country.  But locally, I’m teaching music to over 55 students between private lessons and group courses at four different Christian Schools as well as Guitar Showcase in San Jose.  Ten hours a week, I’m ministering with First Presbyterian Church in Hayward as their Choir Director and Traditional Service Director.  Next week, I’ll be teaching guitar workshops at the National Worship Leader Conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Later this month, I’ll be leading worship for the Mount Hermon Men’s Retreat (Oct. 22-24).  It’s been a busy month, but it’s a joy to daily be used by God in significant ways continuing to have a high impact on many lives.

I’ll be doing two concerts in the next couple of months, so I hope you can make one of them (see the events below or go to Events online).  I’ll be sharing about my faith journey as well as encouraging you in Christ.  Hope to see you there!

• Concert & Training in Richmond
  October 16 (Saturday) – First Presbyterian Church, Richmond, CA. Family worship and concert.  Reggie will be sharing in concert at 7:00pm.  There will also be a Leading Worship Effectively & Team Building workshop Saturday, October 16 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm with breakout sessions from 4:00pm to 5:00pm on Voice, Guitar, Drums, Keyboard, and Sound.  The cost is only $10.00 and includes dinner from 5:30pm to 6:30pm.  You can make a whole day of it. For more information contact the church office at (510) 234-0954.

• Concert in Los Altos
  November 14 (Sunday) – Bridges Church (formerly known as First Baptist Church of Los Altos), CA. Family worship and concert.  Reggie will be sharing in concert at 7:00pm. For more information contact the church office at (650) 948-5698.

“A spiritual friend is one who is loyal and has right motives, discretion and patience in order to help their friend know God better.  Spiritual companionship is a process both of nurture and of confrontation.  A true friend in Christ will wake me up, help me grow, and deepen my awareness of God.  For God’s love is mediated through human relationships, by those who care for me, encourage me and desire my affections to become God-centered.” Aeired of Rievlaux, 1100 AD

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Reggie here.  I am now working with Heartfelt Music Ministry full-time. He is leading me and Heartfelt Music Ministry into full throttle, high impact, life changing work with the church-at-large to His glory.

Financial Support to Heartfelt Music Ministry is a wise investment. Our mission of leading others toward intimacy with God is the thrust of God’s heart. This gives us our compelling vision to use quality music, exemplary leadership, worship leading, practical training, and motivational speaking to encourage, inspire, and equip each person to draw closer to God.

You can donate a one-time gift or regular contribution to Heartfelt Music Ministry which is tax-deductible. We would be honored and so grateful for you to choose us as your ministry/missions organization in giving regular financial support.  Thank you for your prayerful consideration.  More information can be found at our Support Page (Click here).

Make a donation online using PayPal^TM by clicking on the Donate button below or set up a recurring monthly donation for $25, $50, $75, $100, or $125 by clicking on the appropriate amount with the Subscribe button below.
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We had a fantastic trip to Washington DC as a family with many great bonding moments.  There were some ministry events which brought us there (leading worship for the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts Jamboree, leading worship for New Life Community Church, and holding two workshops at another church), but most of the time was spent sight seeing.  We took a lot of pictures, but I just included a few to give you an idea of our wonderful experience there.

We were able to visit my brother and his wife, see many memorials (like the Lincoln Memorial), see many museums (like the Space Museum Annex and the Marine Corps Museum), go swimming in the Potomac River because of some good friends (the Turner family), see George Washington’s home, visit a Tavern in Fredericksburg, eat lunch in Georgetown, and stay with some truly amazing friends (the Katsarelis family) in Stafford, Virginia.

Thank you for praying for us.  It was a blessing that everyone enjoyed the flights for the most part.  We were all pretty flexible with the schedule and that made it enjoyable and not rushed.  The weather was actually pretty nice during our stay there.  We had many reasons to thank God for this trip, but the best one is the closeness of our family.  We are all very grateful for this.

I am teaching more private lessons this fall in San Jose, Los Altos, San Ramon, and Mount Hermon. Here’s a quote from Ted Kroger who is a current student.

“I have been Reggie’s student for about 18 months. I had been playing guitar for years but I had hit a plateau in my growth. A friend of mine handed me one of Reggie’s CDs, and I decided to take lessons. I wanted to learn more right-hand techniques and chord voicings so I could play improvisationally and apply them in songwriting. Having Reggie as a teacher has helped me make the most out of a limited amount of practice time.  Reggie’s enthusiasm for teaching guitar has been constant long after our first impressions. Each lesson, after a robust greeting, we begin by reviewing a bit of my progress from last time. Often I’ve told him in advance where I’ve been struggling or what I’d like to learn next, so he has come well-equipped with handouts that aid in retention. He even sends me a downloadable video summary of each lesson so I can refer back to it weeks later. Reggie has taught at the collegiate level, but his teaching doesn’t get bogged down in theory. Instead he tailors lessons that move students toward the goals they’ve set, and fills in precepts of theory as they seem relevant. Reggie is a very skilled guitarist, an enthusiastic coach, and a businessman who structures things so they are very user-friendly. And his walk in Christ adds a dimension of fellowship to each class!  My wife says she has never seen me move around the fingerboard so much. And I feel more excited and confident in my playing than I’ve ever felt in my life.”

Ted Kroger,
Private guitar student with Reggie in San Jose, California

Come join the fun!  Call (925) 206-9895 to get started.

