Stephen Mason, the guitarist for Jars of Clay, remembers the days when his band was accused of selling out when it chose to play secular venues instead of churches.

When the four band mates actually sat down and did the math, they found out just how wrong-headed their critics were.

"One of the first things we discovered," Mason says during a telephone interview, "was when you choose to play a club over some of these larger-venue churches, you actually lose a lot of money. Or I should say — let me be clear about that — playing those churches actually was more financially beneficial. To play a club, we would not make near what we could playing churches. Strangely, when people accused us of selling out, it was actually the exact opposite: We were buying in."

Jars of Clay, which got its start about 15 years ago, has enjoyed success on both the mainstream and the Christian music charts.

A frequent visitor to central Pennsylvania, Jars of Clay will perform Thursday night at a church — Calvary Church in Manheim Township, to be exact — as part of Creation Festival: The Tour.

Also on the bill are Thousand Foot Krutch, Audio Unplugged, B. Reith, This Beautiful Republic and FM Static.

Though Jars of Clay spends much of its time these days playing to Christian audiences in Christian venues, there was a day when it fit just as easily alongside alternative music bands of the 1990s like R.E.M., Toad the Wet Sprocket and Gin Blossoms.

Jars of Clay broke big right out of the chute when in 1995 it released the single "Flood," which was produced by Adrian Belew of King Crimson fame.

The song crossed over from the Christian charts and shot to the upper reaches of the mainstream charts, becoming a massive hit.

The band has never been able to repeat that kind of commercial success, but it has maintained a sizable audience. And it still draws many listeners not looking for a spiritual message but simply searching for good music, which Jars of Clay has consistently delivered.

"Some people get the faith element of what we're talking about," Mason says. "Others approach it from a relational standpoint. I think they both matter. We're not upset by either, or one more than the other. It's a conversation and we want everybody to be at the table. We want every voice heard."

The band is currently touring behind its latest album, "The Long Fall Back to Earth," which seems to be all about human relationships. One of the best songs on the album is "Headphones," which takes a look at how technology can drive people apart.

"It's an observation we made about our culture and how connected we are and yet how separated we are at the same time," Mason says. "It's about the nature of our intimacy as human beings in the world we live in these days, with all this technology that links us together socially and yet allows us to be simultaneously disconnected."

Musically, the album is something of a departure for Jars of Clay as it's influenced by a lot of the music from the 1980s, with its heavy emphasis on keyboards and synthesizers.

Mason, who grew up on albums by bands like the Beatles, Cream and Led Zeppelin but also listened to 1980s groups like Duran Duran and Depeche Mode, said it was a fun album for him to make because he had to work at finding the right spaces for his guitar.

"I really loved the process because rarely do we get to re-approach our instruments in that way," he says.

Though Mason says he's enjoying the current tour, he is looking forward to the day when Jars of Clay is on the road all by its lonesome.

"I know we're definitely hoping to get more time to play because on this package tour, just because there's so many bands, we don't play as long as we would like, for sure."

Creation Festival: The Tour

Jars of Clay, Thousand Foot Krutch

and Audio Unplugged

Thurs. 7:30 p.m. $16.50 advance

$20.50 at door. ($65 VIP)

Calvary Church

1051 Landis Valley Road. 392-3206
www.creationfesttour.com