Compiled by John Quanz
Denis Bell, Gavin Wark, Mark Anderson, Mike Wright, and Jerry Lewis led us in a ministry that is by no means finished. The impact we have already seen is wonderful but it is only what we have seen and it is only the impact so far.
Our Purpose: To lead students into a relationship with the living Christ especially those who have little knowledge of him.
The first denominational Youth event was held on the Stayner Camp grounds in 1938. It was held as part of Family Camp and 128 attended the Youth Bible Conference. In the 1960s there was an annual Youth Convention held on the Victoria Day holiday Monday. It was held at one of the big churches, sometimes Bethany, sometimes Stouffville, and sometimes Banfield. All of us teenagers used to go to it. We’d meet morning, afternoon, and evening. We’d have a gospel quartet there, Bible Quizzing, and a preacher. The Youth Convention continued in this format for many years.
Denis Bell
Come the early 70s, people didn’t seem to want to go to this one-day event. Denis Bell was the Canada East Youth Director at the time as well as being the Youth Pastor at Banfield Church in Toronto. We had a winter retreat called “Winter Camp” and we’d get 50 or 60 kids out to this. Denis and several others started doing some planning for a different Canada East youth event. They started discussing what could be done to pull off something a little bit more attractive to teenagers.
And at that time, Denis was doing a May holiday weekend retreat with the Banfield Youth Group. They had about 100 to 150 kids coming to that for a couple of years. The Ontario District Youth Convention on the Monday was kind of dying off and looked like it was going to end soon.
A group of us got together and decided to plan a full weekend, Friday night through Monday. There were a number of people involved. We had Don Sutherland, Keith Elliott, Jerry Lewis, John Yates, Denis Bell, and a few others. We planned a whole weekend. John Yates got the inspiration one night to call it Pitch & Praise. Obviously, we’d have a little bit of pitch (pine sap) around the camp grounds, but we’d also have some tent pitching going on. We’d have some praise going on, concerts, seminars and a guest speaker. That was the main emphasis, to come and tent, camp, and praise the Lord. That was the beginning of Pitch & Praise in 1975.
We had a really good weekend, beautiful weather, and about 400 kids out to it. We had our friend Ron Moore from Michigan and Buddy Burge from Toronto. Buddy was a Youth For Christ evangelist, and Ron was a musician. We had a moon ball there that year, and Ron, on a Saturday afternoon, ended up hurting his back, ended up in Collingwood Hospital, and couldn’t complete the weekend of ministry. He hung around at Denis’ place for three or four days recuperating. We brought him back into Ontario for the first or second baseball tournament we had in September in Kitchener at Wilson Park.
Buddy Burge
Pitch & Praise 1975
Denis – “Pitch & Praise means to me an opportunity to see some really cutting-edge things happen in terms of youth ministry, in terms of music, in terms of ministry, and in terms of opportunities for youth groups to get together and share.”
Pitch & Praise was an opportunity for small churches to get together, hang out with a lot of other kids, have some fun and develop friendships that have lasted through the years. It was also a time where we really emphasized evangelism. We’ve always had music groups, we’ve always had speakers in who have emphasized that, we’ve encouraged that. Every year we had kids become Christians, we had kids renew their commitment to the Lord, and we had lots of good things happen even after Pitch & Praise back at the home churches. That’s what made it so exciting.
Denis – “I think part of it was to be on the edge of evangelism and calling people to commitment. Sponsors, pastors, and young people all got the same challenge come to them, and they all responded in a very positive way. To me personally, I just got excited about kids, I got excited about ministry, and I got excited about people making those commitments, and I really appreciated that opportunity.”
Denis directed Pitch & Praise from 1975 through to about 1983. Gavin was on the Youth Team in 1978. First time Denis met him, Gavin said he wanted to be a youth evangelist. He spent a year or so on the Youth Team.
Gavin Wark
Gavin became the Youth Director in the spring of 1983 and he began to direct Pitch & Praise until 2013.
Mark Anderson
In 2013 Mark became Youth Director and led Pitch & Praise until 2018.
How Each Pitch Came Together
Like many ministries in our church and at our camps we could not run them affordably if we had to pay for everything they do. Pitch & Praise was possible because of all the volunteers who came and helped.
There was only one paid individual in the whole organization. Everyone else was a volunteer. They gave up a long weekend to work at a camp with several hundred kids in sometimes grubby weather. It may seem to be a crazy to some but these people volunteered for the love of these kids. Seems like a good number of us felt this way.
