Atlanta, 1987

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After a five year absence I returned to the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention (NYWC) in Atlanta in the Fall of 1987.  This time, however, I did not go alone!  Terry Venable, Ray Luther and I made the six hour drive south and shared a room together at the Westin Peachtree Plaza (pictured above).  This was a very eventful trip in many ways, so I will I share a few stories today and one big story tomorrow...

We checked in and began to explore this huge tower of a hotel, riding the elevators to the top and checking out the rotating roof top restaurant (which, after checking the prices, we knew we would NOT see again!) and the indoor swimming pool.  We entered the pool area (fully dressed) and found one guy swimming.  He saw us and asked if we were youth workers, and we proudly proclaimed that we were.  Without hesitation, he took his hand and splashed water all over the three of us!  We laughed and moved on, but we also thought him to be somewhat of a jerk.  Later, we found out we had just been splashed by Rick Bundschuh, noted author and illustrator of youth curriculum and a seminar leader at the NYWC. For years after this we would pronounce his name Bund-is-shuu-shuu-shuu, with much the same attitude with which Seinfeld would later say "Newman!"  Rick later became a friend of mine, and as I got to know him I understood that we could have suffered a much worse fate!  Rick was one of the great examples of what it meant to live on the edge for Christ, once losing his job for giving away pew Bibles to youth that didn't have any.  To this day I still refer to it as a "Bundschuh" when someone is fired for the glory of God.  He also wrote the brilliant book Don't Rock the Boat- Capsize It! in 2005.  The book is subtitled "Loving the church too much to leave it the way it is."  Rick is currently a pastor in Hawaii.  It's a tough gig, but someone has to do it!

At some point during the NYWC I took a seminar on publicity and promotion led by Greg McKinnon.  I came out of the session making two promises to myself.  The next summer I was going to program in a brand new way, taking advantage of the free time and the boredom most kids have during summer break.  Secondly, I was going to take our communication with our students to a whole new level.  The direct results of this seminar were the summer booklets I would do for the next 15 years, and the infamous Youth Group Hotline.  In all my years at the NYWC, only a couple of seminars had greater impact on my ministry.

The real story of Atlanta, 1987, however, was a performance by a previously unknown band called The Country Quakers that led to a most unlikely audience member dancing on his table at the Wittenburg Door Banquet.  But that's tomorrow's story!

Because of Jesus,