UNIFIED UNDERGROUND 2007 Subcultures unite for weekend of fellowship, discipleship DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE IN PDF FORMAT Annapolis, MD - Over 100 people gathered in Annapolis, Maryland the weekend of October 26-28, 2007 for the first ever Unified Underground conference, presented by Hope For The Rejected, the Baltimore-based subculture ministry arm of Youth For Christ.  The conference’s goal this year was to unite the three major underground communities—punk, goth and hardcore—in fellowship and to strengthen the leaders of these communities through discipleship. Loyal Thurman addresses the crowd (photo: B. Rumbaugh) The weekend kicked off to a gloomy start with heavy rainfall as people converged on the site of the conference, Riva Trace Baptist Church.  As people continued to roll in, spirits rose as old friends from around the country were reunited and new friendships began to form.  Soon, it was time for the conference to begin and everyone headed upstairs.  FBS, a punk band from Ohio, opened the weekend with a few songs, including a punk cover of the bluegrass tune "I'll Fly Away," popularized in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?  Loyal Thurman, the founder of Hope For The Rejected, then took the stage and opened the weekend by leading a prayer, then sharing the ministry's vision for the conference: to unite the subcultures Lara Freeburg speaks about the importance of reconciliation (photo: H. Utley) and the Church as a whole in accordance with Jesus' wish that His Church would be united.  David Dellman, author and founder of the web site GothicChristianity.com then took the stage and astonished the crowd with another of his talents: mentalism.  Following this performance, which David described as "psychological illusion," Phil Porto, singer of the hardcore band The Red Baron and pastor of Florida's Captivate Ministries, spoke to the group about our responsibility as Christians to set an example to the world through our actions.  Washington, D.C.'s The Groaning then played their brand of progressive gothic rock.  Lara Freeburg, a gothic pastor from Chicago, discussed reconciliation with God and the ministry of reconciliation to which Christians are called.  The Last Hope, hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, treated the crowd to one of their always-energetic punk rock sets to close the night.  While some of the attendees took advantage of the downtime to discuss the happenings of the night, many of the goths gathered together to hold a memorial service for a fallen friend, "Feather Phill" Grosser, who died tragically in a motorcycle accident in May. David Dellman, mentalist (photo: B. Rumbaugh) Phil Porto (photo: B. Rumbaugh) The Groaning (photo: B. Rumbaugh) The Last Hope (photo: B. Rumbaugh) Dan Green shares his testimony and teaches about Bablyon (photo: B. Rumbaugh) Early the next morning, everyone reconvened and heard an engaging message on entitlement given by Rose Kurczab, one of the organizers of The Asylum, a gothic group most known for the goth tent that they set up at the Cornerstone Festival every year.  FBS took the stage once again, this time playing a full set.  Dan Green then gave his powerful testimony to the group and offered an insightful lecture on the culture of Babylon, and how the Biblical accounts of this city relate to the Kristen, Josh and Nate of FBS (photo: B. Rumbaugh) feelings of shame and worthlessness that many often feel today.  After a short break for lunch, attendees were given the choice to attend any two of the five "break-out" sessions that had been organized.  These seminars offered a chance for smaller groups to discuss topics of particular interest to them on a more personal level.  Topics included Dan Green offering the opportunity to ask questions and clarify points of his testimony and study of Babylon, Erich Barto (former singer of hardcore band Alove For Enemies) speaking about his experiences in underground ministry, Tiffany Elmergreen of the Spirit-Filled Sisterhood leading a study about the women of the Bible mentioned in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus, David Dellman exploring Simon the Magician (from the book of Acts) and Phil Porto and Lindsay Jones discussing pornography. Erich Barto's break-out (photo: H. Utley) Phil Porto and Lindsay Jones' break-out (photo: B. Rumbaugh) Spirit-Filled Sisterhood (photo: H. Utley) food line (photo: H. Utley) After a break of several hours, everyone ate a meal of vegan chili and fried bread graciously prepared and served by several sisters of the Spirit-Filled Sisterhood.  