At an upcoming Christian concert in Bloomington, opening act Realign will pose some questions through its hard-rock performance.

The headliner, Vicky Beeching, finishes the show with pop-style praise and worship guided by her theology training at University of Oxford.

Between them, reggae artist Tennyson offers a message sharpened through street preaching.

As concert formats go, the Feb. 28 show at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts will offer an odd mix of genre.

Metal rarely shares a stage with soft music, and Christian reggae is in limited supply. Tennyson, whose full name is Roy Tennyson O'Meally, said he couldn't even listen to reggae in his childhood Christian home because of parental objections to a music associated with the messianic movement Rastafarianism.

But then, the entire event is unorthodox.

Kevin Kennel headed the organizing as a member of the community advisory board for Catholic Charities. It's probably the first such event hosted by the local Catholic Charities office, and Kennel's never organized a concert. He is a nurse by training and director of environmental services for OSF St. Joseph Medical Center.

He was drafted into the show-organizing job by virtue of raising the idea at a board meeting last fall when the board was talking about fund-raising ideas.

He wants to reach young people and families - and, with any luck, raise $9,000 - in a creative way.

Kennel, 44, a Catholic from Normal, started tuning into Christian music after experiencing a Cursillo retreat six years ago. He embraced it as an aid in his spiritual journey and as a positive counter to the negativity of other media, including much of mainstream secular music.

"It puts me in a sense of ease," he said of Christian music.

Organizing such an event is another story; it's been on the nerve-wracking side, but he feels pieces coming into place and won't regard developments as coincidence.

Unsure where to begin, he turned to an Internet search engine for information on Christian concerts. He found Tennyson in Florida. One appeal was his music. The other was Tennyson's price: Free concerts, free CDs handed out at shows and free music downloads.

Within a few hours of Kennel sending an e-mail, Tennyson was on the phone agreeing to come, said Kennel. It seemed so incredibly easy that Kennel checked other places where Tennyson had performed as confirmation.

Age 32 and living in Miami, Tennyson had a "dream," which he later came to regard as divine vision, of preaching on the streets. He and cohorts have done so in Miami's tough Liberty City section.

In an interview, Tennyson said his ministry accelerated in 2005 when, upon advice of friends, he transitioned from a soft gospel singer into a solo headliner in gospel rap and reggae. He performed 65 concerts that year.

The strategy called for him to sell a CD, released in 2006, to fund his ministry.

"I just couldn't do it," he said. "I ended up giving them all away."

With free shows and free CDs, Tennyson is supported by the charity of random donations.

"That's when you know it's really God," he said. "I want people to see God bless again."

Kennel also wanted a local band in his lineup, but with a limited budget he couldn't offer pay for it either. He found Realign, a Christian rock band with Midwest success, a base in Central Illinois and a willingness to open a benefit concert without charge.

Lead singer and guitarist Brandon Jamison of Normal said in an interview that the band delivers emotional bursts to reach young people.

The band's name reflects its own conversion, from a soft-rock secular band to a metal-driven Christian group.

The message, Jamison said, "is about realigning your life. It was all about us - gaining popularity and making money."

He said metal reaches a young audience better, and in the course of a set he encourages them to ask questions about life's meaning and spiritual journey. "Too many apathetic people are floating through life," Jamison said.

For a concert headliner, Kennel returned to the Internet to find management companies. Budget restrictions ruled out an established star, so he sought someone on the rise.

He thinks he found that in Beeching, who in her mid-20s is preparing her second full-length release in the "praise and worship" genre and who will charge just $2,000 plus expenses. She was a church worship leader as a teen, but she sidetracked a younger entry into the music industry to study at Oxford.

She will bring a more traditional sound and traditional message to the show.

Currently touring, Beeching says through her publicist, "There is definitely a real desire in my heart for corporate songs, for those 'we' songs, those majestic declarations of the character of God. … So much of what I write taps into my passion for church history and liturgy."

Which is not to say insulated.

Her music has taken her to inner-city shelters and prisons in addition to concert halls.

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Musical lineup

Opening: Realign

A group of Central Illinois-based Christian rockers, Realign is Brandon Jamison, Ryan Jamison, Michael Dotson, Tim Schertz and Chris Palmer. Their debut 2004 album is "Lost." In April, they won the regional Kansas City Christian Music award, sponsored by King Cat Music, for Group of the Year. They are in the process of recording their second album.

Web sites: www.realignband.com and www.myspace.com/realign.

Second act: Tennyson

The Brooklyn-raised Roy Tennyson O'Meally said he started ministry 11 years ago, acting on a divine vision. He and a band of five others have engaged in street ministry as well as concert performances. In 2005, he shifted from mellow, traditional songs into a reggae-hip hop fusion, reflecting upon sounds from his native Jamaica. He put out a double album last year. While he doesn't object to Christian artists profiting from their work, he has chosen to give his music away and perform all shows without charge. Random donations come along to support him.

Web sites: www.tennysonministries.com and www.tennysonmusic.com.

Headliner: Vicky Beeching

Beeching put out her full-length debut album "Yesterday, Today, and Forever" in December 2005, following a five-song release, "The Journey," earlier in the year. She is working on her second album, due in April. As a child, she trained in classical piano but also took to songwriting, guitar and church praise leadership in her youth. An Englander, she studied theology at the University of Oxford before embarking on a full-time music career.

Web sites: www.vickybeeching.com and www.myspace.com/vickybeechingmusic.

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'Creating Hope'

Creating Hope 2007 is a Christian music event to benefit Catholic Charities.

When: 7 p.m. Feb. 28, Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

Tickets: $15, include light meal. Available at www.cityblm.org/bcd/page.asp?id=9399&show=main

Phone: (309) 434-2777 or toll-free at (866) 686-9541

Door prize: $300 gift certificate from Best Buy

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Need to know

Pre-show dinner

Sandwiches, chips and drinks from Avanti's will be served before the show, starting at 5:30.

About Catholic Charities

Catholic Charities provides counseling, foster care, adoption, abstinence education, delinquency intervention and pregnancy support to those of diverse backgrounds. Its Bloomington offices serve McLean, DeWitt and Livingston counties with paid staff and volunteers. For many years, it was called Catholic Social Services. Funding sources include government, donations and fees from those served.

Truth 103 radio

The radio station Truth 103, Bloomington, is helping with promotions and will do its first remote broadcast in its two-year history as an independent Christian station (103.3 FM).