Category Archives: Newsletter

Punk Monk Newsletter – April 2025

Posted on by

I’m very excited that it is finally feeling like spring outside. I have been able to bike to work the last couple weeks and that has felt great. I wanted to let you know about a couple things I have been up to in my ministry life.

Easter Sunrise Service:

In my last newsletter I mentioned that I’m doing some prayer & outreach work at 541 Eatery & Exchange (the pay it forward cafe) on Thursday mornings. This is through a partnership between my church (The Meeting Place) and GOHOP. I have been meeting lots of people while visiting around the big harvest table in the cafe. I’ve had the chance to pray for a number of people over the last 5 months, which has been very meaningful. It has also been a great weekday check in for people who are attending my church on Sundays. 

We have an Easter tradition at the Meeting Place where we have a joint sunrise service in Beasley Park with our friends from Trinity Lutheran Church. Afterwards the Lutherans host everyone for a big breakfast. This year one of our regulars who is experiencing homelessness joined us for the 7am service. It was a big deal that he made the effort to be there right on time. He shared that he made it a priority because he really appreciates Trinity Lutheran. He told me a story about when he was having a really hard time and he found himself at a cafe drop at Trinity. He fondly remembers that they served toast with REAL BUTTER!!!! He hadn’t had such a treat since living rough. For some of us, real butter might not seem like a life changing experience, but for this man, it made all the difference, he felt appreciated and valued. 

It was a privilege to celebrate Easter with my Meeting Place friend. 

  • Pray for people in Hamilton experiencing homelessness. Pray that they would be able to find stable and supportive housing. 
  • Pray that I would be able to make meaningful connections with people at 541. 
  • Pray that there would be a few core people that would lock in with this weekly prayer time. It is a transient population, so I don’t always have consistency with who shows up. Having even one more person who really commits to being there every week goes a long way to welcoming new people.

Looking for Kindness Shows:

In March I was able to do a living room Looking for Kindness show in Guelph. The host family invited 20 of their friends to come hear me sing and tell stories about my prayer and mental health journey. They even dragged a couple extra sofas into their living room to create 3 rows of theatre style seating! I could tell people were really engaged with my story because after my last song called 4-track Gospel the room was completely silent (no one was clapping) but it was the profound type of quiet. It felt like a holy moment. 

I have a couple more shows coming up in the next week:

If you know anyone in Owen Sound or Dundas please let them know about the show.If you haven’t seen me perform yet, there is a little teaser trailer posted up on YouTube:: 

  • Pray for me as I talk to people before and after the shows. There are a lot of great conversations happening and sometimes people are sharing some very hard stories with me. Pray that I would be a good and supportive listener. 
  • Pray that I would have more opportunities to perform in both church and secular contexts. 

Ukrainian Easter Egg Workshop:

Every month I help lead the Asah: Creativity & Prayer Studio in the GOHOP Prayer Room. There was a great turn out for our traditional Ukrainian Easter Egg Workshop. You might not know this but traditional easter eggs are absolutely rooted in prayer. As you are creating your design, you are supposed to be holding someone in prayer. The whole thing is done by candle light through a very slow and meditative process. I was very happy to be able to add some calm and beauty to people’s lives as part of their journey towards Good Friday and Easter. This was a great follow up to our workshop where people created a cross filled with collaged images of things they wanted to add or subtract from their daily rhythms over Lent.

  • I lead Asah with my coworker Megan. Pray for us as we try to foster opportunities for people to engage with their creator through creativity.
  • This prayer workshop is always an experiment (there is no manual for this kind of prayer). Pray that we would continue to be open to trying new ideas. 

Prayer Songs:

Prayer & Music has been a real theme for me over the last month. 

I had the opportunity to perform at the Hamilton Public Library as part of an event organized by Public Health. I chose a mix of my original gospel songs along with tunes I would consider secular hymns (Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, Man In Black, etc…).  A few days before this event a friend gave me a listening prayer image of me being inside a guitar filled with water. I was peering out of the sound hole, looking through the strings that were vibrating. He said there was a feeling of energy and power through the music. When I heard this, I immediately connected the image to the songs I had been preparing for the library gig. I was kind of nervous about singing so many “Jesus-y” songs in a very secular setting, and this listening prayer felt like a gift that put me at ease and made me feel confident that I had picked the right songs. The event went great and I really felt like I was praying these songs over the many newcomers and street involved people that attended the event. 