After some much-needed downtime, the conference resumed with the gothic fashion show including a presentation of "the bride of Christ" by The Lady Michaela.  Donna Sheehy ("Mom goth") then handed out various prizes for people who had Pastor Skip Brooks of Rise Above Ministries (photo: B. Rumbaugh) traveled the farthest and shortest distances, those who had the most piercings, longest hair, largest and smallest tattoos, etc.  This recognition of superlatives was followed by Justin Chaillou, the singer of hardcore band xLooking Forwardx, speaking on the need for Christians to remain joyful and positive and be a light of hope to a world that is all too often dismal and devoid of joy.  Justun Wanted, the singer of The Last Hope, discussed the idea of dedicated obedience and the command in Romans 12 that we be "living sacrifices" to the Lord.  Leper, an electronic-industrial goth band who had traveled all the way from Chicago, Illinois, then played a rousing set.  Pastor Skip Brooks of San Antonio, Texas' Rise Above Ministries concluded the night with an encouraging and inspirational message about the absolute necessity of the Church uniting to achieve our common goal.  Saturday night's finale was a passionate and hard-hitting set by hardcore band War of Ages from Erie, Pennsylvania.  When the music was finished for the night, everyone enjoyed more fellowship time, including several action-packed games of dodgeball in RTBC's gymnasium. Justun Wanted (photo: M.E. Lloyd) Mellie and Kriss of Leper (photo: T. Elmergreen) T.J. of War of Ages (photo: L. Walther) Saturday night dodgeball! (photo: H. Utley) Over 100 subcultural Christians attended the first Unified Underground conference (photo: M.E. Lloyd) Sunday morning, the church invited all of Unified Underground's attendees to their 11:00am service, which ended with the pastor inviting all of those involved in underground ministry to stand and move throughout the church so that the congregation might lay hands on and pray for them.  Following the service, everyone joined each other again for the last session.  FBS took the stage one more time, minus frontman Josh, to play an acoustic praise and worship set featuring some powerful hymns done solo by their guitarist, Kristen.  Pastor Skip Brooks and Loyal Thurman concluded the weekend with challenging calls to action.  Thurman also gave the audience a glimpse of the vision for Unified Underground 2008, to be held October 10-12, 2008. The weekend as a whole turned out to be a huge success.  At any given time, one could look around and see that the invisible walls between subcultures had all but disappeared.  People conversed and fellowshipped with each other, regardless of what subculture they identified with, or their appearance or taste in music.  Real, lasting friendships were formed and everyone walked away inspired, motivated, challenged and anxiously awaiting next year's Unified Underground conference. “What an amazing weekend! Brad and I walked away challenged, inspired, and overflowing with gratitude for Unified Underground!  We can't wait for the next one!  We made tons of friends from all over America. The feeling of ‘family’ was awesome!  Your conference made a lasting impact on our lives.” - Ruth H. (Lexington, Kentucky) “I needed this so badly.  I needed the encouragement and the strength to go back to my city and take action.” - Tiffany E. (Grand Rapids, Michigan) “When I was planning to attend Unified Underground, I expected to meet some new people and maybe some new contacts.  What I left with was yet another example of God's blessings being so much more than what could have been asked for.  I left with a much needed, refreshed love for ministry.  I made connections with people who hold the same desire as I do to reach and bring together what are, in mainstream churches, under-represented, under-recognized, and under-accepted groups of people whom God loves deeply.  Most importantly, I now have a great community of people around the U.S. who hold that same passion, and we can act as a support and prayer system for each other.” - Sarah C. (Chicago, Illinois) “This was a big shot in the arm of faith and encouragement that we badly needed!  Thank you for allowing God to use you to make this happen!” - Ric & Layla S. (Indian Head, Maryland) Click here to view the photo gallery from Unified Underground 2007. Please contact Lucas for further information.