Anonymous Back-row Believers

The beginning is a very good place to start. I want to share about the birth of the drama ministry but in order to fully appreciate my perspective I feel the need to start at the real beginning.

Lionel and I moved to Corvallis in December of 1999. Whoa time flies. We came here a little worn and battered from full time ministry and some difficult times we had faced (those are stories for another time).

Needless to say churches had left a bitter taste in our mouth and towards Christians we felt an even greater disdain. But we were responsible parents and had a strong conviction to raise our kids in church. We set out to find a church where we could hear the word, enjoy the worship and blend in. Actually fade completely into the background.

That is exactly what we could do at Calvary. For about a year we would check our kids in, sit in the back and leave during the last worship song or prayer or anything that alerted us to nearing the end of the service. We were not looking to meet people, had no desire to get "plugged in" and we didn't really want people to know we had been youth pastors, not at all.

God put some people in my path that first year however that did open my heart a little. One was Kellie Dykast who I met my first day of work at OSU Federal Credit Union, she just so happened to be training me. The other was another woman I ended up working with every single day Lynn Christiansen. Both women were very sweet and incredibly easy Christians to be around. It was refreshing and surprising.

Slowly God began to heal us through the amazing bible teaching and by His spirit. We realized that we could not stay in our back row slump and needed more but we were fearful and not ready to reach out to people. The way we saw it we had two choices, fully commit to Calvary and the ministry there wholeheartedly OR leave and find a smaller place we could begin to serve and get our lives again centered around ministering.

One day after praying for a few weeks about this our son Jeremiah, at the wise age of nine said, "dad we were closer to God when we were in the ministry." It was like a hot iron to our soul. Those words burned in us. Because he was right, because we knew it, and because we had not been fooling our children at all.

We decided we would work in a ministry that we could do as a family, that was not a weekly commitment and that we could get out of. I know, we sound like winners right? But that is where our hearts were. SO we joined the Barbecue ministry. It was a good start. Gene and Trish were kind. It was practical service and the kids enjoyed it. It was also only half the year. We were both stunned by one thing in particular Gene said at the first meeting. They did not want anyone to get burned out serving.

Really? Did they mean that? Was this just lip service or was he sincere. We had been so abused as laymen and even more so as staff. We had been at everything and doing all that we could or should. Serving was what serious Christians did, all the time, serve the pastor, serve the body, serve the facility, serve the community, try to serve your family, occasionally have time to serve your marriage.

About four months after the barbecue season ended we read an announcement for the Spring Drama. I think my heart began to beat a little faster when I read that the first time. Something was stirring in me and Lionel too. I was very excited. I got the applications and filled them out for all of us. We talked to the kids and they were excited. We thought it would be so fun if we all had little parts or did something back stage or even helped make sets. We were willing to do anything.

The very next week at church we looked for the girl that was going to lead the ministry. I asked around and someone told me she was cleaning the bathrooms (it makes me smile just thinking of that). We finally found her, Kari Zyp, blond hair, black trash bags in hand. We introduced ourselves and she told us about the meeting then we went on our merry way.

To be continued...