THE FELLOWSHIP

About Fellowship Ministries

In early 1987 Fellowship Ministries was the first organization, within the Lutheran denomination, to focus attention on "alternative worship" (in those days, no one used the word "contemporary"). In January of 1987 Fellowship Ministries sponsored the first of nine conferences, held over three years, called "The Conference on Worship and Music as they related to Evangelism and Discipleship".

Without a doubt, this was the longest conference-title in history!!

Five "alternative" worship services were modeled at each of these nine conferences. Pastors and church musicians went home and started to make changes. They began to design worship experiences which would connect with individuals and families who did not come from a Lutheran background or any church background.

Like fires starting in several places at the same time, others became involved in what became a church-wide and world-side worship renewal movement. Those "others" included Prince of Peace Lutheran, Burnsville, Minnesota and Community Church of Joy, Glendale, Arizona as well as other congregations within the Lutheran denomination.

Beginning in 1987 Fellowship Ministries  sponsored more than 250 worship conferences and seminars all over America. For 14 years FM's annual conference was called, "Created To Praise". These conferences and seminars were attended by thousands of pastors and full- and part-time music ministers and members of worship/praise teams. The "worship life" of hundreds of thousands of individuals as been impacted as the result of these events. We thank Lord for being able to serve the Church by expanding the ways in which people can be led into His presence....and ways in which more people can lead in worship.

In 1983 Fellowship Ministries published The Other Songbook, now nearly 600,000 copies in print. This book, compiled and edited by Dave Anderson, is still helping the church "sing a 'kind of' new song to the Lord". In 2000 Fellowship Ministries published The Best of the Best in Contemporary Praise & Worship, compiled and edited by Rev. Mike Zehnder. Now 180,000 copies in print, the "BOB book", as it is called by most, has served to present the "best of the best" both in contemporary congregational singing and in the Christian theology represented in the songs.

Since 1975 Fellowship Ministries founders, Dave and Barb Anderson, presented 5,600 worship concerts/worship services throughout America and around the world.  Today Barb has passed the "concert baton" to Roger Walck.  Dave and Roger are now presenting concerts in nine or ten churches each month.  

For more than 25 years, Dave and Barb Anderson have had a concern for the emotional wellness of professional church workers and their spouses--including pastors, teachers, Directors of Christian Education, missionaries, and music ministers. In 2007 Dave called together some lay leaders, counseling professionals, and clergy and, together, they began to lay plans for what today is called Shepherd's Canyon Retreat, the first Lutheran-based ministry-of-its-kind to provide counseling retreats for burned out and emotionally wounded church workers and their spouses. 

Fellowship Ministries has given birth to the Shepherd's Canyon Retreat ministry....sort of a mother/daughter relationship.  Please visit www.ShepherdsCanyonRetreat.org to learn more about this ministry which, since the first retreat in March, 2009, has served the needs of over six hundred clients from America, Canada, Kenya, and Uganda.