Neighbourhood Football
(Tim Horton’s Field)
11×14 Poster
I live so near Tim Horton’s Field that I can hear the roar of the crowd on game days. It is no wonder that the stadium has made it’s way into my work. On Saturday August 26th (Noon-4pm) and Sunday October 29th (11am-3pm)I’ll be selling my Hamilton Posters & Hats at a vendors market happening right on the field of the stadium (hosted by The Side Hustle). It is a great chance for you to check out a bunch of local vendors and to see the stadium from a very unique angle.
To commemorate this show I have printed up some classic retro Ivor Wynne posters along with some other Iconic Hamilton Locations:
Classic Ivor Wynne – 11×14 Poster by Randell Neudorf & Jennifer Kellner-BentonClassic Ivor Wynne – 11×14 Poster by Randell Neudorf & Jennifer Kellner-BentonNeighbourhood Football
(Tim Horton’s Field)
11×14 PosterIvor Wynne (Tim’s Spoof)
11×14 PosterREAD (Hamilton Downtown Library)
11×14 PosterCopps Coliseum – 11×14 Poster by Randell Neudorf & Jennifer Kellner-Benton
I’m very excited to be participating in a number of art markets over the summer. I have lots of fun hats and posters for sale. If you are in the Hamilton area feel free to pop by on the following dates:
Fri July 14th, 7pm – 10pm, Art Crawl on James St. N. (between Barton & York)
Sun July 16th, 11am – 4pm Open Streets on Barton St E. (between Sherman & Victoria)
Sun August 20th, 11am – 4pm Open Streets on Barton St E. (between Sherman & Victoria)
Sun September 17th, 11am – 4pm Open Streets on Barton St E. (between Sherman & Victoria)
I thought it would be good to give a quick update before everyone runs off to enjoy their summer.
Spiritual Retreat:
I was very happy to be invited back to Maple Grove Christian Retreat Centre to lead their annual spiritual retreat weekend. On the Friday night I introduced the Spiritual practice of Visio Divina and then led people through an exercise where people were asked to draw 4 Images of God:
Their earliest image of God.
Their image of God when they first became a Jesus Follower.
Their current or dominant image of God.
The image of God that the Holy Spirit is inviting them to for this next season.
I was first introduced to this exercise by some of my coworkers at GOHOP. The idea behind drawing (instead of writing) is that images come from a different part of our brain. Sometimes we can recall memories we have completely forgotten by using a different part of our brain. Many people were very pleasantly surprised at their earliest images of God
On the Saturday morning I led people through a Gospel Contemplation spiritual practice that helps people connect with Jesus through our imagination. We had some great discussions and people were really open to participate. In the afternoon I led a Blind Contour Drawing Workshop. Blind Contours are a drawing exercise that can feel a lot like prayer. You are only allowed to look at the person you are drawing and not not look down at your page. The drawing might look funny but it teaches you to really be present. I asked people to see each other as children of God and give thanks for each other as they were drawing. The picture above is of the youngest artist (age 5) drawing one of the oldest artists. It was amazing the diversity of people engaging with each other.
On Sunday I spoke at Maple Gove’s chapel service on Prayer Walking. I had retired pastor come up to me afterwards and say that they are still using the prayer exercise I had taught them last year. That was really encouraging.
Pray that the seeds planted at this retreat would continue to grow.
Breath Prayer Resource:
I had the opportunity to introduce a group of pastors to the spiritual practice of breath prayer. I try to make sure that whenever I’m leading a prayer experience that there is also some sort of takeaway that helps them continue to journey with what they have learned.
I really enjoy creating these little handout resources and I seem to have a knack for it. I’m going to start adding these ideas to my website. Feel free to use them yourself or pass them along to your church. You can download the resource here: https://randellneudorf.com/breath-prayer/
I have a few other resources and projects that are in various stages of completion. Pray that I would stay focused and be able to get these done.