Some of the volunteers started much earlier in the year planning the overall theme, booking music and speakers. Mike Wright, Main Session Coordinator, started bringing together the MCs, Praise Band, Speakers and Technical resources needed for each General Session.
Mike Wright
Mike was part of The Centre for Student Leadership since its inception in 2003. The Centre was created to take Youth Builders Teams and other leadership training initiatives beyond the EMCC. The Centre For Student Leadership was renamed Ledge Leadership in 2013 with Mike serving as Executive Director.
Jerry Lewis was planning new and crazier Mass Events that were fun for the kids. The Tech crew always tried to come up with ways to wow the kids.
Other volunteers would come in together to put the weekend on. Everyone moved into the role they are there to fill. Church camps sites were marked out. The kitchen staff were organizing the food and doing the finishing touches on the meal plans. At one point they provide 3 meals a day for over 2000 people. The sporting events were layout in the ball field. The volunteer organizers of the volunteers prepared for them to arrive. Before we moved to Braeside Camp near Paris, we had about 150 to 175 volunteers each weekend. Some cleaned washrooms, some swept floors, some taught seminars and some provided security. At Braeside one older lady, who lived on the grounds, would come and join the kitchen staff to help serve the meals and sweep or mop the floor after. She served this way because she was thrilled to see the young people there. The registration desks were put together and readied for the first campers to arrive.
In the early afternoon on Friday the camp grounds were very quiet with only the volunteers scurrying around. By 8:00 pm a town had grown up around us with hundreds of kids setting up their campsites. At 10:00 pm the first session would begin.
Everything worked extremely well. It was amazing, but you couldn’t do it without them. So we have to put a plug in for the volunteers. Thank you very much.
Facilities
We started out using Stayner Camp because it was not very busy at that time of the year. Because the grounds were owned by the denomination and this was a denominational event the cost was quite manageable. As Pitch & Praise grew we had to bear our share of the cost of operation. Stayner fit well with the idea of camping following the tradition of the camping ministry that had gone on there since 1938.
Starting with almost 400 people the first year the attendance increased until we out-grew the old tabernacle with about 1000 packed inside and some watching on video in a lean-to on the west side. In 2002 we brought in the Big Top and located the tent beside Gym. It measured approx. 250 feet long and 100 feet wide. In 2005, just before we moved to Braeside we had 2000 people in the Big Top for the General Sessions.
When Pitch & Praise was out-growing the facilities at Stayner we started looking for alternatives where we could keep the close relationship to the kids that camping provided and yet had the meeting capabilities. We looked at other religious facilities, fair-grounds and other church camps but none really fitted well. New regulations that the City of Clearview brought in meant we had to make a decision. By taking the Big Tent to Braeside Camp we solved the one issue that had kept us from choosing Braeside earlier so we move there for Pitch & Praise 2006.
Technical
We started off with very basic technical equipment. As music styles changed, as more instruments were added so did our technical needs. We used larger mixers, bigger speaker systems, lighting, and video. We had a technical crew of about 25 volunteers. Technical support was provided by many volunteers like Shawn Dittmer, Jeff Bowman, Tyler Murphy, John Frieson, Peter Mitchell, Jim Lambert, Matt Brownlow and so many others who made everything work. Some worked on Tech for one year and others were there every year for 30 years.
As skill requirements grew we brought in professionals in to help. In 2009 Jim Lambert took over as Technical Director and took us to the next level of technology by bringing in Sound Box who supplied large LED Display screens for image support for the Big Top. They added our volunteer Tech Crew as setup technicians and operators.
Like so many of the volunteers they enjoyed being with all the kids and enjoyed the excitement that all the kids see when they see us put a big production on like this. It was a way for us techies to serve. It’s just amazing. It added to the enjoyment of the weekend.
General Sessions
The central program of the weekend was the general sessions. They were usually highlighted by musicians who lead in the singing, a featured concert performance band and a speaker. These sessions provided an atmosphere in which the Gospel was presented in relevant and contemporary ways.
Over the years, the message of Pitch did not change, though the medium did. Many bands took part in Pitch and Praise throughout the years, including Randy Stonehill, Servant, Newsboys, Pillar, and Starfield among many others.
We also had Talent Nights where churches or individuals would provide music or skits. We sometimes had comedians perform and sometimes we had a film we played.
Often in Stayner we had Communion on Monday Morning. Brian Bell organized the communion starting with a few bread-makers baking fresh bread in the Tabernacle before we arrived for the General Session. The fresh loaves were passed around with each person breaking off the small piece they would eat It was touching because of the very different way he brought visual images into the service. It was quite remarkable. The way that you can be visually and experientially be involved in the communion time.. It was a very special way to experience a very quiet communion with God. People were allowed to… almost become one-to-one with God through those sessions and services.
