Father James DiLuzio, CSP, is taking his Luke Live! performance art ministry to another level by recording a set of CDs of the first six chapters of Luke’s Gospel. The audio recordings include dramatic readings of Luke’s Gospel and reflections as well as contemporary and sacred music. Father DiLuzio has launched a fundraising campaign on kickstarter.com in order to cover the $15,000 in costs related to production of the CDs.

Kickstarter.com is a fundraising site that gives people 30 days to raise the seed money needed to get a project (such as Father DiLuzio’s) off the ground. Kickstarter fundraising for Luke Live! will end on Dec. 8. With Kickstarter, no funds are collected if the project does not meet the fundraising goal, project updates will be sent to donors and donors will receive a premium(s) according to the level of their pledge.

“All proceeds for this recording will pay for copyright permissions for texts, songs, song arrangements, musicians and studio time,” Father DiLuzio explained. The more people are able to give, the more musicians I can hire and the more enhancements I can add to the CD.”

Father DiLuzio began his Luke Live! ministry in October 2003, and “from the start, many members of my audiences have asked for an audio CD to use as ongoing reflection on the Gospel and to enjoy my musical performances. because Luke Live! is performance art, I have made it accessible to everyone, with or without a religious affiliation, spirituality or secular philosophy,” said Father DiLuzio.

As with every new venture, there are many challenges to making the Luke Live! CD set to become a reality.

“The most imminent task is recruiting the professional musicians for studio time based on the variety of their schedules,” Father DiLuzio said. “As for me, I have a couple of weeks in November and all of January to make this work!”

Although there is still a long way to go to get to the goal of $15,000, Father DiLuzio has taken “that leap of faith” and scheduled four hours of recording time with the musicians on Nov. 29.

“We’re recording 3 songs: Leonard Bernstein’s Simple Song, Stephen Sondheim’s Not While I’m Around and Schubert’s Ave Maria,” Father DiLuzio said. “Much of the balance of the recording will be just me for the Gospel and commentary and piano for the other songs.”

This project is truly a kickstarter, according to Father DiLuzio, as proceeds from the CD sales will go to the recording of the rest of Luke’s Gospel.

“There is always more to explore,” he said. “Thank you ever so much!”

To donate to the recording of Luke Live!, visit Luke Live!’s Kickstarter page. For more information on Luke Live!, visit www.lukelive.com.