I’ve handed out a number of these Breath Prayer bookmarks now. Pray that God would use them to help people encounter the God that gave us breath.
Summer Art Shows!
I’m very excited to be participating in a number of art markets over the summer. I have lots of fun hats and posters for sale. If you are in the Hamilton area feel free to pop by on the following dates:
Fri July 14th, 7pm – 10pm, Art Crawl on James St. N. (between Barton & York)
Sun July 16th, 11am – 4pm, Open Streets on Barton St E. (between Wellington & Victoria)
Sun August 20th, 11am – 4pm, Open Streets on Barton St E.
Sun September 17th, 11am – 4pm, Open Streets on Barton St E.
Pray that I would sell enough art to pay for my time and to fund my other creative endeavours. I’m starting to sell some of my more personal Looking for Kindness Cartoons that talk about mental health issues. Pray that God would use these drawings to start some good conversations.
Recording & Health Update
We hit a little bit of a snag in the recording of my first Old Reverend Randell album. My voice hasn’t been cooperating. My doctor suggested not singing for 2 weeks to let my voice heal (a harder task than I expected, apparently I sing all the time without realizing it). In the recording studio we had the vocals done on half the songs so we have switched over to mixing. Hopefully I’ll be able to let you hear the first single by the end of the summer.
I have been singing now for about a week and my voice is doing better but I can still feel that it isn’t 100%. My mental health on the other hand has been much better. I haven’t had any large anxiety attacks in the past few months. I feel a lot more like myself.
Pray for my voice to be strengthened.
Pray that I would continue to do the physical, spiritual, and mental health self care that keeps me in a good place.
Pray for the songs I’m recording. They aren’t your standard worship songs. My producer and I really believe that these songs are needed both inside and outside the church. Pray that we can get them done and out into the world.
Summer Donations & Budget Update
I’m currently receiving $1990from people signed up for monthly giving plans. That is 68% of my monthly goal! That means I’m only $920 away from hitting my monthly goal.
Consider Making a Summer Donation: If you are someone who donates occasionally, or on an annual basis, it would be really helpful if you were able to send your next donation in over the summer. Donate Online with CanadaHelps!
If you like to use cheques or you would like to find out more about signing up for a monthly giving plan click here.
I’m so thankful for the support I have received. Pray that I would be able to continue to connect with people that believe in the work that I do and that I would be able to reach my fundraising goal.
Pray that God would continue to open up opportunities for me to speak at churches, workshops and retreats.
Grace & Peace to you over the summer,
Randell (Randy) Neudorf
PS: It might seem like a small thing but I have created a new business card that brings all my endeavours under one roof. This will go onto the back of all my art posters and handed out when I’m teaching at churches. I’m trying to be a whole person and not have a separate identity for my prayer and creative endeavours. I’m hoping this card piques the curiosity of someone meeting me in one sphere to find out a little more about some of the other things I’m up to in another sphere of my life.
It has been a busy winter. I’m really sorry for getting behind in posting these updates. Here is a little of what I have been up to…
TrueCity Prayer Room Stations:
I’m happy to report that my year end fundraiser was a big success. I exceeded my goals for both one time donations and art sales. I raised $410 in new monthly giving plans! That is a really big deal, since Monthly Giving Plans are the most sustainable way for me to raise support for my ministry. I now receive 50% of my income through predictable monthly donations. Over the next year I will continue to focus on this area and try to get this number up to 75%.
Continue to pray that I would meet my monthly fundraising goals.
Pray that I would grow in my ability to fundraise. I find it hard to ask people one on one to consider giving. This is by far the best way to fundraise so I need to learn how to do this.
Pray for a healthy rhythm. The main part of my job isn’t fundraising but I can’t work without consistently engaging with potential partners. Pray that I would find a good balance in this area.