Mass Events
Jerry Lewis headed up the planning of the Mass Events at Pitch & Praise. These were
Usually group events like a tug-of-war where churches would compete. They we fun and everyone was able to take part regardless of skill levels in things such as sports.
Sports
There were sport competitions in Baseball or Volleyball that churches would take part in. Volleyball was held over in the High School in Stayner so it was easy for everyone to walk to. Baseball was held on the 3 fields we had on the camp grounds.
Ministry
Youth Ministry has a long history in the Missionary Church of Canada / Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada. Some programs such as Bible Quizzing stretch back to the 1950’s. Pitch & Praise began in 1974, and JR Pitch, its Junior High counterpart, began in 1994. Our first Youth Team launched in 1974/75. These ministries have withstood the test of time and EMCC Youth is continually experimenting with new initiatives which serve to strengthen youth ministry in the local church.
Ministry happened on many levels and in many ways during Pitch & Praise. As well as the General Sessions with the music and preaching, the Youth Sponsors from each church were able to grow closer to their youth and help them in their personal lives and faith getting to know each other.
There were also sports tournaments, workshops, video game tournaments, and an annual battle of the bands (in which the winner was awarded recording time in a studio). Added in 2002, the Club became a successful feature of Pitch. International EDM artists such as Andy Hunter, Galactus Jack, DJ Kubiks and DJ Chris Harrington took part in Pitch and Praise, both in the club and during main sessions.
We had seminars where Youth leaders and campers grew spiritually and learned how they could more effectively minister to other youth in their churches and to their friends. The volunteers, who made it happen, made friends and made ministry connections that they could take back to the local churches. In turn this helped draw the congregations across Ontario together as a denomination. Even among the Tech Volunteers making friendships, learning how to use the technology in our home churches and serving the whole ministry of Pitch & Praise gave them a way to use their skills and interests for the Lord.
Various other youth ministries developed alongside Pitch & Praise.
Various other youth ministries developed alongside Pitch & Praise.
Youth Teams – 1974 – 2016. Teams were formed each year. Four teenagers would join the team early in the year and undergo a period of training by Denis, Gavin and Mike. In the spring the Team would tour around the churches in Missionary Church of Canada in Ontario. They would spend the weekend with the youth of the church. Some of the Teams even travelled to other parts of the world ministering to youth there. The terminology for Youth Teams changed to YouthBuilders in 1992.
The Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada (name changed in 1994) and the Brethren in Christ Church started sharing Youth Teams in 1999-2000. Training of the YouthBuilders Teams continued as with the previous Teams but the idea developed to do the training through a jointly operated “Centre For Student Leadership”.
The members of the first Youth Team (74/75) were Brian Bell, John Yates, Helen Carson (Stover), and Carol Robertson.
Gavin Wark was on the second team in 78/79 with Charlie Mashinter, Lois Coleman and Anna Marie Kranenburg.
First Youth Team (74/75)
Brian Bell, John Yates, Helen Carson (Stover), and Carol Robertson
played “Donkey Baseball” with the kids during the Mass Event.
L-R: Carol Robertson, Denis Bell, Brian Bell, Helen Carson (Stover), John Yates.
Canoe Trips were another ministry opportunity for the leaders to spend focused time with a group of our youth as they canoed through the lakes of Ontario camping as they went. Gavin did several of these with the Youth Teams as a time of bonding and teaching for the team.
Advance – at Camp Mishewah was an opportunity to do intense spiritual, Bible and Leadership training with the teenagers who registered for the week at Mishewah.
Centre for Student Leadership – Ledge Leadership developed as a joint ministry of The Brethren In Christ Church and The Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada (name changed in 1994) focused on the training of the YouthBuilders Teams. The Centre for Student Leadership was formally created to take YouthBuilders and other leadership training initiatives beyond the EMCC. The Centre was registered as a charity in 2003.The Centre for Student Leadership was renamed Ledge Leadership in 2013 and was federally incorporated in 2014. It is led by a shared leadership team with Mike Wright serving as Executive Director. It no longer has any formal ties with the EMCC or the BIC denominations.
Ledge Leadership provides training in team practices and theories that developed from working with teams for over 40 years of lived team experiences.
Volleyball Tournaments – These tournaments were held for several years with churches sending teams to compete. The games ran all day long ending of course with the winning team getting a trophy. The day ended with a musical package and a motivational guest speaker.
