NORTHSTAR
MAGAZINE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3 | THE SPRING ISSUE
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL GARLICH
TABLE OF CONTENTS
to Northstar? Read about 02 New our vision, mission and our church body here.
our newest staffers: Taunya 03 Meet Bruton, Matt Simpson and Kaylee Waldrop.
REND: CHRIS LLEWELYN INTERVIEW Chris Llewellyn about the band’s origin, worship and time on the road.
NORTHSTAR PULASKI: COMMUNITY sister campus puts an emphasis on outward service. Their participation in 08 Our communities like Meadowview has continued to shape lives in Pulaski county.
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The church is not a building, nor is it a large group gathering. Rather, the church is a group of people who call upon Jesus Christ as their Lord and God who have agreed to join together for the purpose of following the teachings of Jesus in their homes and local context. At Northstar, you’ll often hear us remind each other, “Don’t Go to Church; BE the church.” It’s our way of encouraging one another to remember that being a Christian is not about being comfortable. We seek to humbly apply the teachings of Jesus to our lives and tell everyone who will listen that they too may have real life in Jesus Christ.
OUR VISION
talented believers from Bangor, Northern Ireland played at Christians04 Seven burg High School in January with our own Cody Davenport. We talked to singer
Meet the Rue family: Tim, Michelle and Logan Thomas.
WHO WE ARE
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Looking for a new way to invest? Take a look at our missions involvement and partners abroad.
Northstar may be called “contemporary” by some, but that is not our goal as a people of God. Rather, we implement purposeful structures and strategies in order to bring all people to a knowledge of God through Christ Jesus, to help them mature in their faith as a disciple and to equip them to proclaim the truth and joy of life in Christ to others.
YOUR FIRST VISIT We meet at Blacksburg Middle School (3109 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg), and we currently have two identical services on Sunday mornings. Our service at 9:00 a.m. includes full children’s ministry (0-5th grade) and nursery. The 11:00 a.m. service also has a nursery available. If you haven’t visited yet, we’re very casual, so come comfortable. Come ready for a vibrant worship experience. We suspect you may also come a little nervous, but you’ll be refreshed and feel like you’ve been among friends. Leave your information with us (we promise not to spam your inbox) and receive a free gift, too! 200 Country Club Drive SW Suite D-1 Blacksburg VA 24060 | www.dontgo.be 540-443-0099 | office@northstarfamily.org
MEET OUR NEW STAFF
Since our last issue was published, we’ve made some changes to our staff. Losing key members and leaders is always difficult, but we’re excited to see what these new men and women will bring to the table and to the church. Read about each of them below.
TAUNYA BRUTON ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
MATT SIMPSON GRADS AND PROFESSIONALS
KAYLEE WALDROP CHILDREN’S INTERN
Hometown: Grand Junction, CO Hobbies: Nutrition Hometown: Warrenton, VA College: Virginia Tech Taunya@Northstarfamily.org
Hometown: Fairfield, PA College: Liberty University Hobbies: The Great Outdoors Matt@Northstarfamily.org
Hometown: Colonial Heights, VA College: Virginia Tech Hobbies: BCM, Baking
In 2013, Matt graduated from Liberty University with a B.S. in Speech Communications and a minor in Biblical Studies. Upon graduation, Matt moved to the Blacksburg area to be closer to his family who had finally moved further south to be closer to their roots.
Currently a student at Virginia Tech, Kaylee is studying Human Development and Communication. After college, she plans to pursue a career in early childhood development and children’s ministry.
Taunya joined our staff family in August 2014 as our Administrative Assistant. She fell in love with Jesus after graduating from Virginia Tech, proceeded to fall in love with Northstar in 2011, and now she feels extremely blessed to be able to serve alongside such a great staff team. In her spare time, Taunya enjoys being a wife and soonto-be-mom, going on hikes, her dogs, pwning n00bs in Halo, wood burning, and attempting to be a domestic diva.
Matt is passionate about ministry and finding new and innovative ways to communicate the gospel to an increasingly disillusioned generation. He is thrilled to be able to serve the Lord and others in this capacity within Northstar. He also loves the outdoors, athletics, playing music, TV shows that aren’t too long, reading, food, and last but most certainly not least, coffee.
Kaylee@Northstarfamily.org
Kaylee is excited to serve at Northstar and believes children are the future church; they will be the leaders and pastors of the next generation. Her hope is that by serving children and their families, God would use her to help children come to know and love the Lord. She loves children, but above all she loves God and His love for the church. This is what motivates her to serve Him.
