Gerry Stoltzfoos

Freedom Valley Worhsip Center: www.gettysburg.com cooperating with Gettysburg Masters Commission.

A community of people who felt like outcasts coming together and finding Christ...IN A TATTOO PARLOR!

You can't please anybody...most people who come to Feedom Valley that have a church background usually do not like it. Many people who enjoy this church are those who have been burned by church in some way.

He was a youth pastor for 10 years and an assistant pastor for a few year...over this time he felt the call to plant a church in the Philadelphia section. Nothing happened for some time and then he got a call from a section in the complete opposite direction! Initial response was no way, no how...on top of all that the Assemblies of God had rubbed him the wrong way and the furthest thing from his mind was starting a church with the support of an AG church!

Tagged as an outcast as disregarding authority, and living in rebellion he continued to pursue he call God put on his life. His vision given to him by God was to reach people that would not ever step foot in another church..."it does not work and does not fit what we need"

It is encouraging to see an individual that will stand up against opposition and pursue what he believes God called him to do. His stories of individuals who eventually repented of their thinking and initial opposition shows that when the Holy Spirit moves it convicts individuals and hen they listen to that they can jump on board as well.

In 1992 we started the church and started with 42 people which after a few weeks dwindled to only about 7. The church was the ball room at the hotel, then to YWCA, and then another place and finally a place that was purchased after the FBI raided and confiscated all of the stuff in it.

People need to be loved and cared for...there are many ways to care for individuals.

• skateboard park
• therapeutic horse back riding
  
• indoor riding arena (providing ministry to to handicapped individuals)
• Cowboy church (horse riding events interspersed with preaching: barrel racing and then a 5 min sermon on one point while they set up for the key hole race..etc)
• Bomb Shelter- a concert series held at a renovated steak house. Usually a group of garage bands, usually three Christian band and one heathen band. The goal is to have people there that are not so much into the music but into loving kids and networking.
  
• Coffee house- it began with a lot of criticism within the church but that has died down quite a bit. Trying to create a place to open the doors for hurting people to go instead of a bar. Three Q's i ask the lady who runs it: 1) How many people do you pray with? 2)
  

All I can say is that this guys methods are bizarre and crazy...sounds like just what a hurting generation needs! Who else is going to reach our future columbine killer?

How can we do church different than we are currently doing it? A question we must ask is: is what we are doing currently working? One of the most important things is that 8 out of 10 ideas that have been tired have not worked.
Example:

• Ruby Tuesdays outreach; brought in a few lost families: it was a ton of work for little gain.
• Missions raffle: tried to raffle off a harley! The gaming commission called; some lady called Tom rees at the district to complain of a church gambling.
  
• Coffee shop- 120,000 dollars went down the drain. There was oppostion form educated democratic...but a woman in a church opened up another coffee shop 3 years later and it is booming!
  
• Site churches with video- failed miserably!

you cannot be afraid to fail...if you are not failing you are not learning or reaching people...

"I don't listen to people just because they have been in the church for a while; I listen to peopel who bring people to church!"

speaking in tongues: alternative voices in faith. abc news "science in faith"

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW...

The most effective thing that they do to reach people is called "friend day". Before the in initial service there is prayer for the individuals. Then the service is composed of food just long enough to meet people.

Listening to Gerry, I am blown away! I have very rarely seen practical information and stories that apply to the essence of humanity and the need and hurt that can be healed.

I just pray that God can use me in creative ways. I pray that i can get to the essence of community, salvation, and healing. I pray that I recognize the power of prayer...

"out reach is not about creativity or creative ideas; it is about caring about individuals going to hell! Creativity springs from a desire to love people!"


some general observations:
positives:

• he is not afraid to take risks
• he is not afraid to fail
• he is courageous but at the same time humble
• He can provide vision
• he is real and truthful.
• he believes in prayer and the power and the amazing conviction that God hears and answers.
  

Negatives:

• his truthfulness can become a vulnerability
• the constant opposition of the church and others could weigh heavy on him and lead to burn-out.
• his constant transitions and creativity could have negative impact on not only him but the church as well.
  
• i wonder if he does or does not try to build bridges or tear them down with other churches that seem to be more traditional and "stuck in the mud".
  

