skylight revisited

I was sitting with AJ and Rick at Dairy Queen after the 4:00 service at Vineyard. They asked about Christian Brothers. I gave a ClifNotes version but also mentioned that I'd send the the website URL to read a little more.

I pulled the site together the week of 9/11. I guess at the time I was taking my mind off the terrible present of that day by recording this ministry's past. The URL is at http://skylight.faithweb.com/ and is unfortunately an Ad-supported site. You might want to engage a pop-up blocker because there's pop-ups. There used to be less Ads when I started writing and adding photos into the template. Still, there's a lot of good stuff there.

I had several people share photos with me, Dan Noojin, Lisa Hill and Becky Armstrong. Brooky handed me an large envelope of the photos that was Christian Brother's Association. I had old newsletters and old print media. I haven't added anything to it in years.

I remember being a kid among the initial prayer meeting that later became F.R.E.E. House. I was a tag along to any concert Emory, Don, Jennie or Brook played. The fellowship grew after Emory's death. You can find my account on this blog as well as at the skylight site. There is an image of Emory on this blogspot that I found off an old negative earlier this year. I never posted at the Skylight site. I recorded Brook's account of Christian Brothers from the twenty year celebration Skylight newsletter. There is a page of Michael's account that I pulled from one of his early Greene Street Letters when we were in the process of ending Skylight for good. We gave the building to Gadsden Vineyard.

Even though Christian Brother's is indirectly kin to Vineyard, it would be nice to hear more about the coffeehouse that Michael and Jim were part of back in the early seventies called The Other Door. I never went there but I know that is a story to tell there. How about it Michael? I also remember another coffeehouse ministry back in the early seventies called Living Water. It was Pentecostal and at the time, a strange place for a very young United Methodist boy. I later grew up.

So we weren't the only kid on the block, Christian Brother's did out live the others on through the seventies, eighties and most of the 90's. We seemed to be a magnet for talent and it's odd how the Vineyard is a magnet for artist. The coffeehouse is long gone but today we find a church standing where Skylight used to be. The pastor, Jim Bentley, a retired art teacher and still today, a very different ministry standing in Skylight's place, a magnet for artist. It's a God thing I know.

As most of you know, I never fit within traditional church or normal crowd. Christian Brother's met a lot of needs for me growing up. I didn't have the relationships in high school that most people do. People kept an eye on me in traditional churches. I found a place that I fit in at Christian Brothers. I hung out with oodles of Christians from different denominations that simply loved and desired to serve God. I lived, worshiped, played and LAUGHED between the denominational walls. Growing up among the religious, laughter wasn't very much welcomed. Don't get me wrong, a good chuckle was allowed after a pastor's humorous antidote that preceded every sermon. I could laugh at Christian Brothers, I could make others laugh and it was a good thing.

I learned to write and play guitar during the early years and Skylight gave me the stage to spread my wings and build confidence. The ministry had her flaws but I am compelled to forgive those shortcomings. God used that ministry and let me be used to minister too. The ministry facilitated many ministries in her day, but I reflect upon Christian Brothers as a place where many young people learned to minister, a place to make mistakes...ministry training wheels