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THE FREEDOM OF WORSHIP by Jess Groves
Rend Collective hails from Bangor, Northern Ireland. It was there, nearly 4,000 miles away and twelve years ago that the group first came together as a group of Christians who wanted to worship and live together. Now with four albums and a couple tours under their belt, they perform globally. Northstar Church had the chance to partner with Belmont Church in Christiansburg to bring Rend Collective to the New River Valley, and got to sit down with lead singer and guitarist Chris Llewellyn before the show.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL GARLICH
Q: WHAT’S YOUR PRE-PERFORMANCE ROUTINE? There was a cartoon in the 80’s called Transformers that changed our lives forever, and we actually play the theme tune quite a lot of nights. That’s really true, sad as it is, but there’s usually more prep as well.
We’ll get together to pray and ask for God to lead us in worship that night. I think that’s the really key thing for us: that we realize in the Bible and up until the 1980’s, there were no worship leaders. It wasn’t a real job. The thing is, the holy spirit leads worship and everybody else is just a worshipper, and it’s important to get into that mind set.
NORTHSTAR MAGAZINE 5 Q: HOW DO YOU BALANCE WORSHIP AND PERFORMANCE IN THAT MIND SET?
Q: CAN YOU TELL US A STORY PEOPLE DON’T OFTEN ASK ABOUT?
It’s easy once you think about being a worshipper that it isn’t that the crowd is looking at you and then you’re looking to God on their behalf. You just try to find freedom in God’s presence together. To be honest, I don’t really think about it as performing together so much as setting an example of freedom, so we will dance, we will go crazy, but at this point I’m more embarrassed about dancing than I am proud. What’s really important as a worship leader is to try and set that example of freedom, to show people they’re welcome to go as crazy as they want or to be as serene as they want.
Everybody always asks about hit songs, or the album that’s selling really well, or the radio song that’s doing really well. The thing people don’t really know is how many failures there have been in between. For us, our successes - if you want to call them that - haven’t really helped us develop character or develop who we are or our relationship with God anywhere near as much as all the failed steps in between. I think that in anybody’s life, we are all built - integrity is built on lots of little invisible acts of obedience. Those don’t make great stories to tell anyone in an interview, but it’s just being kind to the person who’s next to you instead of being grumpy because you didn’t get any sleep the night before. It’s just those things repeated hundreds and hundreds of times that lead to having a really great community and lead to powerful worship.
Q: HOW HAS YOUR OFF AND ON STAGE DYNAMIC DEVELOPED AS A BAND? We all met as part of student church called Rend and this is like 10 years ago. Our drummer Gareth was the pastor at [Rend] and I led worship. It was just this gathering for people ages eighteen through about thirty who were just seeking God together. We didn’t really play any music at that point, so that was just the beginning of our relationship: bible study and a group who evangelized together and didn’t really think about music at all. Over the years it just became clear that it was time for us to write worship music. We’d all been artists in various disciplines, but we finally came together as that Rend Collective to write music. Over that time, a lot has changed in our dynamic, because all of a sudden we’re a worship band and now we live together all the time on the bus. Over the years we’ve learned a lot about grace and patience, but that’s what it is to live in community and it’s a really beautiful thing. Everybody knows each other inside out; we all knew each other at our worst, we still love each other at our worst and I think that’s a really nice picture of a church. When we used to do it part-time our sense of community wasn’t as strong, but now that we’re thrown together all the time it’s really powerful, its sanctifying.
Q: WHAT’S THE FIRST SONG YOU REMEMBER BEING REALLY INTO? Bon Jovi’s Living On A Prayer. That was my first album I ever bought. Hopefully we don’t sound exactly like Bon Jovi now.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MICHAEL GARLICH
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MEET THE RUE FAMILY by Courtney Edwards
Tim and Michelle Rue and their son Logan Thomas have only been in the Blacksburg area for about a year, but it feels like they have been a part of our Northstar family for much longer. Tim and Michelle are both from Platville, Wi. and met in church youth group. “I grew up in a Christian home and never knew life without Christ,” Michelle said. “Both our families attended the same church and we really got to know each other through youth group.”