My Journey into Youth Ministry

In addition to interviews being conducted with vicarious churched and unchurched individuals, I have decided to calm my fears of future youth ministry by gathering some useful information...hopefully what I learn will not be to scary!

I have not mentioned before...I think...but, I am getting a degree in youth ministry! Seeing that I have completed all necessary course credits for this degree, I am about to venture out into the world of reality and hard knocks. The time has come to test theories, ideas, and hypothesis in the metaphorical refining fire...real students with real needs!

Some of my greatest fears at least thus far is what am I going to do. What will be my primary focus? How much time will certain aspects of ministry take up, and will I have enough time to do all that I want to accomplish (I obviously know that the answer to this is an emphatic NO!); however what will I be able to accomplish with the time I have. Not only that but will it be eternally valuable, not only to the students I am ministering too but the parents and the greater community I am serving.

Now is the time that I "pull my britches up", "get my feet wet", and "my hands dirty"! Now is the time that I fear! I am internally crying HEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPPPP! I feel like I am going to drown! And just think I have not even begun to do the work; I have only begun to think about it!

Because of all that, I have decided that "a" good place to start is to survey some current youth students and also some who have graduated and get an idea for what they enjoyed about or what they missed out on, and what they would like to see changed in the following areas: personal, pastor, service, friends and sermon. Although, I would like to have spent additional time researching survey methods and comprehensive techniques for administering surveys I just felt the need to get in there and do it! After, I have finished receiving all of the surveys I will collate the results and graph them...nothing professional but will definitely help me make a first step in ministry!

You will find the actual survey sent out to the students below and later under the same label or tag the collated results of the survey!

If you would like to help me in this endeavor shoot me a comment and I will send you a copy of the survey: from there you can either distribute it a few or many and have it emailed back to my email address!

Please keep in mind that all names and answers will be kept confidential and anonymous.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the least important and 10 being the most important) please rate the following in your own life.

Please place your response to the right of the question.

1. God

2. Church

3. Youth Group

4. Family

5. Friends

6. School activities: Please name each one you are involved in and the corresponding number representing how important it is to you.

7. Dating

Please answer the following about your current youth group and/or a previous youth group.

If you no longer attend youth group because you graduated from high school please respond according to what you remember!

Personal:

1. Do you attend youth group regularly (at least 2 times out of the month)?

2. Name at least 2 things (more if you want) that attracted you most to your youth group?

3. Name at least 2 things (more if you want) that “turned you off” from the youth group?

4. If you still attend youth group regularly name at least 2 things (more if you want) that made you want stay.

5. If you do not attend youth group regularly name at least 2 things (more if you want) that prevent you from wanting to attend regularly.

Pastor:

1. What are at least two things (more if you want) you like most about the youth pastor?

2. If you could change two things (more if you want) about the youth pastor what would they be?

3. How could the youth pastor serve you and the community better?

Service:

1. What are at least two things (more if you want) you like most about the youth service?

2. If you could change two things (more if you want) about the youth service what would they be?

3. How could the youth service be made better?

Friends:

1. How often to you bring friends to youth group with you?

2. What would make bringing friends to youth group easier for you?

3. What makes bringing friends to youth difficult for you?

Sermon:

1. What are at least five (more if you want) important topics that you would like to hear about in youth group?

2. What are at least five (more if you want) important topics that you think your un-churched friends should hear about if they were to come to youth group?

P.S. I want to thank each and every one of you for your participation in the survey…it will go a long way to helping me become the youth pastor God has called me to be!

Introduction to Unchurched Friend Interviews:

In the following posts you will have the opportunity to view various interviews and interactions with individuals who are considered "unchurched". I have only completed my first one and I am already learning new tricks to open a casual dialog about something important..."finally"!


I am currently in a college level class at a Christian college that is challenging us to dialog with both churched and unchurched about matters of God, faith, and community. Thus far I am thrilled to announce that this challenge has opened the door for open and honest communication about things that are otherwise not talked about...at least between a Christian and a non-Christian!

In the up-coming posts, I will describe my relationship with the individual give some background information in order to put some of their thoughts in context and I might even update each individuals post with current discussion threads and topics of conversation between myself and the individual.

