Youth Ministry – Peter Gowesky

In Faith in Real Life

1 year later

November 5, 2008 3 Comments

369 days ago my wife Tiffany and I officially started here at First Baptist Church of Doylestown. Incredible! It has been a whole year since we arrived. In honor of this day I thought it would be appropriate to look back and think through some highlights of the year. So, here it is… The One Year Review.

WINTER RETREATS- I had an absolute blast on both of the winter retreats, high school and junior high… All I need to say is, Hot Tub Olympics. That was awesome! For those who don’t know what this is… we came up with all of these “challenges” to do in the hot tub at Lake Champion. One of my favorites was run from the tub to the slush puddle- roll in it- only to return again to the hot tub… first man in wins! Great times…

Remodeling the Student Center- This was a huge highlight to me. When we began meeting as separate groups in the student center I felt like we were so much more connected together. That we really and truly began to grow together as a family. Keep up the good work!

Teaching through “So Our Ipods are Different!” This was a really fun series for me to teach. I felt like we had a great time going through those several weeks. I will never forget the closing night of that series. Keith Dickey was leading worship, and I had my eyes closed having just gotten done teaching and I was praying that God would unite this group, and when I opened my eyes I saw guys hugging guys, arms around each other, and singing in unison praising God for who He is! We shared communion, and prayed with one another. That was a highlight to me! An unforgettable moment.

I will never forget the beginning of our Junior High worship band. There we were, 3 musicians and 2 singers. Standing around the piano in the sanctuary. Wow, we were not that good… But I am proud of where we are now! Great job guys! It is a joy to lead worship with you all when I do.

There are so many highlights of this last year. I can’t even believe that it has been a year. I know that if I really sat and thought about it I would come up with tons more! It is a privilege to be with you guys, and to have you call me your youth pastor. I love it! I serve alongside of the best team I could ever think of. I am grateful for everyone of you youth leaders! God has gifted us with you. Thank you!

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

The end of an evening…

November 1, 2008 3 Comments

So, here we are, we have heard from Mike Pilivachi, and several others! It has been incredible so far. I can’t wait to see what happens next. It has been awesome to be surrounded by thousands of other people who get Youth Ministry. YS has taken a different approach this year to the convention. It is different… I have to admit that right now I am missing David Crowder Band. They have been the worship leaders here at YS for the last several years. Starfield is leading worship this week, and it has been good, but I do miss the DCB. Maybe next year.

Thoughts I’m thinking on…

“It’s not the destination it’s the journey.” -Mike Pilivachi

“Sacred Echo’s are the repetitive nature of God showing up in things over and over.” -Margaret Feinberg

“It’s the Holy Spirits Job to convict, It’s God’s job to judge, and it’s our job to love!” {Billy Grahm}-Andrew Marin

What do you think?

Oh, and by the way, here’s a little video for you!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hPh4Y0F7cU]

More tomorrow!

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

WOO HOO!

October 15, 2008 1 Comment

Well as if life isn’t busy enough, it just gets crazier and crazier. This past weekend, I had planned a fall retreat for our Senior High group. We called it Detox. We took a look 2 Kings 17, the fall of Israel. We discussed and thought through what God wants for our lives. More importantly the toxic things in our lives that we need to detoxify in order to have a right relationship with God. This was great! What a phenomenal weekend. We left right after school let out on Friday and made it up to Hickory Run State Park to go camping. We had great times around the fire, laughing, talking, singing, praising God, praying, and enjoying God’s nature. On saturday we spent the day white water rafting! What a blast…

Everyone enjoyed themselves… Everyone that is except me! I had a great time until say, midnight saturday evening when I got deathly sick! There is nothing worse than being sick to your stomach…

Oh, wait, yes there is.

It’s called being sick to your stomach while hanging your head out of a 6 man tent, only to return to the most uncomfortable section of God’s green earth, clutching your stomach. There can’t be anything worse than that…

Oh wait, yes there is.

It’s called being sick to your stomach while hanging your head out of a 6 man tent, with 20 teenagers all within earshot of you, listening and carrying on, only to return to the most uncomfortable section of God’s green earth, clutching your stomach. Um… Yes, That is the worst thing.

UGH! Anyhow, my poor wife, Noah was sick at the same time as me, 3 years old and all barfing all over the place. She deserves accolade upon accolade! I love that woman!

So, I get home, and one day later, I am off again. This time for our pastoral staff retreat. As a staff we needed time to just be together and plan, philosophy, dream, pray, and seek God’s face. We are here in Beach Haven, NJ at IBC’s missions house. Pray for us as we spend some great time with one another, bonding, praying, thinking, planning, praying, laughing, praying, and seeking after God’s will for First Baptist.

I can’t wait to get home to my family for a while! One of our elders said to my wife, He (being me) must feel like a stranger in his own house. NOT GOOD! I can’t wait to get on the floor and wrestle Noah till he is crying tears from laughter; play baby dolls with Grace, and cover her with kisses. And Tiffany, well, she needs a few kisses herself!

Kisses are coming Babe! See you tomorrow…

~Peter