NORTHSTAR MAGAZINE 7 The Rues were married during their undergrad and found it hard to find a home in campus ministry, so they were intent on finding a church home where they could grow as a couple. Tim started graduate school last fall at Virginia Tech for engineering. “We have adjusted very well to the Blacksburg area-better than our families thought we would,” Tim said, “and it has been awesome to see what God has taught us through our transition.” A huge part of how Michelle and Tim ended up at Northstar has to do with former members Ethan and Lauren Hill. “Ethan was one of the first people we met because they lived a few doors down from us,” says Michelle. “I thought, well he seems cool and young and just exuded God’s joy, so we figured we’d try his church.” Needless to say, the Rue’s considered Northstar their home not long after their first visit. They plugged in as church members and members of a small group that they love, which is where they have found community and been able to grow as a couple. They have also really enjoyed Northstar’s Kings and Chronicles sermon series. Michelle is involved in the nursery, the Community Outreach Team and writing follow up cards for guests. Tim is a member of Northstar’s Ministry Team, which helps execute behind-the-scenes details and casts vision for the future. Volunteering is an important step in both their walks with The Lord. “During our time at Northstar, God has really taught us how to deal with a lot of changes at once, whether that be in our marriage or with having our son Logan and another baby on the way,” Michelle.
The Rues knew that they wanted to become members of whatever church they landed at in Blacksburg (which is exactly what they’ve done) but they have also been able to see God work in through them in many more ways. “I am graduating from my masters program in December, so we are about to be in another state of transition very soon,” Tim said. “In the past God has provided in many ways for our family, but we just don’t know what that is going to specifically look like in this season of life and finding a job.” Since then, Tim has secured a job in Radford, Va., allowing him and his family to stay local. The real question on everyone’s minds, though, is whether Tim and Michelle knew that Logan Thomas, the exact name they had picked for their son, was also the name of Virginia Tech’s quarterback at the time. “No, we had no idea!” Michelle said. “My dad actually pointed it out to us right after we moved here. We got a lot of ‘oh, I bet you are huge Tech fans’ comments, but we genuinely had no idea about the name before moving here.” They may be young, but Logan and the Rue family will have a lasting impact on Northstar no matter where the next stage of life takes them.
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NORTHSTAR MAGAZINE
LOVING THY NEIGHBORS by David Bowman
“For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14 (ESV) What better way to love your neighbor than to throw them a party? This was the simple theme that inspired Northstar Pulaski pastor Dave Farris to introduce the idea of block parties to his campus. “We want to get to a church-wide mentality of doing these kinds of things throughout the year,” Dave said. “It’s getting people to rethink their holidays. It’s getting people to rethink their neighborhoods and what they can do to really invest in their neighborhoods.”
The vision behind the block party concept is clear. Start with the right setting: events & holidays that people normally celebrate are a good starting point. Add in traditional things that people enjoy next. Food, games & parties are reliable options. Then mix in those most likely to have opportunities to connect with you on a regular basis; the family two houses down that you wave at in the car every day, but don’t know their names yet would qualify. The result is a recipe to use as a launching pad to love your neighbors as yourself. After reading an article about the idea, Dave commissioned a trial run last Halloween. Pulaski campus had two block parties last year that both
NORTHSTAR MAGAZINE 9 spawned stories and connections not previously revealed. The plan for Halloween 2014 was to run two more block parties that year. While weather ended up washing out one of the planned locations, the event was a tremendous success, encouraging neighborhood families to stick around for more than a simple trick-ortreat run, and getting them to know their community on a more personal level. Over fifteen campus volunteers served and connected with over 200 people from the neighborhood.
to implement in the normal rhythm of another person’s life. At that point, you are joining together with others already having achieved one of the most difficult hurdles of evangelism: finding common ground.
Heather Bragg, who hosted the block party along with her husband Evan, was struck by the simplicity and effectiveness of the event.
“The idea is that Northstar folks are praying for their neighbors and praying for opportunities to invest in their neighbors. You’ve got to build a relationship with them before you share Jesus with them.“
“I was most impacted by the sense of community and how something so simple as some hot chocolate and hot dogs made others feel so welcomed,” Heather said. “There was a lot of happiness and sense of family, making a rainy cold night a memorable one.” That sense of community was made easier by the genius of the idea. Take something in your normal rhythm of life, something you may normally do anyway and recognize that it’s very possible
“This is the starting point. Let’s get the parties going. As a church let’s pray for these parties, that the Lord would provide people to help, that the Lord would draw people in to benefit from them,” Dave said.
