Longboat Island Chapel welcomes new music director

Sometimes, when a job opens up, you call a guy.

And that guy knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy who eventually becomes your new music director. And sometimes, it’s the perfect fit.

Maurice Overholt is the new music director at Longboat Island Chapel, brought in by the Rev. Brock Patterson but only after a call to fellow island pastor Rev. Norm Pritchard at Christ Church of Longboat Key. More calls happened, leading to Overholt, who has been leading the music at Sunday services since Feb. 28. 

“We connected very quickly, on theology and everything, really,” Patterson said of meeting Overholt. “This is even more than what I was really hoping for. He's got a lot of diverse experience … and he's very well-connected with other musicians in the area.”

Chapel members rave about Overholt and his voice on Sundays, thrilled by both the music and guest musicians he brings.

For his part, Overholt loves that he has the freedom and support from the congregation to work some more modern, out-of-the-worship-box songs into services. He brought a modern pop worship song called “Lord, I Need You” by Matt Maher to one service and was approached a few weeks later by a congregant who asked Overholt to play it at his wife’s memorial service. 

“It's a very chill atmosphere and there's a lot of freedom there, too,” Overholt said. “That’s not the way most churches are, and so it's kind of interesting. I really can do just about anything. I can do something classical. I can do some pop rock, blues, maybe I'll get the Beatles in. That is a really beautiful thing.”

It seems to be a match made in heaven, proof that the best things come around when you’re not looking for them. Overholt, though he’s been leading worship and working on music since he was in his early teens, wasn’t looking for another music job. He’s actually been working at the Walmart in Osprey, putting together online grocery orders. 

No matter how different they seem, the two jobs complement each other. Overholt grew up doing masonry with his father, so he’s good and experienced with physical labor. He likes the way his mind idles as the body takes over — it creates a fertile ground for his creative pursuits. 

“I’d just sort of go out there, write a song, write a story,” Overholt said. “It's the complete opposite of intellectual pursuit. Working with your hands, with your body, there's something very cathartic, and so you get to work with your mind and with your imagination on that. You're organizing your details and working hard and solving problems.”

Both masonry and music were the family businesses, as his father also traveled with singing quartets to lead worship. Overholt grew up doing a capella, then went to University of Florida and the Eastman School of Music before entering his career. He’s also worked at Covenant Life Church, where he met his wife, Beth — another good thing that came to him when he didn’t expect it. 

“Music was just my thing,” Overholt said. “You know, in high school, you have to have something where you just sort of go and chill out. For me that was piano. I would just go and sit down and improvise and play pieces. And that's how I got my emotions out.”

For now, he’s just there on Sundays. During a pandemic, there’s not much else a music director can do — no choir to organize, no classes to teach, no meetings to hold when a good portion of the congregation still watches services from home. But when they’re ready for him, Overholt is interested to see what a more hands-on approach looks like. He’s just taking life as it comes, and good things seem to come his way when he’s not looking. 

“I can't really take credit for anything,” Overholt said. "I'm very fortunate. I did not expect to be able to meet someone like Beth, to be at the chapel, to be able to have such free rein to do all these styles. I think the relationship is what really makes it great … (Patterson and I) immediately just connected. In fact, I know I wouldn't be here if that meeting with him hadn't been that same sense of spirit. So God knows what he's doing.”