Fine Arts Wrap-Up

In all, the National Fine Arts was a great experience for our students. They Did a great job at developing their talents, and enjoyed participating in every level. As their youth pastor, I was very proud of the way they took their ministry seriously and had fun at the same time. Never stop growing in your giftings, guys!

Also, thank you to everyone who helped our students achieve so much. Thank you for giving, and for praying for our students while on the trip. Additionaly, I want to thank Dick & Sheri Urey for their help with the trip. The trip would not have been possible without such dedicated leaders!

Here's the final listing of our students and what they achieved at Nationals:
Brittany Findley - Songwriting - Superior with Honors (Placed 4th in country)
JoLyn Jones - Drama Solo - Superior
Matt Sabella - Poetry - Superior
Stacy Sheppard - Digital Photography - Superior with Honors (Placed 11th in country)
Garbonics - Percussion, Unconventional - Superior with Honors (Placed 11th in country)
(Garbonics members - Domenic Andolina, Brittany Findley, JoLyn Jones, Josh Kalp, Jesse Lewis, Mary Ellen Lyon, Mike Santoro, & Kayla Shacklock)

Lastly, I had such a great time with all of our students, but I wanted to give a special shout-out to my own daughter who I had so much fun hanging out with. We had a couple of times where we got to eat lunch together, look at the exhibits together, and to just have fun and I loved every minute of it! She is such a great young woman of God, and I look forward to seeing how much she lets God use her in the future! One more thing...she MADE me make the faces you see in the pictures! Here's to many more, JoLyn!

Saturday In Mayberry...

Saturday morning brought the task of loading up, and heading home. On the way home, we decided to stop for lunch in Mount Airy, NC...otherwise known as "Mayberry, NC." It is the home of Andy Griffith and the basis for the "Andy Griffith Show."

We planned on eating at the "Snappy Lunch" restaurant, but the line to get in was out the door and went down the street! So, we just hung out, took some pictures, and did some shopping before getting lunch elsewhere in town. After lunch, we began the rest of the trip home.

I must also point out this photo I took of Brittany "filling up" when we stopped for gas for the vehicles!

Brittany's Callback - Songwriting Entry

Check out Brittany's callback performance at the 2008 National Fine Arts Festival in Charlotte, NC. Congrats on 4th place, Britt!

Fine Arts Awards

Well, like it's been said, "It ain't over until the fat lady sings," and tonight she bellowed out the final number as the 2008 Fine Arts Festival drew to a close.

Our students all did a great job with their entries, and tonight we were able to see if any of them would be crowned world champion....er...a...Award of Merit winner. Stacy Sheppard, Brittany Findley, and the Garbonics team were all up for the award in their respective categories. Stacy placed anywhere from 11th to 38th and Garbonics came in at 11th place. Brittany, however, took 4th in the nation with her songwriting!

That's all for now, Congrats to everyone who participated, and please remember to pray for us as we travel home tomorrow.

Make certain to be at churhc this Sunday AM as Garbonics will be giving a much updated encore presentation of their program. See you Sunday! Peace!

Friday Update!

FYI...Stacy Sheppard's photo advanced! She is in the final running for the Award of Merit in the Digital Photography category. Check out this video of her photo, & congrats Stacy!

More Thursday & Some Friday @ Fine Arts

While we were hanging at the convention center yesterday, we captured this photo of our students next to a Convoy of Hope truck in the exhibit area. Convoy of Hope is the disaster relief agency of the Assemblies of God. COH has been among the first responders at all of our world's major catastrophies. Additionally, they provide several outreaches to our nation's major cities each year to feed the "working poor" of our own land. Anyway, COH is an amazing ministry, and it's trucks are all provided by Speed The Light! Every time you give to Speed The Light, you are helping to provide the necessary equipment needed to make a great ministry like this possible.

After hanging at the hotel last night, we went to the service at the Bobcat Arena. It was AWESOME!!! The Planetshakers led worship & Rick Lorimer was the speaker. Josh Kalp & Sheri Urey both received the baptism in the Holy Spirit! What a great night!

This morning (Friday), we're back to the convention center because Brittany Findley advanced and was called back to perform again! She's one of only 19 (out of about 3 pages) entrants who were asked to perform again.

