Who We Are
Our group consists of:

Rev. Karen Bales
Jack Bales
Sharon Langenbach
Hank Langenbach
Dana Skaggs
Jay Skaggs

Companions of the Lamb is a new fresh sound in contemporary Christian music that currently consists of six people. They are unique in the fact that the six of them are made up of three married couples. Even beyond that, five of the six people (all with the exception of Sharon Langenbach) have been infiltrated to Ashtabula, Ohio by the Lord from other places. Jay Skaggs was raised in Bethesda, Ohio, Dana Skaggs, Shadyside, Ohio. Hank Langenbach is originally from Albany, New York, and Jack and Rev. Karen Bales are from North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. The Lord united this band of prophetic minstrels. Under the leadership of Rev. Karen Bales and her husband, Jack, these six have felt the call of the Lord to take the new music to the people.

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Rev. Karen Bales, the head of the band, is a licensed and ordained minister of the gospel through Greater Works School of Ministry in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Edinboro University.

She has directed fine arts departments as well as worship teams. She can be found making hospital and prison visitations or counseling. She has been a guest speaker and worship pastor at Women’s Aglow groups. She has provided the worship music for women’s retreats; has volunteered time as a disc jockey in conjunction with her husband.

God has blessed her with songs of what He is doing in this present day. He has prophetically spoken over her that she would lay hands on the sick and see them recover, that blind eyes would open, the crippled healed, and the lame walk. God has given the command to write songs to be sung in the congregation, songs of deliverance and healing, love songs to Jesus, and songs to lead the congregation into the throne room of God. She welcomes every opportunity for God to work through her in that capacity. Also, the Lord has given her the passion and desire to tell the church universal why music is so important and how it is a tool, an avenue to assist us in times of praise and worship to enter into the very presence of the Heavenly Father.

When she is not penning down new songs at the piano, writing a new play, creating a new banner, or doing ministry related work, she is enjoying her time with her husband, family or friends. She loves what the Lord has called her to do and waits with expectation of the greater things He is going to do through her as His willing vessel. <back to top>

Jack Bales assists Rev. Karen with the worship team and the band, Companion of the Lamb. He is instrumental in helping with the new music and can be found playing quite an array of instruments or acting as the studio engineer in the recording of Companions of the Lamb CDs. (He had attended Edinboro University where he studied music with the saxophone as his major instrument). He also aides in the fine arts department at church. If he is not helping to build a new set for a drama, then be sure that he is either helping to direct the play or is acting in it. He is very skilled with administration when given the opportunity and has done some beautiful work in remodeling. His mind never stops with ideas for doing things. Jack feels that presenting to God the worship due unto Him is the most important thing that we as God’s people can do. <back to top>

Sharon Langenbach is a Clerical Specialist for Ashtabula County Job and Family Services. She has been trained up at work to deal with just about every situation that could possibly arise at her place of employment. There she has an opportunity to pray with and lead her fellow co-workers to Jesus. 

She has a heart full of compassion for people and is always willing to go the extra mile to make sure that their needs are met. Her ability to perform her duties at work does not stop there, but flows into her ministry times with the Companions of the Lamb. Her great love and compassion for others is like the Savior's. She has been blessed with an uncanny ability to reach into the hearts of people and encourage and lift them up. She loves to bless the Lord with her voice in times of praise and worship, singing unto Him and playing on the synthesizer. She is always ready and willing to assist with praying for people to see them healed and delivered.

Sharon has a beautiful testimony of how she has walked with God from childhood and how God has saved her marriage. One of her greatest talents is the gift of art. She can make any picture painted come alive in such a way that you can’t but help see God in it. She also has had lead roles in church dramas.

In her spare time she enjoys ministering with her husband (Hank) to friends and neighbors, to socialize with friends and family, helping on the construction of banners and drama sets, fishing, or just hanging out. She is truly a loyal and trusted friend and team player. <back to top>

Henry Langenbach: you have probably heard the old saying that there is always one joker in the crowd – well, there is one – Henry (Hank) Langenbach. Hank is self-employed with a roofing business. Yet, God has touched him ( the quiet, shy person that he isn’t!) in such a way that he is able to work and show the love of Jesus Christ to those that he is working for, and those working for him or with him. He has a patience that comes only from the Lord God. That patience he possesses has been quite a help to him while he hunts down game, but all the more, it has helped him when he sees and stays on the trails of those lost in sin not giving up on them.

Not only has God blessed Hank with patience but he also possesses an unbelievable testimony of what God has delivered him from and where God has brought him too. He is sold out to Jesus and with his pastor-like heart, he is distinguished with the ability to nurture and admonish those that are hurting. To give you the shirt off of his back or the last nickel in his pocket would not be unusual for him. Teamed up with his wife, they are a mighty duo for the Lord.

Hank will be found with Companions of the Lamb ministering to the Lord on his guitar. He is also a part of the drama team putting his acting skills to work for the Lord. If called upon to help a brother with a need, you would see his smiling face and sunny (some might say funny) disposition accompanying him. He is a loyal faithful friend that desires to serve the Lord. <back to top>

Dana Skaggs is a Clinical Lab Scientist at Ashtabula County Medical Center where she supervises the laboratory work. She has a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from the University of Akron. Even though she can pick your blood apart for health reasons, she knows in her heart the reality of what the true meaning of the words spoken in the scriptures that the life is in the blood is all about. She can tell you all about what the blood of Jesus can do in a person's life. She believes she is thinking with the left side of her brain 95% of the time, but the truth is God is repositioning her thoughts and her feet to glorify Him in ways that she never dreamt of. God has done a work in her life. He has delivered her from things that haunted her from the past. He has allowed her to taste the freedom that many women desire to taste but never receive. She has a wonderful testimony of how God has touched her and made her whole.

Serving the Lord, you will find her playing her trumpet, in the sound room working the sound board, or ministering with Companions of the Lamb. She has a heart of gold, a heart that has been purified by the Lord, a heart to see things that others do not see. There is a call awaiting her from the Lord, a call to deliver a message of deliverance to hurting women, to women who feel worthless and unlovable, a call to help them see themselves as pure, holy and lovely before the Lord, a call from God to impart into their lives the love of God the Father. <back to top>

Jay Skaggs is self-employed, transporting and delivering items from the door of one hospital to another. He has helped saved lives of those in need of blood transfusions and organ transplants. Not only does he work in the natural at saving lives, he also works at it in the spiritual sense of the word. He carries to people a tender heart to pray with them. The Lord is blessing Jay with a discerning spirit. If you are hurting, be sure that his sensitive spirit will know and understand the pain that you are going through.

Like Jack and Rev. Karen, Jay has had his training with music in the secular arena. At one time he loved playing drums for a country band, but when he accepted Christ as his Savior, he laid his drumsticks down thinking he'd never drum again.

However, to his astonishment, God had other plans for him and the gift of drumming. Jay was restored back to drumming to glorify the Lord. He is now found sitting behind his drums making a joyful noise unto the King of all creation and drumming with Companions of the Lamb. At times he allows himself to be stretched and will venture over to the congas. His favorite percussion instrument at this point is his "gong" (it use to be his whistle!).

Sometimes he is like St. Peter (impetuous), and other times he is like Nehemiah the weeping prophet (weeping for others and sensing their pain). No matter how you look at him, you just got to love him for who he is – a worshiper, the husband of Dana, and a friend. <back to top>