I also lead a monthly Hymn Sing night in the GOHOP Prayer Room. The idea is that we sing old hymns and then use the words that stand out from the song as our prayers. I had just been telling my coworkers that I was a little discouraged that I often had been singing and praying on my own, but the very next Hymn Sing someone joined me! I explained the idea of using the hymns as prayers and the person told me they really wanted to sing the songs but they weren’t so sure about the prayer part because they are agnostic. After every song something jumped out at this person that they named as their prayer. They also had lots of memories that came up for them and shared a personal story after almost every hymn. For someone who wasn’t sure about the prayer part, they sure did a lot of praying. Afterwards it occurred to me that if other people had shown up that night (like I had been wishing), my agnostic friend might not have felt so free to pray and be open to the memories the Holy Spirit brought up through the music. I was so thankful for this very special Hymn Sing night.

  • I get really excited about engaging with people on the edges. Whether that is the edges of the church, or society in general. I’m often told that I feel very safe for people. Pray that I wouldn’t take that safety for granted and that I would use these opportunities to connect with people on the edges well. Pray that these safe moments would allow people to be open to the Holy Spirit. 

Fundraising Update:

I have been trying to put more effort into setting up one on one appointments to invite people to join my monthly support team. I would really appreciate your prayers around this.

 It takes a lot of courage for me to put myself out there and ask people to consider giving toward my personal support raising. Some days I don’t feel very courageous at all (please pray that I would be bold and diligent in my fundraising)

If you would like to meet with me to talk more about my ministry with GOHOP (and to just catch up), or if you know someone I should connect with, please reach out to me. Fundraising happens best one conversation at a time. 

If you would like to make a monthly or annual donation to my ministry with GOHOP you can do that here:

Donate Online with CanadaHelps:
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/53164

You can now donate by E-transfer:
Send your e-transfer to donate@gohop.ca
You must write “Donation for Randell Neudorf” 
in the message section.

You can also donate by Cheque:
https://randellneudorf.com/gohop/donate/

Some Exciting Family News:

Lastly, I wanted to share some exciting news. My daughter Zoe is engaged to her boyfriend Luis (obviously now her fiancé). Susan and I have loved getting to know Luis and are so excited to have him joining our family. I think I’m going to like being a Father-in-law. Any advice out there from other Father-in-laws?

Grace & Peace,

Randell (Randy) Neudorf

Punk Monk Newsletter – May 2024

Posted on by

Hey Team Punk Monk, I have lots of updates for you, so I’ll get right into it…

25th Wedding Anniversary!

My wife Susan and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this month. We were able to spend 5 days up on the Bruce Peninsula at a friend’s cottage. We did lots of hiking, bird watching and WE EVEN SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!

GOHOP Transitions and our Family Gathering!

There are a couple of big changes happening at GOHOP: 

  1. Andy Groen, our director (and fearless leader) will be transitioning out of that role in the fall.GOHOP’s board will be looking for a new Director. I am very thankful that Andy brought me onto GOHOP and has empowered me to use my creative gifts in teaching, creating prayer spaces and supporting pastors and leaders. 
  2. GOHOP’s Prayer Room & Office will be moving. We always knew our prayer room and office space at Wentworth Baptist Church was temporary. The building is being redeveloped into affordable housing (alongside a referbished church) by Indwell. Hamilton is in desperate need of this kind of project, so this is a good news story and a real answer to our prayers. We always joke that we are professional prayer squatters at GOHOP (we have always found free or nearly free space to build prayer rooms in) and we are trusting that God will continue to provide us with a prayer room and office space in the future. These two things haven’t always been in the same location but that has been a blessing during the last few years.

We want to celebrate all the good and beautiful things God has done in our current space, so you are invited to join us for our Family Meeting celebration on Wednesday, May 29th from 7:30pm until 9:30pm in the prayer room.

Pray for GOHOP over this transitional season:

  • Pray that we will find the right person to lead GOHOP, someone with a combined skill set in leadership, prayer and administration. 
  • Pray that we will find a new prayer room and office space. Pray for us to discern whether we should be seeking temporary space or waiting for something more long term. 
  • Pray for us as we are packing up the prayer room and office. We are closing the prayer room at the end of May so that we can have it all packed up by the end of June. We will then pack up the office and need to be out of that space by the end of July. Pray that we will be wise in deciding what to get rid of and what to keep. Pray that we will find room to store our AV equipment, supplies and the furniture we decide to keep.  

