The Glen Burnie Baptist Quartet

Perry's History of the Quartet

Revised 10/18/08

In 1968 at a Sunday evening cook-out on the Glen Burnie Baptist Church picnic grounds, Perry Sorrell met Bob Kirk, who, with his wife Helen and family had recently moved to Glen Burnie and had become members of the GBBC. In their conversation Perry learned that Bob had been choir director at his previous church and had sung in male gospel quartets from time to time. Bob seemed to be a natural to help start a male gospel quartet. The Glen Burnie Baptist Quartet comprising Perry Sorrell, John Kelley, Jim Woodel and Bob Kirk with Patricia Kelley as accompanist was founded shortly afterward and practiced together for the first time.

Within the previous year, the Glen Burnie Baptist Choir director, Anne Culbertson, had asked Gloria Leeworthy, Mary Jane Taylor, Perry Sorrell, John and Pat Kelley to work up a special quartet number for the morning church service. The group sang together for several months and presented several songs at the Sunday morning services before disbanding. This experience created the desire and confidence in some of the members to develop a long lasting Gospel Quartet to share in the joy of singing and witnessing with Gospel music.

An outstanding singer in the Glen Burnie Baptist Church Choir, Jim Woodel, who was a soloist in the U.S. Army band at Ft. Meade, was asked if he would like to participate in a male gospel quartet. He agreed, and Bob Kirk also agreed to participate, thus the Glen Burnie Baptist Quartet was born, with John Kelley as tenor, Perry Sorrell as Bass, Jim Woodel as lead, Bob Kirk as baritone, and Pat Kelley as pianist. This basic quartet, with a few personnel changes over the years, has been singing Gospel music ever since.

In less than a year, Jim Woodel retired from the quartet. At this time DuWane Sandlin became a permanent member of the quartet.

A few years later, in 1972, Bob Kirk’s job situation changed and he left the quartet. Another choir member, David Acres, filled in for him until 1974 when he was discharged from the Navy and left the area. Bob Kirk rejoined the quartet. By this time the quartet was giving full concerts at several of the local churches of a number of denominations. In 1977 the group bough a sound system. At that time, most churches did not have a sound system at all nor did they have one suitable for quartet singing, such as four microphones and monitoring speakers. This equipment made singing and listening to the quartet music much more pleasurable.

In 1979 Bob Kirk’s employment situation forced him to leave the quartet again. At this time, Ron Hutchinson’s name came to the attention of the quartet. He had sung with his father and sister in a trio called the “Hutchison Trio”. At this time the quartet was singing about ten to twelve concerts a year.

Ron sang in the quartet for about ten years, and around 1989 Ron got married and resigned from the quartet. Bob Kirk came back with the quartet and stayed until March 21, 2004, when they moved to Conway South Carolina. The quartet gave Bob and Helen a nice send away concert at the Glen Burnie Baptist Church on March 21, 2004. The quartet gave Bob a nice plaque recognizing his service with the quartet. He and Helen moved to Conway, SC, next to Myrtle Beach.

Bob’s replacement was nowhere in sight at that time. So everyone just waited to see what the Lord would do about his replacement. Several months later the quartet asked John Ritter to join the quartet, and he has been with them since. Since he is a generation behind the rest of the quartet, hopefully he will be able to carry the quartet to another generation of singing.

The quartet has sung at churches far away as Charleston, WV, and as close as Glen Burnie Baptist church. The quartet has sung at a number of wedding receptions and funerals.

Over the years the quartet has had other individuals and groups work with them. Steve Clark has filled in for Perry Sorrell on several occasions.  Here's a list of our past members and contributors.