Photos of the author singing and passing out Truth Papers in 1971
and a photo he took of the crowd of Promise Keepers in D.C. in 1997.
Background: an old '70s shirt with Tim's original 1971"guitar flower."
A Culture in Turmoil
It was a time of disillusionment. A series of our adored, youthful national leaders had been murdered, scenes of their demise seared into our memories by the full-color coverage of the national press. Nearly everyone knew someone who had died or come home wounded, psychologically or physically, from an unpopular and demoralizing war. We were surrounded by (or even participants in) the drug scene and the free love scene, to the pounding beat of rebellious rock and roll. The turn of the decade in 1970 saw many of us more than ready for either a new cause to follow or a quick slide into total self-destruction.
No one could escape the widespread sense that our culture and our country was in big trouble, and even those who lived in isolated corners of the country sensed the need for something new, something dramatic. I couldn't have been much more isolated: I was a boarding high school student living in Kodiak, Alaska, a town that had one weak TV station and frequently missed mail runs on account of bad weather. But the local Naval Base and the constant influx of fishermen and workers from the "Lower 48" brought the culture and its woes to us. The smell of "weed" was common wherever young people gathered on Kodiak streets, and the town's own homegrown hard-drinking ways brought its own sense of despair (the town had more bars than churches at the time, and when the fleet was in, drunks littered the docks and sidewalks).
Certainly those of us raised in the Church as I was felt that little if anything there specifically addressed our very real concerns. Friends were facing the crippling consequences of promiscuity and the "high life". All the Church seemed capable of in response was to shrilly warn us of the dangers of playing cards, dancing and listening to music with a "jungle beat", to the tune of simple little ditties played on accordions by people with piled up hair and polyester suits. At least that's the way it seemed to a lot of us.
Jesus People in Kodiak?
We began to get word of a new leader, someone who, like the others we had lost, had been executed by his enemies. But this leader was different, we were told; this one was alive again, and even more intriguing, was soon to return. At first the revolution started slowly. For me, it was through a Bible study that grew out of the summer camp, and sometime around February of 1971 started to catch fire. Instead of a handful of kids who had been to Camp Woody , we suddenly had over eighty, including quite a few young Navy men. We moved across town to the basement of a large church, and still kept growing. As high school students, we shrugged off lunch in favor of going to a church across the street to pray. We brought our Bibles to school, spoke openly of our faith, and took on a kind of purposeful exuberance. The world was in trouble, there was an answer, and we had met Him.
There was soon a name for what we were: some people in the media were calling this a national movement, and called us "Jesus People." Nevertheless, we still felt outside the culture. We were simply siding with the polyester and accordion people, at least in the eyes of many of our peers. We may have been fervent, but we were far from cool. We needed a way to relate to these people at their level, from within the youth culture. A way was definitely provided, from a very unlikely source. An old Russian immigrant, a former island missionary named Nina Gilbreath, felt led to join us in our meetings. She sat in the back, outside the circle, and prayed for us. She never argued when we went overboard, she never pointed any fingers as so many in the regular churches were doing; she simply prayed with us and for us. But she also found a copy of the Truth Paper, from the Jesus People of Spokane. We were awestruck to realize how much of what we were experiencing was happening elsewhere.
We ordered bundles of the Truth Papers, and a new ministry was born. Soon every Saturday, rain or shine, freezing or soggy, we were out in front of the bars and stores of downtown Kodiak, passing out Truth Papers to appreciative and non-appreciative alike. The papers would set up a conversation with the recipient, and we would eagerly share the what, why and Who of what we were up to. We adopted the language of the movement, with "Praise the Lord!" and "Amen, brother!" replacing the more conventional phrases, and the One Way sign (uplifted index finger) replacing a wave. Hugs replaced handshakes, and uplifted faces and hands replaced bowed heads. But whatever street culture we were adopting or creating, it was really nothing at all to stop in a restaurant, street corner or wherever and pray for someone, or to start praising God and lifting our hands whenever someone shared an answered prayer. Because we were so outgoing in our expressions of faith, we also found fellowship in the oddest places, for frequently a cannery worker from Idaho or Kansas or California would recognize us as fellow believers and join our fellowship, sharing the songs and testimonies from their Jesus People.
