The first Saturday of December, 1971 Kent Odor made his second appearance at the Jesus House. At that point we had no way of knowing that the following fall, Kent would join the staff, nor that he, Chris Adams and I would embark on our career as adamsfishyodor, nor that Kent would become a life-long friend.
Kent and I met in the library at Cincinnati Bible Seminary (now Cincinnati Christian University). Kent was interested in the Jesus House because he was a singer/guitar player who, while in high school, traveled throughout Michigan singing for churches, camps and youth groups. Kent was also a PK (preacher's kid) whose family had deep roots in the christian church/church of christ restoration movement.
In those days Kent played a little nylon string acoustic guitar that, given its small size, had a surprisingly deep, booming sound. His voice had incredible range as he could sing very low but also had a strong falseto. adamsfishyodor never really used his vocal talents, primarily because of my inability to sing harmony, but hopefully he gained other valuable experiences.
Kent joined the Jesus House Staff in the fall of 1972 and remained until fall of 1975 when he and Marcia married. His impact on the Jesus House was profound. He introduced us to the concept of small groups and created the first Jesus House small group in the summer of 1974 by teaching the book, Body Life, written by Ray Steadman. Kent is also responsible for demanding that we include personal quiet times at our Conglomerate retreats. In addition, Kent created Family Nights on Wednesday evenings. No one knew what was planned week to week at Family Night because Kent had so many ideas and never told us in advance what to expect. Family Nights introduced us to making donuts, tie dying t-shirts, making bagels, painting the pipes in the basement, and many other activities that I no longer remember. Kent recognized the importance of creating social opportunities for people to interact with one another. His drive for social networking was evident whenever adamsfishyodor headed out for concerts and found we had 2-3 additional carloads of people invited by Kent.
Since his years with the Jesus House, Kent has served a variety of churches: Fellowship Christian Church, First Christian (St. Louis, Michigan), East 91st Street Christian Church (Indianapolis), Willow Creek Community Church, Canyon Ridge Christian Church (Las Vegas) and now the Springdale Vineyard (aka the Mothership) in Cincinnati.
Kent has grown into an extremely wise leader with an unlimited capacity to understand ministry.
He and Marcia have four children and one grand child.
Yes, Kent will be at the next reunion concert, May 2, 2009. You will have the opportunity to hear his great singing voice on the Jesus House Recording Project.
This Week in History: Artists Who Appeared at the Jesus House the First Saturday of December
1971 - Kent Odor, Doug Adams
1972 - Linda Page
1973 - Jim Bankowski (with special guest Mike Wilshire)
1974 - Ross Johnson (solo night)
1975 - Morning Star
1976 - Deny Brigance
1977 - Creation INC. (Christian Theater)
1978 - Deny Brigance
1979 - (Record is blank. Not sure what we did.)
1980 - Peter Leighton (St. Nicholas Day!)
1981 - Sonrise
1982 - Christmas Arts Variety Show
1983 - Jama
A Life-Changing Experience
You will notice that Jim Bankowski performed the first Saturday of December in 1973. During the second set that night, Jim, along with his musical guest Mike Wilshire, led us in a medley of Christmas carols. That was the first time I consciously realised the spiritual impact of all those songs about Christmas. I had a life-changing worship experience as the beauty and truth of each of those songs became clear. I have always been grateful to Jim & Mike for that experience which continues to shape my appreciation of Christmas.
Showing posts with label Cincinnati Christian University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cincinnati Christian University. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Early Days
The seeds for the origin of the Jesus House began during the summer of 1970 when two Mt. Healthy High School students had life changing spiritual experiences. Mark Pratt traveled Japan with a high school singing group. Rick Coyle spent the summer working at a Christian camp. When school began in the fall, these two high school seniors decided they wanted to find a specific way to tell their friends about Jesus. With permission from their church leaders, they began a Thursday evening “Bible Rap” at Highview Christian Church. They invited their friends from school, who in turn invited other friends until a small group turned into a large group which turned into an even larger group. Because Rick & Mark felt inadequate to handle the size as well as some of the questions which were being asked, college students from Cincinnati Bible Seminary (now Cincinnati Christian University) were invited to participate as leaders. One of the students who volunteered his time was Randy Matthews, a gifted singer and songwriter whose music brought an extra level of excitement and interest. The crowds at this Bible Rap would number 50 one week, 100 another, with the high being 250 for a special concert by Randy. Many of these high school students were accepting Christ and were being baptized during the Bible Rap evenings.
The popularity of the weekly Bible Rap prompted the student leaders, the Elders of Highview and Dave Phillips, Highview’s minister, to brainstorm ways of expanding the ministry to these high school students. The church owned a piece of property which contained a large house that had served as the congregation’s first building. It sat vacant for several years with the congregation unable to sell it. Randy Matthews envisioned turning this building into a site for concerts & Bible studies with a full-time live-in staff.
By March of 1971, this was becoming a reality. Many of the people involved with the Bible Rap participated in an event called Spiritual Revolution Day which began with a rally on Fountain Square, a march through downtown Cincinnati and a concert that evening at Taft Auditorium. Arthur Blessitt was the featured speaker for the day. Randy Stonehill and Randy Matthews along with a variety of others performed music. Among many other events of that day was the first time Randy Matthews and Terry Fisher met. This meeting led to Terry visiting the Jesus House a week later. It was not yet open for business. In fact, it was the first day that people were working on the building; scraping walls, cleaning, and painting. This was in preparation for the opening of the ministry. During the day there was a break in the action while everyone trooped up to Highview Christian Church to baptize a girl named Carol. While returning from that baptism, Randy asked Terry to join the staff of the Jesus House. His reason was because of Terry’s drug background. Randy knew they were going to be dealing with a lot of high school students who were doing various forms of drugs and no one else on the staff had any experience with drugs.