Boy Scout Jamboree Band - Austin, Reggie, Dean & Brandon

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I hope your summer has been a good one overall.  Mine has gone by so fast, but it has been great!  I can’t believe there’s only a couple of weeks left.  I took the family to Washington DC for two weeks and we had a rich time together as well as some memorable ministry events.  I am now lining up all kinds of events for September doing what I love: encouraging others through leadership, music, and training. [click here to see a list of coming events]

I’ll be doing two concerts this weekend, so I hope you can make one of them (Felton Bible Church Saturday night and Morgan Hill Presbyterian Church Sunday night).  I’ll be sharing what’s new with me as well as encouraging you in Christ (see below).

This is a new season for Heartfelt Music Ministry where, in order for more ministry to take place, I will need to raise support.  I will be raising $2,000 a month as I will be serving with Heartfelt Music Ministry full-time now.  Would you pray about supporting me and the Coates family as we devote ourselves to the Lords work in this vibrant ministry?  I will be sending another letter in a couple of days explaining it more and asking for your help.  Thank you for your consideration.  [click here to read more about donations]

I’ll be teaching a number of 8 week music courses throughout the Bay Area starting in September.  These are mostly for children and youth, yet there are a couple of beginning guitar classes for adults.  I’ll teach in Danville (band and guitar at San Ramon Valley Christian Academy), San Jose (guitar with Valley Christian Schools and Showcase Music Institute), Los Altos (voice with Los Altos Christian School), and Scotts Valley (guitar with Baymonte Christian School). [click here to find out more about the courses offered]

Mark your calendars to pray for the following events and come if you can.  You’re welcome to get involved with any of these events.  Your prayers are so much appreciated.  Here’s what’s coming:

• August 21 (Sat) – Felton Bible Church, Felton, CA [http://www.feltonbiblechurch.org].  Family worship and concert.  Reggie will be sharing in concert at 7:00pm.

• August 22 (Sun) – Morgan Hill Presbyterian Church, CA [http://www.mhpc.org/].  Family worship and concert.  Reggie will be sharing in concert at 7:00pm.
• August 29 (Sun) – First Baptist Church Watsonville, CA [http://www.fbcwatsonville.com/].  Reggie will be leading worship and sharing in concert for their special 10:30am service at Koinonia Christian Conference Center [http://gotocamp.org/].

• August 30-September 2 (Mon-Thu) – Christian Songwriters Conference, Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center, CA [http://mounthermon.org/adult/professionals/songwriters].  Reggie will be teaching songwriting workshops and judging for the songwriting competition at the conference.  He will share in concert Monday night.

• September 3-6 (Fri-Mon) – Labor Day Family Camp Weekend, Sugarpine Christian Conference Center, CA [http://www.sugarpine.org/camps/FamilyCamp/FamilyCamp.shtml].  Reggie will be leading worship throughout the weekend.
• October 5-7 (Tue-Thu) – The National Worship Leader Conference, LCBC, Lancaster, Pennsylvania [http://www.nationalworshipleaderconference.com/home].  Reggie will be teaching both the Electric Guitar and Acoustic Guitar training workshops.

• October 22-24 (Fri-Sun) – Fall Men’s Retreat, Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center, CA [http://mounthermon.org].  Reggie will be leading worship throughout the weekend.

There will be a special concert with Phil Keaggy in Monterey on Thursday, September 16^th at 7:00pm.  The concert is in honor of a recent double lung transplant for Justin Mompean.  Phil and other friends are doing the concert to help with the medical costs.  Tickets are $20.00 in advance and $25.00 at the door. [click here for more info and tickets]
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.The 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts was very meaningful and went very well.  It was so nice to minister with my two sons and Dean Bell, who flew out especially to sing harmony on all the songs.  There were over 7,000 boy scouts at our protestant chapel Sunday morning.  Thank you for your prayers!  It was a fantastic experience!

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Over 6,000 Boy Scouts at the protestant Chapel

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The band for the Boy Scout Jamboree chapel

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Tenth Avenue North leading worship

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What a powerful time of worship renewal, refreshment, training, and fellowship with over 1,000 worship leaders.  I taught both acoustic guitar workshops and electric guitar workshops with over 70 in each class.  It was so fun to help guitarists understand the technical ways to be more expressive and make it easier to lead worship on guitar.  The worship nights were rich times full of energy with Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Tenth Avenue North, Phil Wickham, Israel Houghton, Starfield, and even teaching by Luis Gigleo.  I was particularly blessed to see the freshness of the worship wave that is flowing over the church today.  God is on the move and I’m glad to be on the wave with Him!  Of course what makes it truly relevant is what’s happening in my heart (and your heart).  It’s fun worshiping together with a huge group of worship leaders.  Yet, God’s looking at each of our hearts and that’s how He reaches the world.  As I sit here alone in my hotel room, I’m filled with awe of the One who loves me so much.  Jesus deserves all our worship.  He is worthy of all our praise!

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July has been a month of defining direction for the Coates family.  Last month was a tough one with the surprise of my position being eliminated at the church I was ministering at full-time (because of church financial struggles).  This month, I’ve been working to launch Heartfelt Music Ministry full-time again.  This is a new direction from the last two years as I’ve been doing more discipling, teaching, and nurturing the people of Creekside Community Church spiritually and musically, staying more local.  Now, I will be traveling more and ministering to the church-at-large.  Brandon just graduated from High School and is going to San Jose State University in Animation/Illustration which is a new direction for him (though he has been anticipating it for years).  Austin is doing well, taller than everyone in our family, and will be going to a new school as a sophomore this fall.  Sherri also is doing well enjoying the community of friends at Mount Hermon.  Both of us miss the people at our old church and are feeling a sense of loss.  Through all the changes, we’re excited about the future and realize it’s all a part of God’s adventurous plan.  We trust Him fully and look forward to seeing how God is going to use us for His glory!