Recording my Old Reverend Randell songs:
I have 4 songs that I’m recording professionally at Sheepdog Studios with my friend Eric Fusilier. These songs really encompass my spiritual journey over the last few years and I think they give permission for people to be honest about the hard things in life while still leaning into a God that is expressed through the fruit of the Spirit. I look forward to sharing more about this as the project comes together. My guess is I will have something for people to listen to in the summer.
Everywhere I have shared these songs live, there has been a really positive and meaningful response. Pray that the recordings carry that same resonance and spirit.
Pray that my body and voice will be strong. I have had some pain flare ups that have me worried about my guitar playing. I also find that anxiety & stress constricts my voice, so feeling relaxed and well is really important.
TrueCity Prayer Room Stations:
I contributed a number of prayer stations to this year’s TrueCity Conference Prayer Room. I created a new labyrinth guide to tie in to the conference theme of Shuv (to repent or to turn). I also made a guided prayer resource (see attached) to help people take some baby steps into Jesus’ teaching of blessing those that curse you. I like to use the prayer room to create things that might be useful in other places. I made the prayer guide like a little folded church bulletin that people could use in a service or in a small group. You can download the resource here. let me know what you think, or if you use it.
We try to feature a lot of art in the prayer room. This year my Looking For Kindness Cartoons were highlighted along with some new pieces reflecting on the Plank in your eye verse.
Lastly, I really wanted to connect some of our year long ministries at GOHOP to the TrueCity prayer room.
Every Friday GOHOP staff and volunteers get together and pray for pastors & leaders for a couple hours. I reused my prayer candle cartoons to invite people to join us in praying for leaders. Prayer room visiter would draw the flame on the little candle card and then write the name of the pastor or leader on the inside that they were praying for. These little cards really caught fire because 123 prayer candles were “lit.” On Fridays the GOHOP team took turns praying through each name on every card, adding our prayers to the fire. If you would like to find out more about how GOHOP prays for pastors & leaders check out: https://www.gohop.ca/prayer-for-leaders-contact
Although the 2 week TrueCity Prayer Room is done, the prayer room isn’t closed. We keep this space open for drop in hours every week (I’m there Monday nights from 5-9pm). Pray that the momentum from TrueCity would carry on into people using the prayer room throughout the year. You can find out more here: https://www.gohop.ca/pray-with-us
Asah & the Art of Being Seen:
A couple of weeks ago we had a homeless lady drop by during our Asah: Creatiivty & Prayer Studio in the TrueCity prayer room. She was in a snowsuit and had all her belongings in a garbage bag. She thought it was the Tuesday meal night (that Lift church runs out of the space) and was a little disappointed to find out it was Monday. I told her about the prayer room and that we did have coffee. I also let her know that she was welcome to sit in the prayer room or in the lobby until as late as 10 o’clock. She was very surprised and said “Really? I can just sit down and have a coffee?” I answered, “Absolutely!”
My new friend spotted the fancy mocha mixes and asked “Who are those for?” I said “You! Would you like me to make you one the professional way?” I started talking to her about how you need to mix the powder with the cream first and then add the water. She told me, “You should work at Tim Hortons.” I laughed and replied, “Actually, I used to manage a coffee shop called The Freeway and this is how we made our cafe mochas.”
The conversation then went a little deeper. She confided that she wished she was invisible and said, “I wouldn’t usually stay in a place like this, I don’t like people to see me.” I said, “Wow! Thank you for sharing that with me. Sometimes I feel like I’m invisible, and I just really want people to see me.” We chatted a little more and then I traded off with Megan from Asah to teach the second half of the art workshop. When I came back out the lady was gone but Megan said she had asked her to say thanks to me for the coffee and the visit. The ironic thing was that the art workshop I was leading was all about using drawing to help us see each other as children of God. It was amazing that what God was teaching in the lobby through hospitality was the same thing God was teaching the people in the prayer room through drawing.
Thanks so much for all your support and being part of my Punk Monk journey. If you would like to hear more about what I’m doing I would love to talk to you over a coffee, zoom, or an old fashioned phone call. Let me know.
Randell Neudorf 