Country folk rockin' the stained glass rafters.

On the evening of November 4th, I gathered with some friends to share some songs with an intimate audience at southminster presbyterian church. The past eight months or so have been occupied with many hours writing and recording for a collection of songs titled Kyrie Eleison which was released to the public on the night of this particular show. There are fewer things I enjoy than sharing songs with others, but that is only a fraction of what made this night both memorable and nothing short of amazing. The album, Kyrie Eleison begins and ends with songs titled, "Prologue" and "Epilogue" respectively. These bookends to the album contain lyrics which are drawn directly out of the deep emotional well which my wife and I have lived in since the unfolding of circumstances which led to our leaving the church where we were deeply involved in ministry for three and a half years. I thought it only fitting that this cd release take place in a church house... better yet, the one in which I spent much of my childhood. I guess it was sort of a homecoming.

I was joined on stage by three young men who were in the youth ministry where we once served. These three guys--Ryan Helvie, Andrew Furrow and John Shufflebarger--have been very dear to my heart since my first days as a youth pastor. We have spent hours talking about deep spiritual issues, laughing at each other and playing obnoxiously loud music in the mustard room to my wife's chagrin. I love these guys. I admire them as followers of Jesus, as musicians, as compassionate human beings. They speak honestly and without pretense. I have seen these young men perform acts of service and love toward others which wouldn't blossom beyond a nice thought in the minds of lesser folks. It was an honor and a blessing to have them add their own musical

signatures to these songs. We were also joined by my cousin Jason who I have known all of my thirty years on this earth. He and his wife, along with their four kids, have been living with Miranda and I the past two months and it was nice to perform a couple of duets with him and have him a part of this evening. It was a different yet refreshing context from what we've been used to recently. He always brings these subtle ideas to my songs which add such a rich texture to the sonic landscape. I also asked my cousin Ben to film the show and my uncle Conrad to run sound. They both obliged and my father-in-law even photographed the show. It was a thrilling experience for me to have them all contribute their talents to the evening.

What truly made this night a healing experience were the audience. Those who showed up for the evening of song and story made it what it was. Folks from our previous church home, kids from our youth ministries, friends through my wife's work, family, friends from Evansville, friends from Broad Ripple, people I was completely surprised to see. After the show, I was utterly taken back by the stories people shared about how they were blessed by these songs. Our friend JayJay whom Miranda teaches with shared with me that the song "Used to be so bored" described exactly what she and her husband went through during the uncertain times surrounding their second child's birth. Even as I paid tribute to the great Cat Stevens and Pete Towshend, others reveled in their compositions. I strummed my grandfather's ukulele to Townshend's "Blue, Red and Grey" and my grandmother was there in the audience just beaming. It was fantastic. After the show, folks hung around to meet and talk for hours while enjoying Spanish pastries and fresh Starbucks coffee.

There will be other shows in the near future, but this one will certainly live on as the greatest... for me at least, because this night of song was not about performance or about joel rockey. This night was about the people who have made my life so very special.