While Halloween has provided the easiest platform for the block party concept, the hope is that it becomes much larger than one holiday. “The long-term vision is that I would love to see them popping up all over neighborhoods all throughout the year,” Dave said. “I would love to see this evolve into various people and families really being intentional about it.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DAVE FARRIS
Learn more about pastor Dave Farris and his church at northstarpulaski.org.
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MISSIONS UPDATE: MONTENEGRO
How do things like this begin? Brit Boone was working with churches in the states to help them think and act like missionaries. One of the first guys he met when returning to the states for this role was a Razorback named Jeff Noble. He was on his way to become a Hokie. Early in his time at Northstar, Jeff scheduled a training session for people to begin to think and act like missionaries. Only two people came that day–Jeff and Cody Davenport. Now it’s different. Since that time, Northstar has been reaching people at home and abroad working in Spain and now also in Montenegro. We plan to stick around here for a while. We have been forever changed because of Jesus. He has placed in us a love for others and a desire to share the hope that comes only through Him.” WHAT WE DO
WHY MONTENEGRO? “Well, it’s beautiful. More importantly though, it is the least evangelized country in Europe. There are four evangelical churches for more than 600,000 people in the country. They need the gospel. We are working with a church to translate the gospel of John into the local language, and we plan to make 5,000 copies of it available for distribution this year. We are starting to see people consider the claims of Christ. Two non-believers have begun studying the Bible. We’re seeking to form a couple of groups that will, Lord willing, grow to become churches.” MEET OUR FAMILY “We’re Brit, Astrid, Hannah, and Joy. And we have a pooch named Brinxie too. Our family has been living on mission to the nations for 15 years. We had a couple of stints in Moscow, Russia, and we have been in Montenegro for the past year.
“Working with two other families, we have registered a company in Montenegro that allows us to do several ventures that put us in relationship with a growing number of people. Through these ventures we are able to declare the reign of God at a societal level. Through the relationships the business opens as well as with neighbors, we are able to share about the hope of Christ that can change their lives. “ WHAT YOU CAN DO “You can help! Consider investing some part of your life into the Montenegrin people. There are a lot of ways to do this. We’ll be sharing specific projects soon, but some things we are looking for include:
• Help us spread the word via social media about a venture of ours: meanderbug.com • Travel here as tourists with intentionality • Assist us with voluntourism projects that will be scheduled throughout the year • Backpack / bike tour in pairs to engage others and help us tell stories • Pursue an internship here (lots of possibilities in the hospitality industry) • Get a job and stay a while (opportunities in teaching, engineering, etc.)
NORTHSTAR MAGAZINE 11
MISSIONS UPDATE: SPAIN
by Nick Smirniotopoulos
WHY SPAIN? In 2009, they decided to move to Northern Spain to live among the Basque people, an unreached people group that currently has less than 1% believers and no gospel advancement. Kevin and Mandy desired to make an impact on the local community and see God’s name worshipped among the people. “We long to see disciples made among the Basque people and an indigenous church planting movement in the Basque language,” Kevin said. WHAT THEY DO Kevin and Mandy work for a non-profit cultural exchange program where they get to interact with the Basque people, build meaningful relationships and share their life and their faith. They meet with around 30 clients per week and host special events throughout the year, like during Thanksgiving, where they can come capitalize on a great opportunity to share culture and faith traditions. “One of our favorite verses of Scripture is 1 Thessalonians 2:8 which says, ‘So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us,’” Kevin said. “As a family we seek to share our lives with others and to be intentional in all that we do.” MEET THE FAMILY
BEGINNINGS Kevin and Mandy Darnell, from Powder Springs, Ga., were high school sweethearts. They knew that God had put them together, but they didn’t know why at first. After graduating from Kennesaw State University, they got married and started a life together. For two years, Kevin worked in finance and Mandy as a nurse, but they felt strangely dissatisfied. They wanted more for one another, and their family.
Kevin and Mandy have two children, Eden and Sela, and have recently adopted a boy from Lesotho. They love the Basque people and are committed to stay as long as the Lord allows, eagerly expecting a movement among the people. WHAT YOU CAN DO
• Pray for the Basque people & a church planting movement • Pray for the Darnells and their ministry •Come on a Northstar short-term trip • Consider studying abroad or working there with the intention of making disciples
JOIN NORTHSTAR CHURCH FOR EASTER 2015