THY KINGDOM COME

Young Pastor Has NRG For His 24/7 Church

Kevin 'Kip' Philp didn't find God in drugs but rather because of the
effect they were having on his mind and soul. An overnight stay in a
jail cell after a drug-fueled odyssey was the second similar event in
a matter of months that convinced the teenager from North Bay that he
needed to turn his life around, or else.

Fast-forward 14 years and the stereotypical image of a long-haired
druggie teen is long gone, having been replaced by a clean-cut,
32-year-old, married father of three. However, he still retains some
vestiges of his youth -- six tattoos scattered about his arms, legs
and back, what he describes as mainly abstract symbols, except for
the image of an iguana.

After 12 years as a young adult minister, most recently for 4 1/2
years at Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church on Guelph Line, Philp is now
an ordained Christian pastor who has started a new church inside an
unlikely location -- the NRG Kingdom nightclub.

Philp hopes to convince young people hungry for spiritual nourishment
that after a weekend of partying and dancing -- perhaps at NRG on a
Friday or Saturday -- that they will head to the Plains Road
nightspot on a Sunday to check out his place, the 24/7 Church.

He said a Burlington Post story about the club piqued his interest in
it as a possible venue for a church.

"What really drew my attention to the article was the number of young
people going to it," he said. (NRG attracts hundreds of youths to its
weekend dance events.)

Philp has signed a lease with the bar/dance club to rent one of the
nightclub's large dance rooms, with access to two smaller rooms for
programming for youth and children. Services running 60-90 minutes
are planned for Sundays at 6 p.m.

The general manager of NRG acknowledged their latest tenant is a bit
different from the usual clientele.

"It's a little unorthodox setting (but) in a less uptight setting"
for a church, said Darryl Foster. "We've been doing a lot of renting
lately" to various groups, he added.

The first church service was held last Sunday afternoon and went
without a hitch, said Philp.

"I think it went really well. I recognized some faces and I saw some
new ones. I would say the majority were in their 20s but there was a
mix of all ages. It was standing room only," said Philp, estimating
230 people attended.

While you wouldn't expect a traditional church service in a nightclub
setting, the 24/7 experience, Philp says, will be a mix of up-tempo
message delivery grounded in basic Christian teachings.

"Our goal is to be different not better.... Everything we say will be
based on Scripture but said in another way" to relate to younger
people and non-churchgoers.

"I was interested in connecting with people who had never set foot in
a church in their life. When I asked them why, it had nothing to do
with God or the Bible, it had to do with church, the environment, the
stereotypes.

"We don't want to change the message or water it down, just put it in
terms that people can relate to. We believe church needs to be the
most creative place on Earth. The most important message deserves the
most dynamic presentation."

The 24/7 Church at NRG will have professional musicians, a nine-foot
TV screen and smaller monitors around the room displaying text and
images of the service.

Philp left Glad Tidings last August to devote himself full time to
getting the 24/7 Church going. He said a 50-member leadership team
has donated countless hours to its formation; he often puts in
18-hour days, he said.

A friend of Philp's says the 24/7 concept of a church is overdue
here. "I really think that this would interest people all over the
city who have been looking for a place to worship but do not like the
stuffy feeling of some of the more traditional churches in
Burlington," said Jack vanderDeen, a Glad Tidings parishioner and
volunteer who worked with Philp during Glad Tidings' Friday night
youth programs.

Philp says the church's name has multiple meanings. It is a
reference, in part, to spirituality needing to be a 24-hour-a-day,
seven-day-a-week lifestyle. It also refers to verses in the Bible,
from The Book of Jeremiah, chapter 24, verse 7, and The Acts of the
Apostles 24:7.

"I will give them a heart to know me.... The Lord added to their
number daily, those being saved....," Philp quoted in part.

He said the church is a serious undertaking.

"We are under the cover of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada,"
which has provided him with some start-up and operational funding.
"There is a regional director I meet on a monthly basis. I have to
draw up budgets."

Born in North Bay and moving to Newmarket at age 10, Philp was
involved in the drug sub-culture from a young age getting into LSD
(acid) at age 12. Two events combined to make him re-think his
reckless lifestyle. At a Halloween party he took so much acid that
his friends wouldn't let him drive home.

"I was freaking out from this overdose and they forced me into my truck."

He was hallucinating so much that he jumped from the vehicle. His
'friends' left him on the road.

"I lay there for several hours, until 5:30 a.m., when a police
officer found me."

He was not charged.

"I went home and said (to his parents) 'I have to get out.'"

Philp moved to New Liskeard, Ont. but got into trouble again. "I had
a flashback smoking drugs in this guy's basement. I had a moment of
clarity and I went outside in my sock feet; it was snowing. I'm full
of these drugs, crying and out of control. The cops came and put me
in a holding cell."

Again avoiding charges (Philp says he has no criminal record), this
time he vowed to himself to change his ways. He stayed with relatives
in Huntsville for a few months. One day he visited Bethel Pentecostal
Church and its pastor, Randy Cox.

"He introduced me to Christ and I became a Christian. I had no (drug)
withdrawal symptoms even though I had been a heavy user since I was 12."

His life changed in a hurry. He went on speaking tours of high
schools in Canada, the U.S. and England telling teens about drugs and
Christ. He got his high school diploma at age 19, the age he got
married to Shanni, an audiologist at Chedoke-McMaster Children's
Hospital. Their children are aged 4, 10 and 13.

The head pastor at Glad Tidings Pentecostal has only good things to
say about Philp's work there, although he admitted their initial
meeting about filling the youth pastor position was a bit of an eye opener.

"When he interviewed with us he came in wearing a short-sleeve
T-shirt and you could see his tattoos," said Senior Pastor Scott
Doggart. "I don't know if he did that on purpose but we knew what we
were getting into.

"His life story is one of God rescuing him. I think that's why he has
such a facility with the (youth) culture. Pastor Kevin Philp is a man
of marvellous vision and energy for a good cause -- which of course
is the spread of the gospel."

The 24/7 Church website is www.go247.ca.