Encounter is a Christian performance group of high school students representing 30+ churches dedicated to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ through the ministries of music, service, fellowship, and participation in the life of the Church. Christian growth is an important element of Encounter. We will work together to enable everyone to accept themselves as persons of worth: the sons and daughters of God.

In 1972, the choir director of Main Street United Methodist Church in Alton, Illinois started a small choir made up of eleven youth from the church. They called themselves “Love Eleven”. The following year the membership grew to 36. That year, they prepared a musical entitled “The Encounter”, which ultimately became the official name for the group. The Methodist Annual Conference invited the group to perform that year. A Navy captain heard them sing at the conference and extended them an invitation to sing at the naval base in Orlando, Florida. Suddenly, the group was on its way to Florida, where they sang at the base before an audience of 1,500 service men and women. As part of the tour, they performed at several churches along the route and in the Orlando area.  As a result of this experience, Encounter has incorporated a 9-10 day service and performance tour towards the end of every season.  Some of our past tour destinations have been Washington DC, St. Simon's Island, GA, Wisconsin Dells, Chicago, IL, Estes Park, CO, and Panama City Beach, FL, and Gatlinburg, TN.