The next month and a half, students showed up nearly every day after school to work and prepare the building. A gifted artist from the Bible College painted seven large murals in the meeting room. A smaller room was painted four shades of purple, one on each wall with the colors extending across the ceiling in triangles to meet in the middle.
The first Friday of May, 1971 was the official opening of the Jesus House. The place was packed with teenagers; everyone excited to finally have the place open. Randy sang that night along with another musical guest whose name has been lost. An audio tape of the evening still exists in the special Jesus House Hidden Archives!
The first Jesus House staff was: Randy Matthews, Steve Scott, Terry Fisher, Mike Buckingham, Pat Buckingham, and Joanie (last name forgotten, Joanie if you read this remind us of your last name!)
Next week: That first crazy summer!
This week in history: Artists who appeared at the Jesus House during the Second Week of October.
1971 - John Gould (the first of many!)
1972 - Steve Kroger
1973 - Larry Pennington
1974 - Rick Roberts
1975 - Rising Hope
1976 - Corban Weekend featuring Grant Edwards, speaking and special music guest, Jon Owens.
1977 - The Paul & Dave Band
1978 - Madison Getman Jr.
1979 - Jim Bankowski
1980 - Larry Bubb (Terry Fisher's Birthday!)
1981 - Steffins-Brigance
1982 - Rising Hope
1983 - Singing
Where Are They Now?
In the history section, you may have read some names you do not recognize. So where are all these people? Good question. The last we saw Pat Buckingham she was preparing to marry a Boston Celtic. Not sure if she did. The last time we saw Mike Buckingham (they are brother and sister) was at his wedding in 1976. Steve Scott, originally from Indiana has lived in several states and run various businesses. Joanie is from Lexinton and the last we heard she was still living there.
Unfortunately, not a lot of details, not because we don't love these people but because we've lost touch. Remember, in those days there was no email, facebook, etc.
The popularity of the weekly Bible Rap prompted the student leaders, the Elders of Highview and Dave Phillips, Highview’s minister, to brainstorm ways of expanding the ministry to these high school students. The church owned a piece of property which contained a large house that had served as the congregation’s first building. It sat vacant for several years with the congregation unable to sell it. Randy Matthews envisioned turning this building into a site for concerts & Bible studies with a full-time live-in staff.
By March of 1971, this was becoming a reality. Many of the people involved with the Bible Rap participated in an event called Spiritual Revolution Day which began with a rally on Fountain Square, a march through downtown Cincinnati and a concert that evening at Taft Auditorium. Arthur Blessitt was the featured speaker for the day. Randy Stonehill and Randy Matthews along with a variety of others performed music. Among many other events of that day was the first time Randy Matthews and Terry Fisher met. This meeting led to Terry visiting the Jesus House a week later. It was not yet open for business. In fact, it was the first day that people were working on the building; scraping walls, cleaning, and painting. This was in preparation for the opening of the ministry. During the day there was a break in the action while everyone trooped up to Highview Christian Church to baptize a girl named Carol. While returning from that baptism, Randy asked Terry to join the staff of the Jesus House. His reason was because of Terry’s drug background. Randy knew they were going to be dealing with a lot of high school students who were doing various forms of drugs and no one else on the staff had any experience with drugs.
The next month and a half, students showed up nearly every day after school to work and prepare the building. A gifted artist from the Bible College painted seven large murals in the meeting room. A smaller room was painted four shades of purple, one on each wall with the colors extending across the ceiling in triangles to meet in the middle.
The first Friday of May, 1971 was the official opening of the Jesus House. The place was packed with teenagers; everyone excited to finally have the place open. Randy sang that night along with another musical guest whose name has been lost. An audio tape of the evening still exists in the special Jesus House Hidden Archives!
The first Jesus House staff was: Randy Matthews, Steve Scott, Terry Fisher, Mike Buckingham, Pat Buckingham, and Joanie (last name forgotten, Joanie if you read this remind us of your last name!)
Next week: That first crazy summer!
This week in history: Artists who appeared at the Jesus House during the Second Week of October.
1971 - John Gould (the first of many!)
1972 - Steve Kroger
1973 - Larry Pennington
1974 - Rick Roberts
1975 - Rising Hope
1976 - Corban Weekend featuring Grant Edwards, speaking and special music guest, Jon Owens.
1977 - The Paul & Dave Band
1978 - Madison Getman Jr.
1979 - Jim Bankowski
1980 - Larry Bubb (Terry Fisher's Birthday!)
1981 - Steffins-Brigance
1982 - Rising Hope
1983 - Singing
Where Are They Now?
In the history section, you may have read some names you do not recognize. So where are all these people? Good question. The last we saw Pat Buckingham she was preparing to marry a Boston Celtic. Not sure if she did. The last time we saw Mike Buckingham (they are brother and sister) was at his wedding in 1976. Steve Scott, originally from Indiana has lived in several states and run various businesses. Joanie is from Lexinton and the last we heard she was still living there.
Unfortunately, not a lot of details, not because we don't love these people but because we've lost touch. Remember, in those days there was no email, facebook, etc.
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