Covenant31.

They are, in the most literal sense, a “garage band.”

But, in reality they have a much deeper mission than a stereotypical band. Covenant31 is a group of four area Worship Team leaders, (meaning the people who lead the musical part of a church service), and two others who play instruments on their Worship Teams at church. At this point in time you could say that the musical part of their lives is part time work, but full time passion.

Lead singer Pat Eddols and his wife Heather are on the Harvest Bible Chapel worship team in Prescott Valley. Pat and Heather own and operate a local computer company called PC Works http://www.thepcworks.com/ and together they are raising their three young children. They supply the garage for the band to practice in, and have thoughtfully layered it with various types of soundproofing. Heather sings, and seems to do a lot of organizing and getting “the guys” to focus, and Pat sings and plays guitar.

The rest of the band consists of; Jake Wallace who’s a Worship Leader at Harvest, works as a real estate agent, plays the electric guitar and sings. Zack Wallace plays the keyboard, works in technology, and plays on his church’s Worship Team. Jared Willis plays bass, is a Prescott Police officer, and plays on his church’s Worship Team. Jared Haxton is a full time student at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, the Worship Team leader at Prescott Cornerstone Church , and plays the drums. Running the soundboard is Mike Cantfield, who modestly says, “I’m the guy who stays in the background.”

What caused these busy folks to get together and put in a whole lot of time to form a band? Well, as the Blues Brothers were fond of saying, “We’re on a mission. A mission from God.” The difference is, Covenant31 really means it. 

Pat Eddols says, “Before we even picked up an instrument we got together and prayed about it. For about a month. Then we came together and felt we were called to do this.” His wife Heather says, “If God permits it, we’d love to go as far as we can take it.”

Covenant31 competed in the Extreme Faith Band Competition in Phoenix and, after only being together for only 5 weeks, competing against 17 other bands from 5 states, including California, Nevada and Utah, managed to come in 4^th place. The band practices 2 times a week for 3 to 4 hours, and then several hours each week with their Worship Teams. Additionally, they work individually throughout the week. That’s a lot of hours to put in. On top of that, some of the band members are composing original songs.

Pat says that the goal of the band is to “minister, encourage believers, and give out the gospel and the word through music.” The name of the band speaks to that. It comes from Jeremiah 31:31, which says, “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” Haxton says, “We’re telling people about that covenant. We’re messengers of that covenant.”

Their music is contemporary Christian. Pat says, “I love contemporary music. But I love the spirit and richness of the hymns.” Their music brings together the sounds of today, with the spiritual messages of the hymns. They are dedicated to their mission, and work hard to make their goals. Not for themselves, but literally putting it all in God’s hands, wishing to be used for His mission.

The next step on the band’s journey is to make a demo CD. They hope to have something to give out to people who might want to hire the band, and also submit it to record labels and studios. Toward that end they’ve set up time at a professional recording studio in Scottsdale this August called Paradise West Studios . They have booked 5 days in the studio, and what with paying the recording professionals, studio time, time off from work, food, etc., they estimate the cost could run anywhere from $6,000 to $7,000. So they decided to put on a fund raising concert. The concert takes place this Sunday, July 20^th, 6:30 pm at the Church at Glassford Hill, they will be giving their individual testimonies and playing a lot of wonderful music; some of which they have written themselves. There is no admission fee, but they are taking donations so they can get their CD made.

The band has a MySpace account: http://www.myspace.com/covenant31 where there are a couple of homemade videos posted. Their website, www.covenant31.com, is under construction. If you would like to contact them you can send them an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .  If you can’t make the concert but would like to support the band in their efforts you can send a check to Covenant31, PO Box 26802, Prescott Valley, AZ  86312.

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God Bless you and keep you all.
written by Greg Eddolls, July 20, 2008

This is a great article. We are praying here in Columbus that God has His perfect will in this venture. We wish you all the best this evening and I know that you guys will be a blessing as you lead people in the heart of worship. I look forward to hearing more about you all and Covenant 31.

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