America's most popular Christian rock band PETRA paid a visit to these fair shores recently. Mike Rimmer was on hand to witness the event and talk to the guys.

I wondered whether Weaver kept a careful watch over his shoulder at his drum tech in case a take over bid was on the cards. He laughs, "My drum tech can't play drums! Our lighting guy is a great drummer though!" Adopting a more serious tone, "I do what God's called me to do. I do what I do well and if God has somebody else ready then I'd step aside immediately because I don't want to get in the way of God's will."

Being a member of Petra has its pressures, the band's recording and touring schedule is punishing by anyone's standards. Taking time off is difficult but earlier in the year Weaver managed to get a break...just! He explains, I had never in my 14 years of Petra booked time off for a proper vacation. My wife and I planned a Hawaiian trip. You can't go to Hawaii if you don't plan it well, way in advance. I had it all booked out and didn't know we were going to start an album and was told we weren't. A few weeks before we were due to leave, I was told we were starting in the studio that week and I said to them, 'But guys, I cleared this a year ago.' Things change and it's really hard with our kind of schedules to find the time to get away but it's got to happen sometimes because you can't just keep going and going and going. But that was the best leisure 10 days I've had in 20 years. I came home a father; my wife is six months pregnant now!" Obviously time well spent!

With millions of records sold, thousands of concerts played and a huge number of lives changed through Petra's ministry, the band have one of the richest histories of all Christian bands. That history is reflected in the current stage show. Obviously the tour aims to give an airing to the new material from the excellent 'No Doubt' album and it is clear from the start that these new songs sound as tight and as fiery as the more familiar material. However, one of the special moments was where the band do an unplugged medley of older material, a lot of it recorded before John Schlitt was in the band. The crowd sang and worshipped along with the band. Alongside these classics, the unplugged version of the new song "No Doubt" was a touching reminder that the band is still at the height of its creativity.

Thinking of older material, this year has seen the re-release of the earliest Petra albums, swamped in 70s twin guitar and sounding decidedly dated in places but again, a reminder of Petra's heritage. What does the current band think of that earlier material now? Weaver smiles and says, "I think it's kinda funny. It's weird that it sounds funny to me now because the first Petra album, that's the album I was introduced to Petra on and I just fell in love with that album, everything but..." He pauses and both Cooper and I guess correctly that he's going to say "Lucas MacGraw", a truly terrible country song on the band's debut. "That's the only song that I don't like but it's amazing because it's the most requested song from the album. My favourite song is "Walking In The Light". I was in a band and we played that song and I sang it!" Thankfully, the crowd in Birmingham are spared the torture of enduring a performance of that...ahem...classic.

One song that does go down a storm is the new "Heart Of A Hero", with its pile-driving riff and chant-along chorus. Pure Petra! The song looks at the heart of Jesus in giving himself for us but it led me to wonder whether the men from Petra ever feel as though their fans treat them as heroes. Is hero worship a problem for Petra? Cooper looks thoughtful and then responds, "Sometimes, I hope not, but we are put in a position to be examples but we blow it every day, but by the grace of God we are forgiven and we try to go on and serve the Lord as best we can." Weaver takes up the theme, "It's funny that people don't realise that we're just regular people like they are and we just do things on a bigger scale and in front of more people but we're just normal people and if we could tell them over and over and over we would. We're just like you. God just put us here like he put you there. We go through the same trials and the same tribulations but God is the centre and the focus of everything we do. We get by, that's the way we do it."

The busy Petra touring machine doesn't give the band many opportunities to enjoy Britain as they travel from gig to gig but the guys have positive thoughts about being here as Weaver explains, "My roots are here, I'm Scot/Irish so it's really heartfelt wanting to be here. It's kind of funny speaking the same language but sometimes still having a hard time understanding the dialect. People over here don't get as much Christian music as we do in America and seeing the few here who really support us and support Christian music and want that to develop and grow into something bigger - that's exciting."

John Schlitt brings the concert to a close with a short evangelistic appeal before leading everyone in prayer. David Lichens plays swirling atmospheric chords on a synthesizer before leading us in gentle worship. After a couple of hours of solid rock'n'roll, there is something beautiful about this. Gently the crowd takes up the worship. "I stand I stand in awe of you," they sing, hands are raised in worship and the band leave the stage while the crowd are focussed on worshipping God. As I go home, I am left to reflect that the concert's close merely reflects the heart of Petra, a band who want all the honour to go to Jesus.

As the end of the century beckons, with the continuing line up changes and the ability to adapt to the changing styles of rock music, who would say that Petra won't be working into the 22nd century! After all, there are always going to be lost souls needing to hear the Good News.