Mama Bear, a new Old Reverend Randell Song!

n April I was part of a concert and art show organized by Hamilton Artists for Peace. It was a fundraiser for humanitarian aid in Palestine. One of my dreams for my Old Reverend Randell music is to be a peaceful Jesus presence in the wider secular music scene. I’ve written a new song called Mama Bear, which is a prayer for the children of Palestine. I was able to sing/pray this song at this very diverse gathering of people. I had lots of great conversations afterwards and it seemed like my prayer and music really resonated with people. I also sold a number of Looking for Kindness Cartoons that I donated to the fundraiser. Over $7500 was raised by the community! I’ll be releasing 3 versions of this new song in the summer, so watch out for that. You can find my current songs in all the regular places. If you haven’t listened to my 4-track Gospel album yet you can find it here: https://randellneudorf.com/music/

  • I’m looking for more opportunities to share my music live. Pray that I will have more doors open at churches and music venues. 
  • Pray for the timely release of Mama Bear. The recording is all done and I’m currently in the studio mixing. I’m so thankful for so many friends who have helped play and sing on this song (all donating their time). I wouldn’t normally head back into the studio so shortly after releasing an album but it seemed very important to get this song done and out into the world. More importantly, pray for a permanent ceasefire in Palestine & Israel, and that God would bring peace where there is no peace.  

The Return of the Prayer Truck!

Once a year, in the days before covid, GOHOP would create an outdoor prayer room in the back of a U-haul truck and park it behind Living Rock Ministries  (a local at-risk youth centre). This Prayer Truck ministry has a special focus on connecting with people who are homeless and/or street involved. Even before we knew that our GOHOP Prayer Room would be homeless, we had decided it was time to bring back this ministry. It seems even more fitting now. I used to work for Living Rock and I love being in contexts that enables me to connect with people on the margins, so I’m very excited to be a prayer truck host. We will be looking for lots of volunteers to help host the prayer truck between July 13th and July 19th. Let me know if you would like to apply to be a volunteer (we will provide you training). Perhaps we could even host the truck together!

  • Pray that we would be able to fill our hosting schedule for the prayer truck.
  • Pray that the prayer truck would be a blessing to Living Rock staff, youth and the surrounding neighbourhood.
  • Pray for safety, wisdom and humility. Homelessness and mental health issues are in crisis on the streets of Hamilton. Pray for us as guests of the neighbourhood and street community. Pray that we would represent Jesus well.

Financial Update:

A number of people have been asking me how my online Punk Monk Fundraiser went. To be honest, not good. A couple donations came in, and people have been listening to my music but I was a long way off from reaching any of my goals. In the past, my online fundraisers have done really well but this year it never gained any traction. It could be the time of year but in reality it is not the best way to fundraise. 

I’m refocusing my efforts towards in person, one on one conversations, meeting with people over coffee and telling them about my ministry and inviting them to financially partner. I have been really encouraged by these meetings and the grace people have given me to tell my story. I’m going to be putting the majority of my fundraising energy into this going forward. 

Here is where I’m currently at with my fundraising:

As of April 2024, I consistently raise $2090 a month. This translates into me working about 20 hours a week at the rate of $20 an hour. That is about 74% of my monthly goal, raised through 20 people being signed up for a monthly giving plan. 

To reach my goal, I need to raise an additional $716 per month. Building up a support team of monthly givers is the most sustainable way to make this happen. Here is what it could look like for me to reach the last leg of my goal:

  • 1 more person giving $200 per month. 
  • 1 more person giving $100 per month.
  • 3 more people giving $75 per month.
  • 3 more people giving $50 per month.
  • and 2 more people giving $25 per month.

If you would like to start a monthly giving plan or make an annual donation you can find out more here: https://randellneudorf.com/gohop/fundraising-plan/

If you are ready to make an Online Donation 
you can do that right now through CanadaHelps:
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/53164

I recently revamped all the info on my website about the work I do and my fundraising plan. If you are interested, you can check that out here: https://randellneudorf.com/gohop/

  • Pray that I would be consistent in my fundraising efforts and meetings.
  • Pray that I would listen well to God and reach out to the people God brings to mind. 
  • Pray that I would have opportunities to speak at churches and connect with people interested in supporting the ministry I’m a part of.

The Praying Youth Group!

I want to leave you with one last story. A few weeks ago I got lead Philpott Church’s youth group in an imaginative prayer practice called Gospel Contemplation. About 30 youth participated. These kids were really open to trying something new with the chance to have a real life encounter with the Holy Spirit. I love introducing people to Gospel Contemplation because it really helps people ease into the idea that God is with us and actually wants to interact with us.

