Dean Newkirk

Sometimes the most dedicated people, the most inspiring voices, go unheralded and unheard. Talented, hardworking people who show up and give their best day in, day out, often never see a minute in the spotlight.

Dean Newkirk is one of those guys – a regular guy with exceptional, God-given talent who has been pursuing his passion for music on the sidelines for years.

It all started when Dean was seven, watching a Christmas show on TV, then walking over to the piano and plunking out the song he’d just heard. He’d never played piano. Never had a single lesson. But every key he tapped was spot on, and something woke up inside him. A stutterer from a young age, Dean joined the chorus at school the next year and discovered that in music, his speech impediment seemed to disappear. So he began singing and playing and hasn’t stopped since.

Inspired by his Southern Gospel roots, along with big voices in pop/R&B like Peabo Bryson, Luther Vandross and Michael Bolton, Dean spent the better part of a decade performing in school plays, church musicals and at local nursing homes, sharpening his skills on the keyboard and developing his vocal style. But it was while he was in college at UNC Wilmington that Dean discovered his love for and calling to local church ministry. “God knew all along that I was created for ministry through music,” Dean says of the career path that has captivated him. “For over 18 years, I’ve been using the gifts God has given me to minister to people, and all this time it has been the desire of my heart to record an album. People ask me all the time, ‘Do you have an album?’ and the answer has always been ‘No.’ But I’ve given my talent to God, and I believe with all my heart that the time is now.”

Saturday, July 21, 2018 • 4:00 pm

Sunday, July 22, 2018 • 8:30 am & 10:15 p.m.

Concert on Saturday | Services on Sunday

Grace Community Church
1234 Barger Place, Ramona

Information: (760) 789-0562

— A love offering will be received —