Faith congregations and organizations are uniting to offer a day of Praise on the River on July 11.

The first-time event is an expansion of last year's Praise in the Park celebration at Bettendorf's Veteran's Memorial Park.

Praise on the River will take place at LeClaire Park in Davenport with Christian bands performing live music, children's activities and food.

"We just had three churches involved last year. We thought if we went for the entire Quad-Cities, God could do some fantastic things with that," event coordinator Chris Werner said.

Bettendorf Presbyterian, Bettendorf Christian and Davenport's Vineyard churches coordinated the 2008 Praise in the Park gathering. Praise on the River "is a great opportunity for the Christian community to get together and fellowship together and play together," said the Rev. Troy Winder, pastor of Bettendorf Presbyterian Church. He is involved on the planning committee but not as a formal representative of his church, he said.

"And bring the body of Christ together. We don't do enough of that," Werner added.

So many times Christians are divided because of doctrine and other issues that drive wedges between them. The event is open to the general public and everyone who wants to participate.

"This is a good day to focus on Christ and him as our savior. Not other things," he said.

Headliner Elysian features performers Jim Powell, Nina Little and Chrissy Boyer. Powell describes the sound as adult contemporary with a gospel jazz influence and a bit of funk and rock. Powell, a professional musician with more than 20 years of experience in the industry, hails from Northern California and Little and Boyer from St. Louis. Powell and Little are pastors at Cross Point Church, Davenport.

The three formally began recording their self-titled album "Elysian" two years ago and fans will recognize "Only You" and "A Willing Heart."

"We just felt the music was worth recording and sharing with other people," Powell said.

Formal planning for Praise on the River began about six months ago and the momentum is picking up as July 11 nears, Winder said. Organizers hope to see even more churches involved in planning the 2010 event.

Praise on the River kicks off at 4 p.m. Saturday, July 11 with Glory Bound, a group with a contemporary mainstream Christian sound. Relevance, an outreach band, segues into country Christian music at 5 p.m., followed by The Bridge performing mainstream Christian contemporary at 6 p.m. and Also Known As teen band at 7 p.m.

Elysian performs at 7:20 p.m. and the musical offerings wrap up with an appearance by Smile, a mainstream Christian band, at 8:30 p.m.

People can enjoy free hot dogs and chips and other foods at the event, Werner said. Organizers estimate they have enough to feed 2,000 people and the children's activities are volleyball, arts and crafts, a bounce house, bean bag tosses and face painting.