Meanwhile, Nina Gilbreath did something else with her Truth Paper: she ordered copies of the Wilson McKinley Jesus Rock group's first LP. She gave one to me, and they all circulated around amongst the Jesus People. The result was astonishing. It is as though we were suddenly given permission to sing in the loud, rhythmic, insistent language of young people. For seemingly the first time in many generations, Christian music fit the times. Other Christian Rock artists soon found their way into circulation. We started singing Larry Norman tunes like "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" and "Sweet, Sweet Song of Salvation" everywhere. Soon we added music to our street meetings, and would regularly go down to the ferry dock to meet the M/V Tustumena and sing for the passengers. One of the many Navy guys who had discovered our fellowship, by the name of John Hicks, began writing cool songs that we could sing and not be embarrassed about. "Clap Your Hands" was an especially peppy one that we liked to do down on the ferry dock:
"...So now as you listen to me sing this song,
Just let yourself go, come on and join along.
He's standin' here waitin' with His arms open wide,
You and I can walk together side by side.
So clap your hands, clap your hands,
Clap your hands and sing Hallelujah!
(John Hicks, 1971)
The author (with guitar) and the young people sing for the passengers on the M/V Tustumena,
And some of the Jesus People in a home meeting (both from 1971)
I believe that the revival we were experiencing had a positive effect on the adults. We eventually saw many supportive older believers join our fellowship, and even give us guidance. My parents, Rev. Norman and Joyce Smith, longtime village missionaries, were among them. They loved the Scripture songs and expressive praise, and as leaders at Camp Woody, allowed the Spirit to move in new and exciting ways. (One of the surefire characteristics of revival is the breaking down of generational barriers). As Love Song said, "...Long hair, short hair, some coats and ties, people finally coming around!" Many adults in Kodiak were experiencing revival of their own as a result of the influence of the Charismatic Renewal, and when adults and children met (such as at Camp Woody) the results were electrifying. Suddenly we had so much to learn from each other! I believe our revival carried through most of the 70s as a result of this amazing fellowship of young and old that the Spirit clearly brought about. "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord!"
Other adults, such as Ken and Diane Covey, put money and reputation on the line to rent us a place to hang out, and "The Open Door" coffee house and bookstore was born. We had a place to meet, a sense of support from the adults, and of course a steady supply of the latest in Christian music and materials, thanks to the bookstore. I doubt that many of us realize the sacrifice that family made for us. For example, in the summer of 1972, the Open Door helped host the first Alaskan Jesus band, JC and Company from Anchorage. There were concerts at the amphitheater and at the youth center, and even a Jesus March from the Open Door to a lake at Fort Abercrombie, where many people were baptized. Ken Covey assisted, and one of the kids baptized was my brother Kelly, now a music leader at the Anchorage Vineyard. Kodiak had never seen anything like it!
L to R: The Jesus March begins at the Open Door. One of the messages of praise. Kelly Smith gets baptized in the lake.
Always Jesus' People!
Some truly amazing things began to happen at a personal level, and lives were changed. Many of the events recorded in the early Church became commonplace occurrences. And a new emphasis on living for Jesus made us new and different in a way we had never dreamed possible. I remember one time when a Navy man named Paul brought a paper bag to the Bible study, and afterwards asked us to walk down to the dock with him. He walked to the edge of the dock, said a prayer of thanksgiving, and dumped his stash of hashish into the bay. But for many others, myself included, the big decision was likewise miraculous: we did not give up on the Church. We found the truth there to be more vital and more Biblical than we had remembered it being, and were gradually accepted, scraggly hair, jeans and all, when the others saw our sincere love for God.
