The year was 1991…

…and I remember signing up for the Koinonia Singers and going to practice with my friend Aaron.  I also remember being slightly irritated with the costume that year (which was picked out by some girls) : the outfit consisted of  Zubas (remember those? think M.C. Hammer),  black vests and a white T-shirt.

Anyhow,  despite the lame outfits it turned out to be alot of fun.  We would travel to rural churches, get to know the people, sleep in churches, and do some sight seeing.   It was also a great opportunity to spend time with kids from all sorts of different church backgrounds.  Larry Schultz’s youth minstry was inter-denominational, which means basically that it was a youth group made up of other youth groups.   I went to youth ministries at my home church, but I aslo went to Campus Life, where I interacted with other teens from other churches but we all had one thing in common–Jesus Christ.

We didn’t get into any deep theological discussions, but we did have lessons based on Sscripture and had a lot of fun in a safe environment.  As we traveled around on the bus going from church to church on our Koinonia trip, I found out that my Lutheran, Methodist, Catholilc, Prysbeterian friends loved Jesus the same way I did.   Sure, the style and method of worship varied greatly but there was  still a lot we had in common–struggles, temptations,  parent relationships, dating relationships, and trying to figure out where God fit in to all of that.

So, all that to say, … now that our building remodeling project is winding down I am looking forward to meeting some of the local pastors in town.  It is hard to preach unity to your church when you are not demonstrating it yourself.   When we preach “You are The Body of Christ, and each one has a part in it” (1 Corinthians 12:27)  at what point does that include the various denominational traditions?  Should it or shouldn’t it?  What do you think?

One more thing–It was on that Koinonia trip that I first really had the opportunity to “minister”  to  people.   We would sing songs centered on Christ,  perform thought provoking skits,  sing a few worship songs, and then one of the kids would be picked for that night to share their personal story of faith–  How did they first come to know Jesus?  What has the Lord helped them get through– what an experience to stand in front of people you don’t know and tell them what Christ has done in your life.   I will never forget those first experiences of ministry.  I had just graduated from High School the month before and when I arrived home from the Koinonia trip I found waiting for me there in the mail my acceptance letter to North Central Bible College.   And the rest is…History…