Baseball Tournaments – Like volleyball these tournaments were held for several years. It was another great way to gather the youth together again, to reunite friends and to keep the message of the Gospel before them.
Quizzing – Bible Quizzing was another ministry of the Youth but this one spread across Canada and connected with the United Sates at MiFi for the final competitions. It was a great way to learn scriptures.
Mark Anderson – At Braeside a guest speaker said to me that we didn’t really know what a special ministry we had. Because of the way the ministry leaders were together with the kids on the grounds for the whole weekend it made it possible for the leaders to meet the kids on a very close personal basis.
The close relationship between our leaders and the kids, the relationships developed among the volunteers and even among the tech crew reaches beyond what we know and likely what we can conceive.
John Quanz – Denis, Gavin and Mark led us in a ministry that spanned 44 years inspiring volunteers to serve in so many different ways to help youth in our churches live in a world that is changing so fast and in so extremely different ways. Pitch & Praise and its related ministries helped our teens deal with some difficult challenges in their personal lives as well as providing a time in their lives for the Holy Spirit to guide them in their spiritual growth. Thank you Denis, Gavin and Mark for your leadership and encouraging us to serve beside you.
The ministry of Pitch & Praise and JR Pitch ended after the 2018 year. Some churches have been led to provide a similar event for their youth – Phoenix Fest. The Stayner Camp Grounds are hosting a successor to JR Pitch called Re-Boot.
Over the years we have seen kids saved, restored, supported through difficult times in their lives and growing in their faith. We have listened to their testimonies as they expressed difficulties in their homes and lives and how the Lord and their Pitch friends have helped them through those difficulties. Pastors and volunteers from churches have been able to build on the breakthrough in the lives of their teenagers that happened at Pitch and watched their faith grow.
Children of the first campers became volunteers because of the impact Pitch had on their lives. Campers and Team Leaders have entered into ministry as pastors and music leaders throughout our denomination. Some have gone into other denominations and the impact of Pitch & Praise has spread to those other denominations as evidenced by their attendance at Pitch.
Over the years the Pitch management team has shaped the style of music and program so we can stay current and relevant to our kids. Guest speakers have told us how special the Pitch experience was as the musicians and speakers are able to meet and talk with the campers in the closeness of the small tent city that settles in for the weekend.
Teens in many of our churches looked forward each year to JR Pitch and Pitch & Praise. The longevity of Pitch & Praise and the impact it has had on our kids shows how it met the needs of teenagers across Ontario.
While we have tried to document here an account of what the ministry of Pitch & Praise did but as Mark Anderson said “a document doesn’t really capture
“the true beauty of what God did there”.
Pitch ’n Praise a History
Mark Anderson
Pitch ’n Praise has been around for some time now, and over the years we have had quite the array of guests and artists that have helped us create a fun and transformative weekend. This is a synopsis of those guests with some other trivia mixed in. It’s not a complete list, but we hope you enjoy it anyway and that it reminds you of the things Jesus has done in your life through Pitch ’n Praise. If you notice a guest that is missing or have a bit of trivia for a certain year please email me at manderson@emcc.ca. Enjoy
Year Speakers/Teachers Musicians Other Guests Theme
1975 Buddy Burge Ron Moore
1976 Jack French Ken Medema Trivia Note: Donkey Baseball
1977 Ron? Nancy Honeytree
1978 Bob Laurent Good News Circle
1979 Ron Walters Salmund & Mulder
1980 John Fisher Pam Mark Hall, Craig McNair Wilson
The Archers
1981 Buddy Burge Wendel Burton
1982 Kent Fishel Daybreak
1983 Larry Offner Salmond & Mulder
1984 Bernie Smith James Ward
1985 Jimmy Diraddo Ralston Bowles
1986 Jim Clubine Servant
Trivia Note: First Rock Band
1987 Duffy Robbins Randy Stonehill
Pitch & Praise
Year Speakers/Teachers Musicians Other Guests Theme
1988 Becky Tirabassi Crumbacher One More Victory
1989 Michael Peace Rick Cua
1990 Bob Black Morgan Cryer, Crossection
1991 Jim Vandenburg Newsboys, Will McFarlane
1992 Jim Burns Jacob’s Trouble, Grooters & Beal
1993 Rick Cua Cua, Lane & McFarlane, Mike Caputy
1994 Bob Stromberg Pray for Rain
1995 Terry Prisk Grooters & Beal,
End of Illusion, FTC
1996 Lori Salerno Nouveau, Shoeflies
1997 Kent Fishel Imagine This, Icthus, Bob Cates, Hullabaloo,
Gain Spidey Sense
1998 Billy Richards Hokus Pick, Soul Shaker, Bumblepuppy, Shoeflies,
Zach’s Tree
1999 Ron Hutchcraft Jennifer Knapp, CPR, Fear of God, All Canadian
Plain Edson, Hibiscus Bloom
Jireh
2000 Ed Weiss Shepherd Hall, Light Hearted 2000 Reasons
Hibiscus Bloom Comedy Co. to Celebrate
2001 John McAuley Jake, Disruption Make Me a Believer
Pitch & Praise
Year Speakers/Teachers Musicians Other Guests Theme
2002 Phil Cann Bleach, Starfield, The Reason I Live
Lost & Found,
One Cross, Zach’s Tree,
Manafest, Steadfast
Trivia Note: First Year for Big Top Tent.