Not only am I excited to begin this process, but I am hoping that I will develop a solid network of unsaved acquaintances that I will have the opportunity, not to save or evangelize, but to dialog with! I believe that it will be from these meaningful conversations about faith or lack thereof that not only will broaden my view of how God and humanity relate to one another but will open the door for them to begin to believe that their might be a God that wants to be involved in the affairs of humanity while at the same time deepen their understanding of how that relationship works!

Jason Lamer - Youth Alive

Jason Lamer grew up in a Christian home, and Christianity/church has always been apart of my life.
From the mouth of Jason:
I first became a Christian when i was 7 years old. I realized that i was a sinner and that i needed to accept Jesus as a Savior. There was a time while I was a senior in High School that I hit a spiritual dry spell where it seemed that he could not "feel" God. But it was in that time that he really forged a relationship with God that went beneath surface experiences.

He went to North Central Bible College because he admired Dr. Meyers leadership and caring personality. He recognized the call of God on his life.

At North Central he was a Pastoral Major but after graduation he became a youth pastor. He felt that his calling was to an Evangelist, and go to church to church. He first felt this call at 13 when he was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Before his first ministry position he interviewed with at least 4 pastors and some of them never even responded. It was not until June that he actually received a FT position in a rural area (one of the poorest, and highest in teen pregnancy) in PA.

There was not a lot of money to do ministry so the best that he could do was something that came from the main pastor: find a need and meet it! Even in the youth ministry this was a driving philosophy! We went from a philosophy of hoping people would come to church to figuring out where the hot spots were an going to them.

An example is the concept of welfare: Actually welfare was developed in Fayette county. Once we identified the target and the need we developed something that looks like Convoy of Hope but before that was actually established. We utilized individuals who had trucking companies and partnered with grocery stores, hair cutteries, and we provided services in parks to those who were in need. While the people came for there health care and food there was opportunity to express everything that they were going to get for free which was directly tied into the free gospel and love and grace of Jesus Christ! We would see about 2-3 families a year come into the church and make decisions for Christ.

This was one of the ways we developed incredible reputation and relationship with individuals in the community.

Another ministry outreach we did was a parade: we were invited to a parade after contacting the mayor; at the end of the parade people were invited to head over to the youth group to view a commemorative video of the highlights of the basketball team that year. No one raised there hands to get saved but we did build reputation with individuals in the community.

One of his biggest philosophies regarding style or methodology in Youth Ministry is to be relevant but/and relational. Making phone calls, inviting students to hang out at the house, but once the youth began to grow we could not have them all over so we developed third degree-discipleship small groups.

He prayed to God that he would touch lives and be purposeful about ministry and not just take up space...He told Jason to impact the schools in the county. One of the ways we began to impact schools was to step in when emergencies happened. A girl died in an ATV accident and Jason called the school and let them know that they were praying for the school administration and the students; a few months later another student died and he made the same call. It just so happened that all of the grief counselors for the school were out at seminars and they asked Jason to come in and do grief counseling. It went great, under dire circumstances...the counselor realized that Jason was offering the students something that the other counselors could not and she got his contact information and any time something would happen he would come in and help out!

He began to do High School assemblies yearly which eventually led him to begin to do work with the 7 Project.

Now Jason represents Youth Alive and uses Prayer Zone Partners, Campus Missionaries, Campus Clubs, and the Seven Project as strategies to get the message of Jesus Christ to the Youth across the nation!

The 7 Project is primarily motivational: and talks about making good choices. Stories, tricks, and stuff only go five minutes each. The school administration picks 6 topics of 13 that the project can come in and teach on. The seventh topic is all about Christ: it is at a local youth group...food is available, there are games and prizes: 50% of students who participate in the evening even give their lives to Jesus.

One of the difficulties that are encountered after people give their lives to the Lord is follow up and helping to plug in these youth students into local churches. The 7 Project tries to put the face of a local pastor or youth pastor with and alongside of the 7 Project so that students can get comfortable being plugged into. 7.0 is based on the rictor scale which measures earthquakes. With these 7 elements eh 7 project will have long-lasting and greater impact on the students and the community.

