Category Archives: Old Reverend Randell
Punk Monk Fundraiser! March 2024
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!
Sometimes the Darkness Takes the Lead
Listen & Follow on:
“Sometimes the Darkness Takes the Lead” is the first single by Old Reverend Randell. It was written in the middle of bouts with chronic pain and anxiety. Sitting in the pews at church he often found the songs sung to be triggering. The songs seemed to make light of pain (if mentioned at all) by quickly jumping ahead to new life, blessings and eternal good times. Randell craved a song that acknowledged the darkness and pain he was experiencing in the here and now without celebrating it. There is something sacred about acknowledging the dark times and sitting with someone in it. Maybe the darkness won’t win in the end but it definitely sometimes takes the lead.
Watch for Old Reverend Randell’s debut EP entitled “4-track Gospel” to be released in early 2024.
Punk Monk Newsletter – Summer 2023
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 $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.
Randell Neudorf 