So...tonight should be interesting! Brittany & Garbonics are in the running for the Award of Merit, as well Stacy Sheppard's photography entry, since we have not heard differently. Everyone has done such an awesome job at preparing and performing, so now all we can do is wait and hope!

Thursday @ Fine Arts

Today began with another early morning. We started with breakfast & morning devotions in the lobby at 7:30 AM, and then headed off to the convention center around 8:00 AM. Brittany needed to rehearse and then she performed at 9:49 AM. She did great, as you can observe in the video!

Afterward, we all went different ways in the convention center for lunch, some looking at the art, some viewing other presentations, while others took in the exhibits. While we were waiting, we found out that Brittany's songwriting event received a Superior with Honors rating! Now, we wait to see if she gets called back to perform again tomorrow. If she does, it means she's a finalist for the Award of Merit!

Overall, a great day! After time at the convention center, we met again at 1:00 PM to go back to the hotel & chill until dinner & the service tonight.

Wednesday @ Fine Arts

Wednesday for us was a sleep-in, go to Bojangles, look for JoLyn's wallet at the convention center & Bobcat Arena, go to Carowinds, and finish with dinner at Shoney's marathon.

Tomorrow we meet at 7:30 AM for breakfast, and then off to see Brittany perform her songwriting entry, Pray for her @ 9:50 AM!

Tuesday @ Fine Arts

Today began at 7:30 AM with breakfast and prayer as a team. Today's events are why we're in Charlotte, and the team took their participation very seriously. No one was late, and although nervous, everyone seemed ready to go.


Garbonics was to begin today at 10:06 AM, so we needed to arrive early enough to get all of the equipment to the room, as well as hopefully get some rehearsal time. We were able to accomplish both. The students did an amazing job! Actually, today's performance had to be the best one I've seen them do yet. Of course, I captured it on video, so check it out!


Immediately after Garbonics, I helped JoLyn get over to another location so she could perform her drama solo at 11:06 AM. (That may not seem like such a big deal, but we had to walk about 7 blocks to find the other location, and it had to be 90+ degrees outside. Then we had to get her mentally focused and ready to go!) Pastor Doug & Susan Sayers even came to see her and pray with her before she went up to perform. She was thrilled! JoLyn did such an incredible job, and I was so proud of her!

After that, we all broke for lunch and enjoyed all that was going on at the convention center. So much to do! There's always the opportunity to watch other people perform their talents, and to dream up new ideas for next year. There's also an exhibit area where students can find out all about our Assembly of God colleges and Master's Commission programs. Also, there's the Art Gallery, where you can check out the MANY EXCELLENT artistic entries. (That's also where Stacy's photography entry is on display, and being evaluated!)

Now for the information you've been waiting for so patiently...DID WE ADVANCE???

We do not as of yet have all of the information returned. What we do know is that our Garbonics team did receive the rating of "SUPERIOR WITH HONORS." That means that they have received the highest rating possible to achieve, short of claiming the "National Award of Merit" which only the top entery in each category will receive. Out of the 35 teams that competed with Garbonics, we are one of 12 that will be considered for the Award of Merit. Additionally, they may need to perform one more time in a call-back round on Thursday.

JoLyn's drama solo received a "Superior." Matt Sabella's poetry also was awarded a "Superior" rating.

Stacy's photography (digital) entry has not been posted as of yet. Also, Brittany will perform her songwriting event on Thursday.

I guess that's it for now. Check back and we'll give you more updates. Also, you can check the Fine Arts Festival website for results, as well.

A Really Good Day For Re:volution

Yesterday was a really good day of youth ministry! We attended our sectional Fine Arts Festival in Erie, PA, and I was so proud of our students! They all did an awesome job representing Christ, and our church. It is so cool to sit back and watch them get a vision for being used by God.

It was also an awesome day to be a father! My oldest, JoLyn, was involved in several events, and advanced in two categories. I am very excited for her! She worked very hard, and I am proud that she chooses to use her talents for God. You can check out a video of our "Garbonics" team and JoLyn's drama solo below, as well as some of our other entries at this link.