OLD SCHOOL HISTORY OF ME IN YOUTH MINISTRY

As promised, here are some old school memories I found in my office drawer. I have a pile of old stuff I figured I'd post in celebration of 15 years in youth ministry and my first days via pics I scanned in.

It all started with the mentoring and example of my own youth pastor, Mark Teyler here at Yosemite with an old school musician, Reggie Coates in the darkened background- circa 1988

Before I got my first job, I spoke at a water ski trip for the Evangelical Free Church of Fremont. I thought it was just a speaking gig that Mark Teyler had recommended me for. Little did I know it would be the most life changing weekend I'd experienced to date. This is me teaching at that retreat at Bullard's Bar in Nor. Cal. in July of 93.

Following this teaching gig I was asked to turn in a job application as Dale Goncalves- the current youth pastor- was going to step down into the adult world :). Anyway, I did and part of the process included going with the group to Hume Lake for winter camp in like January of 94. This is my then fiance Shannon and I on a tube run.

I even found a copy of the bulletin from my first Sunday where I taught in the night service and shared my testimony in the morning services before the congregation voted me in or out.

That resulted in me becoming the youth pastor of the Evangelical Free Church and the youth goup, Powerhouse- and this old school logo I dreamed up that I is no longer just a logo, but a sweet memory marker of a lot of stuff for me.

Here's some pics from those days, just a sampling I found on top of the pile and a few that happened to have been mailed to me recently. They are not necessarily my favorite or most significant, but they are a kick and each has a story that I could do a whole blog post on by itself. But I'll just post the pics:

Lastly... here's 2 family pics I found. My first youth ministry job was also the place where all three of my biological children began cutting their teeth in ministry themselves.... literally.

This is TJ sleeping on the ground in a Mexico Trip.

This is TJ and Tyler and Shannon and I on a train ride we used to do for Christmas for our leaders.

I'm sure for a lot of you that was a post you skimmed like a bad family slide show. But for me... it was posted through a mixture of joy and tears. Man there's a lot of memories. If the next 15 years looks anything like the last, then strap in... cuz it's gonna be a ride.