Take seventeen teens, two adults, eight guitars, three keyboards and a drum set. Mix well with lots of hands-on instruction, prayer, and worship for five days and what do you get? Three energetic bands with the desire and basic skills to lead and live a lifestyle of worship. That’s what happened August 7-10, 2006 during the first ever Teen Worship Boot Camp at Church of the Word in Gainesville, VA.
“These kids are our future—it’s important to invest in them,” explains Doris MacDonald. She and Sharon Dennis, COTW worship team leaders, created and lead Boot Camp each summer. “It’s amazing, the transformation we witnessed over one week—these kids just needed someone to give them permission.”
MacDonald and Dennis, of The Braeded Chord, conceived of the Boot Camp idea as a way to encourage the church's youth to be involved in the worship service. Each day the campers received instruction in guitar, keyboard, drums, vocal performance, band-building, and sound and visual tech skills. In addition, Fairfax County Public Schools instructor Deb Siler teaches them a dance/drama which they perform for the parents on the last day of camp, along with performances by each band.
The camps continue to grow and evolve, and now several returning alumni have joined the staff as instructors so that both basic and advanced training is offered. This summer marks the fourth TWBC, and for the first time, an additional session will be held at Alum Springs Baptist Church in Culpeper, VA. A new feature this year is the Wednesday afternoon teaching concert by professional musicians. This year, 13 year old fraternal twins Jeff and Brian Brown-Hill of the J&B Blues Project, are the featured musicians at the Gainesville session.