Across the country, similar things were happening, because this was a genuine move of God, and not only a passing fad. Others who once called themselves Jesus People not only stayed in the Church, but helped to transform it. You can find the influence of the Jesus People every time you hear a praise chorus with guitars, a Christian song with a beat, or a sermon that is mostly Scripture yet explained in a down-to-earth way. Every time you see a renewed emphasis on evangelism and the return of Jesus, every time there is a tendency to take the teaching of the Word more seriously than the dress code, all that can be traced directly to the influence of Jesus People. They were absorbed by the Church and in the process, helped to transform it.
There were always problems, as any "popular" movement will experience. Some people were only "Jesus Tripping" and fell by the wayside when the going got tough or when holy living was too tough a choice. Others followed experiences and phenomena and became easy pickings for cultists. Some returned to their old lives when the "Jesus fad" faded after a couple of years. Some allowed their vision and calling to become commercialized, prepackaged and diluted. But for others, there was a genuine revival that not only swept wide across the country, but went deep into their hearts. I often wonder why so many of the people who were young a decade or so before me are so anti-Christian and have so passionately absorbed the philosophies of the Left. My only answer is that they never saw a genuine move of God in their generation. Once, when a very sincere cultist confronted me, I found myself confused by his seemingly logical arguments. The words of Jesus sprang to my memory: "If you cannot believe my words, believe me for the very works themselves." And I had seen God at work, unmistakably, not only in my life, but in countless others. Whatever anyone could try to say to the contrary, the Jesus People discovered that Jesus is real and that He is alive and active today. It is that firsthand knowledge that helped to transform a generation. And that is the key to revival in any generation. Jesus is alive, salvation happens, truth lives; Praise God!
God does not allow us to keep manna overnight. His blessings are new every morning (and in every generation). What God has done in the past should always be remembered as a way of building our faith, not as a formula to be bottled. That is why God instructed the Israelites to build an altar of remembrance as soon as they crossed the Jordan, and to move beyond it into a new land. That is why I write this remembrance of God's great acts in my generation, so those who never saw what we saw may seek God's presence afresh in their generation. Then they will be inspired to reach their world and their generation.
As I write this, I am closing in on fifty years of age. But I am beginning to see in the young people of today the same energy, the same selfless love of the Lord, the same sense of urgency that propelled us as "Jesus People" so long ago. I see young people heading for mission fields near and far. I see adults growing up and taking Jesus seriously (as in the fine example of the Promise Keepers). I see a Church on the edge of revival, perhaps the last one we get before the Great Return. But above all, I see more and more people getting serious with God and letting Jesus be their Lord.
That emphasis on a personal, living, transforming Lord is the true legacy of the revival known as the Jesus Movement. Who were the Jesus People? Where are they now? It is more proper to say, "Who ARE the Jesus People?" Anyone who finds in Him a new cause to follow, a new Kingdom to build, and a new power to introduce others to Him is a true Jesus Person, regardless of their age or their place on the map. One Way! Jesus is Coming!
Jesus is the One True Way to Heaven!
(From the Wilson McKinley's first LP)
(The author is a staff advisor for the "Cavaliers for Christ" at Montclair High School in California, and dedicates this web article to them for their fervent and faithful witness for Jesus at MHS).
For information on the Camp Woody 50th Anniverary Reunion, click HERE!
Written by Timothy Smith, web author. See the About Me page for more information. Always feel free to send me comments, suggestions or corrected information about this article or any of the articles on this site. (Write to: Tanignak@aol.com) This article and website is © 2005 Timothy L. Smith, Tanignak Productions, 14282 Tuolumne Court, Fontana, California, 92336 (909) 428 3472. Images unless otherwise listed are from the collection of Rev. Norman L. Smith or the Timothy L. Smith collection. This material may be used for non-commercial purposes, with attribution. Please email me with any specific requests. You are welcome to link to this site.
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