7 elements required before 7 Project will come is:

• Network- involvement of 3 other churches; preferably not the same denomination.
  
• Serve- identify the need(s)
• Disciple- identify the teens. challenging students to look at their schools as a mission field. What will you do to reach them?
  
• Plan- identify the how to.
• Evangelize- identify the opportunities.
• Resource- identify the helps. Are you reading, and staying educated.
  
• Grow- identify the person (YOU) What is your motivation for wanting to do the 7 Project.
  

I am impressed with the passion that Jason has for youth, not just for getting hands raised and seats filled for an outreach but for developing systems and building scaffolding for the leaders in the community that will help the students get plugged in and connected to churches.

Too many times there are hands raised but they never get plugged in. I think that it is great that the project seems future focused, not just to have an event but impact and change lives.

Most of all I m impressed with his passion for students and his desire to seek and save students who are lost.

I feel that, he is attached to reality and that he has an adequate understanding of "life" and the difficulties that can come about when beginning ministry especially when starting out!

I am inspired to work with schools and develop and cultivate relationships with willing administration and counselors who also desire to speak into the lives of young people. It is also comforting to know that when I start in a position of ministry that there will be the opportunity to work with leadership that will come along side and help establish scaffolding that will hold up under the pressure and weight of the many people that need ministered too in our communities! I am under the impression that Jason and his team would bend over backwards to help youth pastors who are willing to take the steps necessary to reach those who need to hear the Gospel and freedom of Jesus!

Pittsburgh City Outreach--Brian Bolt

Drugs, Guns, and Chaos! Jesus redeems even the most radical! "God's got a call on you life!" is all he needed to hear.

After the gunshot to the face, and the succession of rebuilding his face; God was preparing to rebuild his heart.

Planting churches in rural areas where the population is is about 100 people plus some cows to having a passion and desire to provide an outreach to the inner city. Holding credentials in the Assemblies of God the fire was within and the call on his life was ignited... now only to figure out where to start... where to plant?

Upon meeting another church planter and getting hired his sordid past now begins to blossom into a vibrant future! After a few months of the office he was tired and ready for the street!

With the blessing of the pastor he rented out a house and brought in the homeless and hurting. People are getting healed and lives are changing! One particular guy was dying of hepatitis...he was beat and bloody both physically and emotionally.

After caring for his physical wounds he recognized his need for a spiritual healing but he got more than that! The brothers laid hands on him and he was healed from hepatitis!!! Praise God.

By allowing guys in the 6 month program to clean churches and restaurants for funding a church was soon born. Located in a storefront with a prime location right next to a pornographic store, the church needed subtly persuade the store owner.

Being involved with broken people and broken vessels is not only time consuming but emotionally and spiritually draining. One of the hardest things is setting up boundaries.

Some successful outreaches is citireach where the church gives out pizza and gives out back-packs, and "give a gifts" through network of hope.

With crime on the rise and violence plaguing our cities there needs to be more inner city church plants to provide hope to the hurting.

In regards to counseling there tends to be a directive approach. This sounds good in theory however, at some point individuals need learn to think... for so long many people on the streets have developed a stimulus response type attitude. There are specific triggers that influence an individual to have physiological responses and there needs to be a time when the individual learns to think through these automatic responses.

Furthermore, depending upon the drugs or alcohol the detoxification process can be deathly. Prescriptions which are widely abused cannot be quit cold turkey otherwise serious injury can result; very similar to alcohol.

I do love his passion and commitment to what he feels God has called him to! Although, he does not have "higher education" he inspires me to run with what God has placed on my heart.

Not only that but this encapsulates and demonstrates the incredibly awesome power of God's grace.

I definitely appreciate the fresh approach on the dependance of the Holy Spirit. Not downplaying the supernatural but relying on it solely for the preaching and teaching of the Gospel.

His commitment to offer accountability, encouragement, and support for those who have graduated is amazing. I would express a little concern about the individuals who graduate and then lead. Especially the guy the who quit smoking crack about a year ago and is now running the home...this sounds dangerous not only to the individuals but also to the structure and safety of the ministry.

Additionally, there seems to be some legal issues with codes and bending the rules mentality that seem to be working but eventually can create problems.