reminiscences of Koinonia, the gathering place where so a great deal Christian song was born | Opinion

opinion

Don Finto visitor columnist

posted 1:05 PM EDT Jul 25, 2019

Koinonia bookshop all started in 1972, with its celebrated coffeehouse following in 1973, throughout the heart of the "Jesus movement." 

many of the drop-out, solid-off-all-restraints young individuals of the hippie era have been fast fitting a brand new era of "Jesus freaks," as they were referred to as. With it came a brand new expression of tune.

one of the leaders of Belmont Church saw what turned into going on and unfolded a bookstall and coffeehouse across the street from our church constructing as a place where these young "Jesus freaks" and their pals may worship, witness and fellowship in conjunction with top notch pride. On Thursday, a historical marker turned into placed there to indicate its have an effect on on the formation of contemporary Christian tune.

That God would use a church that handiest carried out a cappella tune on the time to be one of the most birthplaces of what came to be called modern Christian song turned into quite a surprise and became a fascinating combine. These younger, passionate artists have been singing all over the area, but they were no longer allowed to convey their guitars and keyboards into their domestic church for worship. these had been relegated to the coffeehouse throughout the street.

a great uniting

that every one modified, although, on one Sunday night when a 15-yr-old girl named Amy told her dad that she idea she had a song for the night church meeting. Her dad instructed her to ask the elder in cost. The elder in can charge had been to the entire Koinonia tune evenings and momentarily forgot that he turned into in church, not coffeehouse. He unhesitatingly gave Amy permission to sing along with her guitar, and the road had unexpectedly been crossed from coffeehouse to church.

with the aid of the end of the week, the Belmont leaders made the choice to eliminate the instrumental limit from the church worship assemblies, and musicians have been now welcomed into their home church with their guitars and keyboards, in order that coffeehouse and church assemblies merged right into a greater compatible complete.

with the aid of this time, Koinonia, a Greek word meaning fellowship, had grown right into a gathering vicinity for hundreds who came week after week, often taking their tune and their Bibles into homes, parks and the streets of Nashville. most of these new followers of Jesus got here to Jesus during the coffeehouse ministry rather than the church assemblies, but they automatically became part of Belmont Church.

The church quickly changed into outgrowing its assembly vicinity and commenced dissimilar assemblies, sooner or later renting faculties and other bigger areas for worship unless a new and larger meeting location turned into built.

Koinonia introduced many musicians together

Koinonia had its house bands with individuals like Brown Bannister, Bob Farnsworth, Steve and Annie Chapman, its place of origin artists including Amy grant and later Michael W. Smith, after which nationally favourite organizations equivalent to 2nd Chapter of Acts, Don Francisco and HoneyTree making Koinonia their stop-over location when in Nashville.

My first rate chum Brian Mason, whose radio display became a staple for 3 decades broadcasting track of faith here in Nashville, has known as Koinonia "a seed, an unwitting seed." Amy grant — the identical young girl who asked to sing along with her guitar in church, fittingly — has called Koinonia a "filling station," likening it to the gas essential to keep each a religion-primarily based social stream and a musical style working. 

We might also now not have wide-spread what became going to happen when we created Koinonia, but God actually did. Like Jesus' parable of the sower and the seeds, we had planted a seed.

That seed grew right into a forest that impacted the spread of the gospel of Jesus through song. We had joined a circulation that began on the West Coast, and this stream has had its permeating impact all the way through the area. those of us who had an element in its beginning are nonetheless having fun with the influence it has had in our personal lives and the lives of our households.

Don Finto, pastor of Belmont Church from 1971 except his retirement in 1996, served as some of the founding individuals of the Koinonia board of administrators.