Here is how it works. We read a narrative story about Jesus (one where Jesus is interacting with people). We read the story in 3 different ways. I like to use film references to explain what we are doing. 

  1. In our first reading we are the director. We imagine what the scene might look like. We set the stage with all the sets, props and characters needed.
  2. In our second reading we are an actor. We choose a character (named or unnamed) and experience the story from that person’s perspective. 
  3. In our last reading we break the fourth wall and show up in the story as ourselves. After the story ends we imagine ourselves walking up to Jesus and ask him a question, being open to whatever happens next. 

So many youth had very profound experiences where they felt like they had a real life encounter with Jesus (I would argue, that is because they did!). From the questions the youth were asking I could really tell that they were fully engaged and excited about the possibilities that this prayer practice had opened for them.

  • I gave some tips of how these youth could keep digging into this kind of prayer at home. Pray that God would meet them in their journeys.
  • I have consistently seen real blessings come out of opportunities like this, pray that God would continue to open doors for me to lead times of prayer with people of all ages. 

Thanks so much for getting to the bottom of this update. I really appreciate your prayers and community!

Grace & Peace,
Randell (Randy) Neudorf

Punk Monk Fundraiser! March 2024

Posted on by

You can make an online donation right now through CanadaHelps!

Hey church friends, I would really appreciate it if you could take a look at the info below about my annual fundraiser. If church isn’t your thing, feel free to just skip this. If you are curious and do decide to keep reading you can think of this fundraiser as me “crowd funding” my job.

I often describe my job title as being a “Punk Monk.” 

I’m on staff with GOHOP (Greater Ontario House Of Prayer), an urban monastic ministry connected to the world wide movement of 24-7 Prayer. We aren’t a monastery but we do live a community life dedicated to the monastic rhythms of prayer & service. That covers the monkish part of the job but what about the punkish part? For me, punk music is all about creativity with a strong DIY (Do It Yourself) ethic. I think of prayer in that same way. We can learn to play creatively with prayer as a way to connect more deeply with our maker and each other. For me this permission to play with prayer is very punk!

The other DIY part of my job is that I have to raise my own support. Believe it or not but being a Punk Monk is my actual job. I’m just over 3 years into this crazy adventure and it has been amazing to see so many friends, family and even strangers partner with me as part of my support team.

I have a couple of financial goals I would like to reach by the end of March (I picked March because it is my Birthday month):

  • $2000 in one time donations. If you would like to make an online donation to this fundraiser you can do that right now through CanadaHelps! If you would like to make a donation by cheque you can find all the info you need here.
  • $300 in additional monthly giving plans. Monthly giving is the most sustainable way from me to raise support for my ministry with GOHOP. Currently I raise $2000 a month from people signed up for monthly giving plans. This has been accomplished by people giving anywhere from $5 to $300 a month. If you would like to support my work in this way please consider signing up for a monthly giving plan. Find out more here!

I also have a couple music related goals. I record music under the name Old Reverend Randell. I currently have one single out called “Sometimes the Darkness Takes the Lead,” with an album called “4-track Gospel” coming out very soon. My music goal is to have:

  • 100 followers on my music platforms. You can subscribe to my music on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp and anywhere else you stream your music. Having followers makes it easier for people to find out about new songs.
  • 1000 listens on Spotify. Until a song reaches one thousand listens you just get that dreaded “<1000” beside your song. People don’t know if that song has had 999 listens or just 1 listen. It really adds to an artists credibility to get over 1000 plays for a song. Feel free to add my music to your favourite playlist to listen more often.

I think it is really important when talking about money to be 100% transparent. If you would like to find out more about my job (including what I get paid) you can find all that info here: https://randellneudorf.com/gohop/

I also have an e-newsletter that I send out about 4 times a year. Email me if you would like to be added to that list: randellneudorf@gmail.com 

Thank you so much for any type of support you are able to contribute to this fundraiser (listens or donations). I appreciate you taking the time to consider partnering with me.

Sincerely,
Randell (Randy) Neudorf

You can make an online donation right now through CanadaHelps!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/53164

Punk Monk Newsletter – Summer 2023

Posted on by

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:

  1. Their earliest image of God.
  2. Their image of God when they first became a Jesus Follower.
  3. Their current or dominant image of God.
  4. 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 $1990 from 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.