End of a Church Era

Well, it hit me tonight as I was dismantling the music corner of the sanctuary: this period is over.

"Our little church" is clearing out, selling most of our stuff, and returning to a simpler, cheaper time. It is a 15 year long story, and how it goes depends on who's doing the telling.

As a church leader, I was the first to say "we gotta leave this place" I knew (and know) it is the right thing to do now. With every end there is a new beginning, this is no exception. We believe a new, better, stronger church will be the end result of our present actions, but we will take time to honor the people that gave so much over the the years, the campus is full of things that are stories of themselves. I know most of those stories and in taking them down so quickly, am reminded how fragile we are.

How do you get 8 Yankees in a Volkswagen?

Tell them it's headed for Houston!

It's Spring 1971 and by golly, we weren't 8 Yankees, it was just me and my girlfriend, and all our earthly belongings, in a 1968 VW micro-bus. Leaving Chicago, heading for the promised land of Houston Texas. What could cause such a crazy turn of events? We were happy in Chicago!

In a nutshell it was this: We came to visit my family Christmas, 1970. We left Chi-Town in a blizzard, returned to a blizzard. In between we spent a week in Houston enjoying temps in the 80's (Christmas week!), an atmosphere of I don't know, Anticipation. Houston was ready to explode with possibilities. Cost of living: ridiculously low. Jobs: no problem.

On our way, April next.

Apartments were begging for people to move in; they did everything short of paying us to live there. We were the young swinging adults these places were built for! This was also the period George W Bush was in the 'hood. No, I did not know him then, but did know one or two fellas that fit the description. Girlfriend (Cookie) just graduated from Nursing School, so she had her pick of career options (as they're called these days). Me, not so much.

Waited tables at Steak and Ale. Worked in the Produce Department at Rice Food Mart (in The Village!), then took a job helping a man build his own house. Getting some networking going with Houston musicians was what I did in my spare time. Played in a jam band, and promoted something called Montrose Musicians Workshop. Impressive huh? I've always been good at naming things.

About 60 musicians of all stripes got together weekly and broke into small groups to get acquainted and jam, etc. This endeavor did what I had set out to do: Introduce me to a lot of local musicians. Oh, the same is true for plenty of other folks, a number of important connections were made.

By the following summer, I was 20 y.o. Uprooting for our shot at the big time, with Mr. Bass, Mr. Singer and new wife to Austin Texas...