Trusting God is a lifelong journey. Don’t travel alone.
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.
UPCOMING EVENTS
HE KNOWS YOUR NAME
He Knows YOUR Name
Roger Walck's CD "He Knows YOUR Name" is available! Songs include He Knows My Name, Praise the Lord, The Heart of Worship, Always Forever and nine additional tracks! The CD also features Dave Anderson.
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Concerts
Join Dave Anderson and Roger Walck at a concert near you!
See the schedule and learn more about hosting a concert!
SHEPHERDS CANYON RETREAT
Fellowship Ministries has launched the most ambitious project yet: Shepherd's Canyon Retreat, a specialized counseling ministry for wounded professional church workers and their spouses (singles are welcome too). As many as four couples gather for eight days of intensive Christian therapy, centered around God's word and the healing and restoration that comes from His grace and mercy. Retreats are currently being held in Arizona and Wisconsin. For more details, click hereor visit ShepherdsCanyonRetreat.org. Please visit www.StandingStonesAZ.org to learn about the new home-base for the Shepherd's Canyon Retreat ministry. New photos of the just completed Kristine K. Hasse Memorial Prayer Garden will be on the Standing Stones website by February 28.
THE OTHER SONG BOOK
The Other Songbook is NOT out of print! The "Musicians Edition or Large Print Edition" is very much in print even though the smaller version is out of print. Back in the 1970's people would come up to us after concerts and after conference ... I decided that it was time to compile a songbook.
THE BEST OF THE BEST
One of the finest praise & worship songbooks on the market - 253 carefully chosen songs - nearly 200,000 in print.
Learn More >>
THE RESCUE STORY
A Miracle of Survival
On August 13, 1993, while returning from a mission in the Russian Far East town of Lavrentiya, a charter missionary plane with seven on board lost one engine at 7,000 feet and the other, 9 minutes later, at 3,500 feet. The plane fell 3,500 feet in 3 1/2 minutes and plowed into the Bering Sea at 90 MPH. It took the seven on board this flight about one minute to get out of the aircraft; one minute later the plane sank.
On board were: Dave and Barb Anderson from Phoenix, Arizona, keyboardist Cary Dietsche from Amery, Wisconsin, singer/songwriter Don Wharton from Nashville, Tennessee, soundman/roadie Brian Brasher from St. Louis, Missouri, passenger Pam Swedberg from Kenai, Alaska, and pilot Dave Cochran from Soldotna, Alaska.
The group found themselves in 3'-5' swells, 2 1/2 miles west of Sledge Island; 22 1/2 miles west of Nome, Alaska; about 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The water temperature was about 36F degrees. (Life expectancy is between 5 and 15 minutes in 36-degree water).
DR. JAMES DOBSON
THE RESCUE STORY
In 1993, missionaries Dave and Barb Anderson were flying back to Alaska after evangelizing in a remote region in the Russian far east, when their small aircraft suddenly lost power and crashed into the Bering Sea. Despite hitting the water at 90 miles per hour, the plane remained intact, allowing everyone on board to escape. Within 45 seconds, it sank, leaving the survivors in 36-degree cold water with 5-foot-high swells. On today’s edition of Family Talk, the couple recounts the dramatic story of surviving their plane crash. Providentially, the team was spotted and helicopters were sent. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Jesus rescued them. About Today's Guests: Dave and Barb Anderson Dave and Barb Anderson are ministers of the gospel in song and the spoken word. Dave is the founder of Lutheran Youth Encounter, later renamed Youth Encounter, a non-profit youth ministry which was based in Minnesota. Dave also founded Renewal House, the first Lutheran-sponsored drug rehabilitation program in the U.S., as well as Fellowship Ministries, and Shepherd's Canyon Retreat, a counseling center for exhausted church workers and their spouses. Dave and Barb have recorded numerous albums and have led worship and music for dozens of church conferences and conventions. Dave and Barb currently live in Phoenix, Arizona. They have a stepson who is married, and they have two step-grandchildren.
ENCOURAGING WORDS
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"Awesome ministry!" from Pensacola, FL
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"Thank you for your music and your words. They were touching, inspiring, and we here at Crosspoint are so grateful. Your ministry in the church is very important." from El Paso, TX
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"I was in the audience last night. At age 92 I have not been touched so deeply in a long time. My prayers for your continued success." from Alva, FL
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"God bless you for what you are doing to encourage His shepherds. May He continue to uphold you." from Chandler, AZ
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"Your concert/worship service at Immanuel, Plainview could have gone on for another hour at least! Thanks for coming." form Plainview, MN
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"Thanks for coming to our little congregation in Iowa. Best concert we've ever hosted!" from
N Central Iowa
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Our prayers are with you for this wonderful gift to our pastors and church workers". from Chandler, AZ
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"Speaking as one who has been broken, chewedup, and spit out as a Director of Music Ministry, I pray that you will be able to help an ever-widening circle of ministers." from Chardon, OH
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"Our small prayer group met last night. There were seven of us and we had an unbake sale fun-raiser for you. We gave money instead of going to the store and purchasing the mixes, sugar, etc. Here's $56." Carol, Donna, Gena, Marie, Jan, Sue, and Sandy from Grace, Kingman, AZ
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"Keep up the good work", Mary in Oro Valley, AZ
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"Praise the Lord! It's happening!!" from a pastor in Milwaukee
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"What a marvelous way to serve a crucial need among our beloved church workers! PTL for those who are behind this." From Redondo Beach, CA
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"God's blessings on the Shepherd's Canyon Retreat. I shall pray that all who enter shall leave refreshed and filled with renewed faith." From Garfield Heights, OH
LATEST FEATURES
Worth a Look...
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"Remembering The Best"
Barb went back over 40 years of recording and picked the 19 best songs we ever recorded.
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"Tried and True"
Dave and Barb Anderson's last recording! Learn more about this exciting album.
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Just For Kids
Give the "Just For Kids" CD to your Baptism parents! What a great idea!
A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to Church
A collection of hilarious true anecdotes from ministers for every occasion.
Co-authored by Dave Anderson.