2003 Derrick Mueller Splendor, The Elms, Off the Deep End
Andy Hunter
2004 June Evans DJ Kubiks, Riley Armstrong, Freedom
Downhere
2005 Bruxey Cavey Esoteric, Lost & Found, Restored
Only Forward, 7th Day Slumber,
Sean Dayton,
DJ Kubiks
2006 David Burke Only Forward, Joby Saad Take Me Away
Kids in the Way, (The Village Idiot)
DJ Kubiks, Manic Drive, Trivia Note: Move to Braeside Camp.
2007 Rick Tobias, Underdown, Glenn Kaiser,
Glenn Kaiser, The Myriad, Jonezetta, Taylor Mason Storyline
Kim Phuc, Tree 63, DJ Kubiks
Doug Ross,
Jason Hildebrand
2008 Andy Harrington, Pillar, Nine O Five, Bob Cates Conspiracy
Storm Moore Hello Kelly,
Glenn Kaiser, DJ Kubiks,
Manafest
2009 Bart Campollo, Amanda Falk, Article One, Thor Ramsey Into the Wild
Amanda Falk DJ Kubiks, Life Support
Pitch & Praise
Year Speakers/Teachers Musicians Other Guests Theme
2010 Eric Samuel Tim, Article One, Nathan Finochio, Everything
Rene Rochester Chris Harrington, Since October,
Jay Calder, DJ Kubiks
2011 Peter Rollins, Silverline, Nine O Five, Danny Ray Review
Chris Whittler, DJ Kubiks
Janell Anema
Trivia Note: Tower of TV’s
2012 Len Sweet, The City Harmonic, Bob Stromberg Wide Awake
Bob Stromberg Riley Armstrong, DJ Kubiks,
Wayne Smele Atlantic, Chris Harrington,
2013 Anne Jackson, Atlantic, Havenstance, Bob Cates Feedback
Cory Dorion DJ Kubiks, Chris Harrington
2014 Tony Campolo, Tim Neufeld Band, DJ Kubiks,
Val Lieske, Seed, Lancaster Jonnie W. Atmosphere
Aaron Holbrough Safe as Houses,
The Red Factor,
Stained Glass Army, Icon
Trivia Note: Astronaut
2015 Shane Claiborne, Jon Bryant, Andy Hunter, Joshua Jordan Forge
Jo Saxton Dana Marie, Beacon, Jojo
Worthington, Elsa Jayne,
Mirror & Tides, By the Blood
Trivia Note: Blacksmith
2016 Doug Ross, The Color, DJ Kubiks, Sawyer Bullock Focus
Brett Ullman, Andy Hunter, The Found and The Free
Sarah Thebarge, From Aphar,
Andy Hunter Discoverson, Static Prevails,
All At Sea, Foxwheat, Greg
Mashinter, Banquet, Dan Kikkert,
Emily Germain, Timid the Brave
Trivia Note: Quench Buggy, Escape Room
Pitch & Praise
Year Speakers/Teachers Musicians Other Guests Theme
2017 Idelette McVicker Manafest, Auburn Falling, Heath Arthur Rhythms
Drew Marshall, Mat and Nicole Crisp, Chis Au
Jonathan Martin Ben Jack (Galactus Jack),
Derek Goupil Worship Band,
Jennifer Budd, Eric Brandon,
The Right Reverend Blues Band
2018 Leanne Friesen, Zach Havens, Ben Jack Danny Ray Shift
Mark Anderson (Galactus Jack) Joel McKerrow
(replacing Kevin Manafest Makins),
Trivia Note: Kevin Makins was pulled from speaking line-up 10 days before the event, by EMCC President.
The impact we have already seen is wonderful but it is only what we have seen and it is only the impact so far. We have not yet seen
“the true beauty of what God did there”.
— PnP —
